Auteur:
Pieter-Paul Casier, Group Casier CEO, p-p.casier@casier.be, and Loes Vandromme, Corporate Assistant at Group Casier, l.vandromme@casier.be
“Innovation is the engine of sustainable growth”
“Innovation is the engine of sustainable growth”
At Barco, the ecological aspect is integrated into the production process right from the design phase. CEO An Steegen explains, “We’re reducing our carbon footprint by focusing heavily on eco-design and responsible sourcing. At the same time, we continue to perform at the highest level in terms of quality and innovation and set the trend here.”
An Steegen is a civil engineer in materials science with a doctorate in microelectronics. She joined Barco’s Board of Directors in April 2017. “I was working at IMEC at the time and had previously worked at IBM in the US. I switched to Umicore in 2018. I was closely involved in outlining their sustainability strategy and innovation around sustainability. I learned a lot about what sustainability actually is and what it means for a company. Charles Beauduin and I were asked to take on the role of CEO at Barco in September 2021. I have been the sole CEO since October 1, 2024.”
An Steegen: “I wanted to not only help develop new cutting-edge technologies, but also see them end up in finished products and help market them. The Barco proposal took me back to my roots and my expertise in electronics and optics. Plus, it’s for a company that has long made persistent efforts to make its production chain more sustainable. I have also been on the board of the Dutch high-tech company ASML since 2022, on both their Technology and ESG Committee, which is, of course, quite an honor, since ASML is an absolute world leader in the semiconductor industry.”
“Barco offers advanced visualization and networking solutions in three sectors: Healthcare, Entertainment, and Enterprise. Barco is a specialist in image processing and networking solutions, which is the theme running through all of our products and Barco’s 90 years of expertise. We want to be number one in each of those markets and set the trend with new, disruptive products. From the moment video data is created, Barco is on top of it. If you look at the visualization chain, a camera takes raw video data. These must be processed and transported to a display (LCD, projector, LED wall, or monitor screen). Barco ensures both post-processing and network transport, as well as providing the display technology. Innovation is incredibly important in this regard. We really have to rely on disruption. You also need volume to fill your factories and create capacity. We work on premium products first and then make derivatives of them, which you also need different skills for.”
“In addition to data visualization, there is a high need for data analysis. Consider, for example, radiologists taking thousands of images. We can apply data analysis techniques to those so that the doctors get visual summaries indicating anomalies, among other things. We can also apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to it, so that the computer makes analyses that can be a resource for the physician to use in their decision-making. The next step is generative AI. By monitoring those thousands of images, how can you predict where the sensitivities are and what to look out for? Machine learning and AI will facilitate the workflow for the operators of our products. Given that we operate in niche markets, we have access to data going through our network solutions. So, the expansion on the visualization chain – by doing real-time analytics or putting data on top of other data – is a ‘natural’ expansion, so to speak, and we continue building on our hardware install base. Innovation in hardware focuses on speech control, 3D visualization, and eventually 3D holograms.”
“We ran our Double Materiality Assessment, and then used that to set our priorities and define our targets. Our ESG team coordinated that process and worked with all business units to do so. Our 2027 and 2050 targets are set in our Sustainable Impact Journey. But that doesn’t mean the implementation is finished. Now, of course, we need to further define our roadmaps and make sure we can achieve those results.”
“Every product is subjected to a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). For example, we aim for a lifespan of twelve to fifteen years for a movie projector in a cinema. We now use a laser as a light source instead of a bulb. As a result, the projector lasts longer and the overall cost for the cinema chain is lower. That’s good because customers care about cost reduction and if the new solution is also more sustainable, then that’s a great overall picture. Ultimately, the question is: does the end customer want to pay for it? Sustainability is certainly a differentiator, but you shouldn’t put it on the end market at a twenty percent price increase either. For us, sustainability is a separate variable from technical and energy specifications, and that’s certainly a competitive advantage. Barco Entertainment has a market share of more than sixty percent in digital cinema projectors. That critical mass allows us to continue to invest in innovation and sustainability.”
“We know what products we put on the market, but managing and controlling the supply chain is another story. We set up goals and guidelines for that.”
“Reuse depends on the product. Sometimes, it isn’t easy to trace a product through its entire life cycle. However, we can do that when we offer those products directly to the end customer. We also offer leasing models, aka as-a-service models. Those remain our products, which we can later recover and refurbish.”
“It starts by defining what sectors we are targeting and what circularity means in those sectors. Government can ensure that businesses can stay competitive and grow because the sustainability story is a very difficult one without economic growth. You have to be a healthy business to be able to invest and reinvest in sustainability. If you want to do something ‘green’, it’s often more expensive. I would imagine that a company with a much larger carbon footprint than Barco would have to make much larger investments to become carbon neutral. And that’s when you must have the financial capacity. I also wouldn’t think it’s a simple thing for an SME to invest in assessments to comply with the CSRD directive. The government could also look at regulations: those could be a lot simpler. Additional incentives could further boost sustainability.”
“We should make people more aware of how to put products back into the circular chain. This can be done, for example, by making collection points for electronic products more accessible and visible so that people don’t forget about them. It’s not yet ingrained in everyone to deal with old electronics in the most environmentally friendly way. Separating plastic from other waste succeeded by setting up stricter actions and fining those who don’t sort their waste. End consumers are also getting conflicting messages right now. Is what’s important in Europe no longer important in the U.S.? That doesn’t help raise awareness.”
Read more about Barco’s sustainability policy
Read more about Barco’s Sustainable Impact Journey
