Alain Penel, the VP for Middle East, Turkey, and CIS, at Fortinet, says sustainability is central to his company’s vision

Please tell us about your efforts that ensure a sustainable and equitable digital future.
Sustainability is central to our company vision at Fortinet: making possible a digital world you can always trust, which is a fundamental element to achieving just and sustainable societies. Our corporate social responsibility mission is to deliver on that vision by innovating sustainable security technologies, diversifying cybersecurity talent, respecting the environment, and promoting responsible business across our value chain.

We are actively implementing our sustainability strategy across most material areas, and we continue to prioritize the security and privacy of individuals and organizations to enable digital progress and establish sound governance. We also remain committed to the vital issues of climate change and resource scarcity that impact us and our stakeholders.

What is your commitment to combat climate change?
Our commitment to the environment and our efforts to curtail climate change are reflected in our product innovation and manufacturing standards, the eco-footprint of our facilities, and our support of environmental policies and regulations. Fortinet has a strong commitment to product energy efficiency and has also sought to reduce its environmental impact by redesigning its packaging, shipping over 500,000 boxes with 100% eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging in 2022. We have also taken tangible measures to mitigate our environmental impact and harmful emissions by signing onto the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our value chain by no later than 2050.

How are you aligning your sustainability initiatives with the themes of COP28?
In line with the COP28 theme of education and skills, we have a mission to grow an inclusive cybersecurity workforce. Fortinet has already trained 219,465 people in cybersecurity as part of our goal to reach 1 million individuals trained in cybersecurity by 2026. We have also seen a +39% year-on-year increase in women hired.

When it comes to promoting responsible business and accountability, Fortinet delivers training on the impacts of human rights throughout the product life cycle to key business units. 100% of our key contract manufacturers and over 90% of our distributors globally have completed Fortinet’s training on compliance and business ethics.

Finally, in line with the COP28 theme of innovation, Fortinet is committed to innovating for a safer internet. Over 200,000 pieces of malicious cyberinfrastructure were disrupted as part of INTERPOL’s anti-cybercrime operation in Africa; 5 new product families and services were designed to support security teams in the arms race against cybercrime; and 13 new information security certifications and assessments were completed, including SOC2, HIPAA, TISAX.