IHS Markit Launches Corporate Data Platform

London-based information and analytics firm IHS Markit is to launch a one-stop online platform for the collection and sharing of corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) data and reports.

Launching this month, the ESG Reporting platform will pool data from sustainability and climate impact reports, carbon offset program data and 'any other information a corporation feels is relevant to its stakeholders' - and cover 'multiple industries, corporations and geographies'. The firm plans to build in optical character recognition (OCR), machine learning and other data mining tools to help structure the data and facilitate analysis.

Markit's existing services will provide a unique case for the platform, and include Environmental Registry, the largest, global registry for carbon, water and biodiversity credits; Environmental Auctions Services; Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMI) based on more than 26,000 companies in more than 40 countries surveyed each month; cloud-based due diligence platform KY3P; customer-checking and legal admin database Counterparty Manager; and CARFAX, billed as 'the most comprehensive vehicle history database in North America, consisting of over 17 billion records based on 100,000 data sources'.

Chairman and CEO Lance Uggla (pictured), who replaced longtime leader Jerre Stead at the turn of the year, comments: 'Demand is growing for environmental, social and governance information, yet accessing the data needed to incorporate ESG into the investing process can be a struggle. Our new platform will provide an efficient, single source for information and data relevant for ESG-focused investors and other stakeholders'.

IHS, which in May acquired competitor firm Ipreo for around $1.86bn, is online at www.ihsmarkit.com .