A new analysis by researchers at Cornell warns, rising sea levels threaten to take large apparel producing areas across Jakarta, Phnom Penh, India, Bangladesh, Guangzhou, Columbo and Ho Chi Minh City underwater by 2030. The research uses the open-source factory database, classified under, the Open Apparel Registry (OAR)

According to this research, in order to survive, these factories need to shift to a higher ground. The analysis emphasizes that the industry cannot wait any longer to take action towards a more sustainable future. It needs to use cases for data and the potential from it to inform crucial decisions around policy, investment, sustainability and ESG initiatives in the global fashion sector.

Standardized format for disclosing information

The OAR - a not for profit –can help the industry improve data quality in the apparel sector by addressing specific industry challenges and creating a standardized format for disclosing facility information, making data publicly available to all industry stakeholders, cleaning and matching facility data and enabling organizations to connect disparate data sets. Its report has been released to assist stakeholders looking to support similar ventures, given the urgency of issues facing the apparel sector, says Natalie Grillon, Executive Director.

The OAR’s tool allocates a unique ID to all garment facilities across the world. The tool data is used by major global brands, civil society organizations, factory groups, multi-stakeholder initiatives and certification schemes. The data is received by over 400 contributors and mapped facilities 1800 subscribers and contains over 68,000 facilities, has received data from over 400 contributors and mapped facilities in more than 120 countries.

Powered by a sophisticated algorithm

The Open Apparel Registry (OAR) is a neutral, open-source tool mapping garment facilities worldwide and allocating a unique ID to each. With over 68,000 facilities in the database, data in the tool is contributed and used by organizations all over the world, including major global brands, civil society organizations, multi-stakeholder initiatives, certification schemes, factory groups, etc. The data is organized and presented in such a way that it improves the lives of some of the most vulnerable workers in global supply chains.

At its heart, the OAR exists to drive improvements in data quality for the benefit of all stakeholders in the apparel sector. Powered by a sophisticated name- and address-matching algorithm, the tool creates one common, open registry of global facility names and addresses, with an industry-standard facility ID. These OAR IDs do not replace any existing ID schema, rather they serve as a ‘central source of truth,’ enabling interoperability across systems and creating a collective understanding of shared connections at the facility level.