Sustainability

We have a deep commitment to sustainability. Here we unpack our philosophy in more detail.

At Smudge, we are committed to finding ways in which we can reduce the environmental impact of our business and the products we create.

While we have made some progress in this area, we acknowledge that we can always do better. By publicly documenting our philosophy on sustainability, we expect to be held accountable to our intentions while driving continuous improvement.

1. Sustainability Intentions

Our commitment to sustainability is anchored in four core intentions:

• To conduct our business in a way that minimises our environmental footprint.
• To design and deploy products and solutions that are sustainable over the long-term.
• To empower our employees to contribute towards a more sustainable world.
• To partner with customers and businesses who share our ethos.

In this Sustainability Policy, we unpack this philosophy in more detail. This is a living document, which will be updated as our approach evolves.

2. Environmental Footprint

We believe that the global business community has a powerful role to play in preserving and protecting the planet’s natural resources.

We are headquartered in New Zealand, widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful and forward-thinking nations on earth. In New Zealand, sustainability is a way of life.

Over a period of many years, the New Zealand government has enacted legislation to enshrine sustainability principles in law, most notably the Resource Management Act 1991, a landmark piece of legislation that has helped shape the actions of the New Zealand business community in relation to sustainability.

We are committed to promoting sustainability in the workplace. Not only do we comply with environmental legislation but we strive to perform better than required whenever possible.

Over the last ten years we have implemented many internal policies to help promote sustainability and minimise our environmental footprint; these include

• Limiting the use of paper in the workplace by strongly discouraging the printing of business materials;
• Minimising waste and maximising the reuse or recycling of discarded materials from all business activities;
• Promoting the efficient use of energy, for instance by ensuring that computers are shut down outside of working hours;
• Avoiding unnecessary travel by making use of instant messaging, video and audio conferencing, telephone and email;
• Purchasing glass reusable cups to ensure employees avoid using disposable cups when consuming hot drinks in the workplace;
• Situating the Smudge office on a campus that incorporates green spaces, established trees and native plants that encourage wildlife;
• Ensuring the Smudge office is easily accessible by public transport and includes lockable on-site bike sheds for employee use.

3. Product Design

At Smudge, we believe in technology as a force for good. Our purpose is to “solve problems in an imperfect world”. These problems include technology problems, people problems and environmental problems.

As a business that has benefited from the surging popularity of mobile technology, we are acutely aware of the impact of mobile devices on the environment. We recognise our responsibility to minimise the impact of technology on our home planet, and to ensure the products we create are sustainable over the long-term.

At Smudge, we have a highly codified product development methodology, which we group into three interrelated areas: usability, viability and feasibility. We keep our sustainability intentions top-of-mind when working in all these areas; however, we are especially cognizant of sustainability when considering the feasibility of the solutions we create.

To help cement this intent with our employees and customers, we have published a set of technology considerations, which we keep front of mind when designing products. These considerations are built around two pillars: capability and sustainability.

We have shared these considerations in the public domain in the hope that other businesses will elevate sustainability as a core consideration when designing technology solutions.

As a leading developer of enterprise software, we often design solutions for and with customers who have many thousands of deployed mobile devices and accessories. The lifecycle of those devices is closely tied to the software we create.

We take this responsibility seriously and strive to design user-centric enterprise software that will serve a useful purpose for as long as possible. In turn, this can prolong the longevity of a customer’s device fleet, with significant environmental benefits.

Similarly, we believe that the ability to update and maintain a solution is a key consideration for enterprise customers when making technology decisions. We are conscious of the requirement to ensure that a hardware / software solution is dependable and maintainable over the long term, and intentionally build this consideration into our technology decision-making process.

4. Partners and Customers

Smudge is a values-led company, and we take great care to work with partners and customers who share our desire to:

• Reduce the environmental impact of the global business community;
• Build and deploy high-quality products with a long lifespan;
• Design solutions for technology platforms that will have longevity in the marketplace.

By creating and following these guidelines, we hope to create sustainable solutions that minimise the environmental footprint of the technology we build.

For more information about our Sustainability Policy, please contact us.