Green IT Opportunities

There is no doubt that IT is a contributor to both the problem and the solution of making our organizations sustainable.  Recently Greenpeace studied the environmental impacts of the processes used to manufacture printed wiring boards (PWBs), semiconductor chips and assembly of computer systems¹.  The evidence of environmental contamination by a diverse range of chemicals in the local water and food sources near the manufacturing plants was astounding.    As a result the IT industry has now become one of the major focuses for reducing our environmental impact.

The IT industry is now working to produce greener products, reduce energy consumption and increase recycling.  Much of the action has been focussed on large corporations, their large purchasing programs and their large data centres.  Gartner cites ‘Green IT’ as one of the top 10 technology strategies for 2008².  They cite five reasons for this development;
1.    increased awareness of environmental dangers,
2.    concern about power bills,
3.    new regulatory requirements,
4.    government procurement requirements, and,
5.    increased awareness of social responsibility in business in general.

Resources
1.  Bridgen, K., Labunska, I., Santillo, D., Walters, A. “Cutting Edge Contamination.”  Greenpeace Research Laboratories, [Online] Available
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/cutting-edge-contamination-a.pdf
February 2007
2.  Brodkin, Jon. “Strategic technologies for 2008,” Network World; October 15, 2007, Vol. 24 Issue 40, p58-58, 3/4p

Are you looking for more information about how to initiate a green IT program in your business?  Check out our Green IT Guide and Toolkit.