With all the talk of the greening of IT, what is the state of play with
sustainable technology development? Are we there yet?
This
week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is making a large point
with its grandstanding of environmentally-friendly products. The
official blog is breathless with green tips, and the convention itself is very self-consciously green:
“Obviously, “greening” an event like CES
is a tall order, and it’s likely to be a work in progress for years to
come. But, we know our actions have an impact, and we view our
accomplishments this year as just the beginning. Is there a change
you’d like to see at CES in 2009? Something we’ve missed? Let us know!” – The Greening of CES
Consumer electronics reflect a sensitivity
to the attitudes of modern consumers of course. But there are
indications outside of Vegas that the CES
orchestrations are the tip of an iceberg of awareness that technology –
which by its nature resonates with the notion of efficiency – can cut a
lot of its own energy and resource waste simply by more thoughtful
design.
Is this all a temporary trend however? Hardly, says Matt Crane of InfoWorld.
“The flourishing world of green technology is driven
by true need. Companies are running out of space and power in their
datacentres, not to mention struggling with high energy costs. Business
leaders, politicians, and consumers alike are becoming increasingly
concerned about their impact on the environment.” – IT leaders share green-tech predictions for 2008
The cost of escalating power requirements in
a burgeoning sea of data that requires processing has become an
important concern for the modern corporation. Suddenly, sustainability
is a word that the CFO is crucially aware of.
So
as the consultants sharpen their analytical tools and their scolding,
and as technology itself develops cost-cutting solutions, what remains,
as always, are the legacy cultures of business and its support systems.
“Research by Datamonitor for BT has found that while
90% of organisations believe technology is part of the solution to
reduce their impact on the environment, nearly half (41%) have no plans
or targets for achieving improvements, with one in five admitting that
they are not using technology effectively to improve their
sustainability.” – UK businesses slow to apply IT to sustainability challenge
Green is coming to all of IT, sustainability
matters to too many stakeholders now, and 2008 will be a tipping-point
year for awareness. We’ll make some more observations on this over time.
