These two pillars go hand in hand since intelligence is acting based on information, which is collected through measurability. On its own, measurability will give management more, timely information to make decisions on but coupled with intelligence, information systems will be readily able to made decisions on collected data immediately. This can be seen in two significant aspects, energy consumption and transportation.
Many companies have implemented energy management, the collection, measurement, monitoring, and benchmarking of corporate consumption and implementing policies to optimize it. This has obvious and significant benefits for both the company and the environment in terms of cost savings and consumption reduction. There have also been initiatives around the world, notably in Malta, to implement a smart utility system. This will allow customers to track their uses in real time over the internet and choose payment plans that fit their needs. The Canadian government also introduced a smart price pilot that awards customers for shifting power usage from peak times to low times. This has resulted in participants shifting up to 25% of their usage away from peak hours. This helps consumers save on energy costs but also protects the environment since power plants run to meet the demands of peak times while having slack during downtimes. This shift results in higher efficiencies since fewer power plants will be needed to meet the same demand.
Furthermore, intelligence has been beneficial for physical transportation and travel. With more precise data on road usage, transporters are better able to position themselves for maximized efficiency. For example, Cosco was able to consolidate its distribution centers from 100 down to 40 by analyzing its entire supply and distribution chain, resulting in a reduction in fuel costs by 25% and emissions by 100,000 tons (15%). Furthermore, intelligence can also be used to solve congestion. IBM has implemented a congestion charging system in many cities around the world, most notably London, England and Stockholm, Sweden. The system combines a plate recognition system with a toll charge levied on vehicles travelling within congested zones between certain peak times in the day. The fees are subsequently used for other transportation infrastructure uses. Since implementation, Stockholm saw a 20% reduction in traffic, a 30%-50% reduction in travel time, and a 10%-14% reduction in emissions. While critics claim that the policy only diverted traffic away from the congestion zone to surrounding areas and so this policy does not actually achieve environmental sustainability, it is reasonable to believe that this policy at least to some degree has been helpful. Especially since this has been implemented in a business zone and its difficult for people to simply relocate their work location, some necessarily still come into the zone but through other methods, whether walking, biking, public transit, or carpooling.
