IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Today is the day the Carbon Tax goes into effect, with many people and organisations bracing themselves for a hike in energy costs. But instead of waiting to get “wrapped up in ‘carbon red tape’”, CIOs need to step up and show leadership in reducing ICT energy costs for their organisations, says Ovum Australian and New Zealand research director, Steve Hodgkinson.

“It is imperative for CIOs to show leadership regarding the management of the CO2 footprint of the ICT infrastructure and applications,” he says.

According to the AIIA CEO, Suzanne Campbell, the CEFC has not “suitably addressed” nor fully considered ICT solutions, adding that there was a “glaring omission” in the GEFC report, which only “indirectly singled out ICT solutions as examples of energy efficiency technologies."

The Victorian Minister for Information and Communications Technology John Lender announced the cluster at an Australian Information Industry Group event yesterday. He revealed the new Victorian-based cluster is comprised of the Australian Information Industry Association, Box Hill Institute, CSC, KPMG, Prima Consulting and Tradeslot.

"This new cluster brings together six industry and government organisations with industry knowledge, giving companies an excellent opportunity to share knowledge and promote industry capability nationally and internationally," Lenders said in a press release.

As public and private organisations around the world seek to limit their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental impacts as part of "the sustainabil­ity agenda," information technology (IT) stands to make a significant contribution. Addressing the direct environmental by-products of IT use is one way that green IT solutions can help organisations reduce these emissions and address sustainability concerns. But an even bigger opportu­nity lies in helping other industries in their response to climate change. IT solutions can eliminate or otherwise redirect busi­ness activities that generate emissions, according to a new report by Booz & Company.

Die Bundesregierung hatte Ende 2008 auf dem nationalen IT-Gipfel beschlossen, in allen Ressorts bis 2013 den Energieverbrauch durch PCs, Laptops, Server und Peripheriegeräte um 40 Prozent zu reduzieren. Dabei geht es darum, die Stromaufnahme etwa durch intelligente Messtechnik in Gebäuden oder durch Videokonferenzen zu senken und den Energiehunger der IT selbst zu zügeln.

First, I will admit, I am among the group of IT advocates who claim that IT is overall green; I say this based on widely quoted numbers, primarily from the US in the growth of such things as telecommuting. For example, 15 years ago there were an estimated 5 million telecommuters in the US, and they really were just that; staying at home one or more days a week, using the plain old telephone to conduct their business, rather than in an office. That figure is now 25 million – and growing and they are no longer just on the phone, but connected via high speed broadband to their company data centres, often for 3 or more days a week.

Over 80% of HMRC’s tax returns are submitted via the internet, suggesting the growing importance of public sector datacentres.

Government departments have saved around £1.3m during the past year from adopting greener ICT practices, such as improving the energy efficiency of server rooms and replacing business travel to meetings with videoconferencing.

That is one of the key findings of the Cabinet Office's first annual progress report, Greening Government: ICT Strategy.

The fact is that services like broadband Internet, office data management, and Web 2.0 tools constitute a massive amount of information exchange every minute of every day. In countries such as UAE & KSA, large-scale infrastructure deployments led by new fiber networks and wireless 4G technologies have further resulted in a deluge of information that threatens to submerge service providers and customers in the red. Energy costs are one of the primary feeders of this crimson tide. For businesses and consumers alike, these can result in more frequent network delays, higher prices for voice and data connectivity, and a greater environmental toll on local communities.

Jake Eo from the National Information Society Agency in South Korea said this as he was at Universiti Brunei Darussalam to deliver a public lecture on Green IT.

Speaking to the Bulletin, he said, "I was invited here by the EGNC (Brunei's E-Government National Centre), and from what I've seen, while Brunei has no manufacturing industries, I see so many opportunities to adopt Green IT technology, such as Smart Grid technology."

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICT). Its mission is to connect the world in a sustainable way. The ITU’s delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) had a simple message: Technologies such as smart grids, intelligent transport systems and the “Internet of things” all have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across many energy intensive industries, and must be included in any meaningful discussion of climate change policies. The ITU believes it is essential that governments, the private sector and even individuals harness the power of information and communication technology (ICT) to promote mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

At a time when the debate about building a sustainable future is gathering strength around the world, governments and corporates are coming increasingly under the scanner on the measures that they adopt for reducing environmental damage. Green IT has become the latest buzzword on managing one's ecological footprint. Corporates today are constantly looking for ways to mitigate the impact of their actions on the environment and governments are looking to change the traditional way of functioning, one that is far from energy efficient.

“When we talk about the smart grid, we’re not just talking about a transmission system but also actually about a smart grid that integrates internet with electricity use. That way you achieve double efficiency gains because of the huge efficiencies you can get,” Ryan said at the Business & Leadership Green Economy conference in Dublin.

Specifically designed to reduce e-waste and increase usability, ITU-T L.1002 is an international standard for a universal power adapter (UPA) for portable devices, including notebooks, which complements the recently announced IEC/Technical Specification 62700/Ed1 by adding a number of environmentally friendly requirements.

The Kasumigaseki Cloud integrated the data centres of different public sector ministries, reducing excess resources and maintenance of individual systems. METI developed a web site for its national ‘Eco-Points Programme’ in three short weeks by using cloud computing technology.

The Broadband Bridge: Linking ICT with Climate Action is the result of work conducted by the Broadband Commission Working Group on Climate Change, chaired by Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson and comprising several members of the Commission, representing industry, international organizations, and NGOs.

Ecological ICT infrastructure is one of four areas the Korean government is working on to achieve the ten per cent carbon reduction. The three projects that fall under this scheme include life cycle management of IT systems, the integration of government servers and web sites, and greening the government data centre (see interview with the National Computing and Information Agency).

IT resources managed by the National Computing and Information Agency (NCIA) has been increasing steadily at 25 per cent since 2006. Based on current consumption patterns, it is estimated that electricity use will more than double within the next five years, from 89,718 megawatt hour (mwh) to 216,243 mwh.