Role of Indian ICT Organisations in Realising Sustainable Development Goals Through Corporate Social Engagement

Abstract

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is an initiative of the United Nations to provide a technical and operational fit process for the achievement of sustainable development across the globe. Government and NGOs primarily cater to either of the aspects of sustainable development, but they lack infrastructure and capability. The public policies, though central for achieving these goals, are not adequate. The private sector should also be equally involved as they can drive innovation and growth in the nation. With the presence of the organisational and management expertise, the private sector can accelerate the attainment of these goals. This paper studies the role of businesses in attainment of SDG through corporate social responsibility (CSR) with ICT moderating this relationship. Since Information Communication Technologies (ICT) is considered to act as a catalyst for achieving these SDG, a mixed methodology is used in the study. The study identifies the firm size, profitability and industry sensitivity as factors influencing the CSR implementation in Indian ICT organisations and profitability, ICT and industry sensitivity to be influencing SDG. CSR need not be the only means for businesses to contribute to SDG. SDG can be considered as "corporate social opportunity" to obtain a competitive edge over other firms in the industry.