Cognizant goes blue with the Cognizant Ocean business group

We’re all familiar with the concept of sustainability across the land industry as a green economy, but the ocean-related blue economy has also been going through a much-needed transformation. Consumers and enterprises alike are calling for a focused approach to sustainable practices and innovation for the blue economy. Cognizant realized this opportunity and launched a new business group, Cognizant Ocean, to help ocean industries navigate the effects of over-exploitation and climate change. Any enterprise operating within the realms of the blue economy would do well to find a partner who can help them craft a focused approach to addressing their sustainability challenges while driving innovation, and Cognizant is making a play to be that partner.

Blue economy: The hidden economy for human survival

World Bank defines the blue economy as the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem.” If we look at Exhibit 1, we can see that the blue economy spans everything from seafood, to transport, and even waste disposal. All components are interconnected and exploitation of any of these impacts the others. By digging deeper into the components of the blue economy, we can see that Cognizant Ocean plans to cover a large percentage of the market.

Exhibit 1: The blue economy ecosystem consists of diverse components and Cognizant plans to tackle at least half of them

Source: World Bank
Graphics: HFS Research, 2023

It’s clear that the blue economy plays a vital role in the survival of human beings, which means it’s critical that every enterprise operating within the blue economy defines a clear roadmap for driving sustainability modernization at the very core of their operations. Exhibit 2 shows how important this industry is and how big of an opportunity enterprises and Cognizant have to make a real difference.

Exhibit 2: The blue economy is big enough to ensure we can’t ignore it; it is vital for human existence

Source: Commonwealth
Graphics: HFS Research, 2023

Cognizant Ocean offers a differentiated narrative on sustainability

While many providers are taking a broader, greener approach, Cognizant Ocean is driving new differentiated, industry-specific solutions across blue industries—where very few of its peers focus. The offerings by the Cognizant Ocean cover at least seven of the 17 goals listed by the UN. Initially, Cognizant has designed four offerings to support the blue economy on the path to greater sustainability, which they believe will help clients balance their own innovation efforts with sustainability.

• Blue Life: Enables data insights and digital capabilities for water utility companies; furthermore, it allows blue carbon as a nature-based solution for climate action.
• Blue Transport: Creates sustainable marine transport through better planning and interoperability in the ecosystem.
• Blue Energy: Focused on identifying the intersection between green energy and its impact on nature.
• Blue Food: Encourages sustainable fisheries and aquaculture (breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants).

Cognizant is pulling together an ecosystem of partners to complement its own offerings

Enterprises don’t just want single solutions—they can only deliver so much value. To that end, Cognizant plans to curate an ecosystem to complement its own initiatives and drive sustainability and innovation for enterprises in the blue economy. For example, the provider recently partnered with Tidal, a project from Alphabet—Google’s parent company—which leverages cameras, computer vision, and environmental sensors to deliver data-driven insights for enterprises. The partnership will allow Cognizant’s clients access to Tidal’s ocean information platform, which they believe will drive sustainability and efficiency throughout their operations. Cognizant promised that more partnerships are coming too.

The Bottom Line: While many providers are going green, Cognizant is focused on the blue economy and it’s a value proposition that should tempt enterprises looking to drive innovation and sustainability.

Cognizant believes its Cognizant Ocean business unit can help drive sustainability and innovation for enterprises throughout the blue economy—and if it successfully pulls its partnership levers it really could. A provider focused beyond the green economy should be an interesting prospect for enterprises. However, in such a niche industry, Cognizant or any other provider may face challenges attracting and retaining the top domain talent, given the high qualifications required.