Businessworld - IT Is A Green Concern

COMMENT
IT Is A Green Concern

Infomation technology can solve a number of ‘green’ issues that businesses ignore

BY SURESH VASWANI
17 Oct 2008

2008 is the year of future opportunities. let me explain why I think so even after weeks of unprecedented global turmoil in the financial markets.
In 2008, for the first time in human history, more people started living in cities. The world is slowly turning urban.

In 2008, a barrel of oil for $150 became a reality. With soaring energy prices, transport sectors started seriously relooking at how they could fare better.

The year also saw water problems being discussed heavily in the World Economic Forum in Davos.

These are all reflective of future trends. And in that sense, 2008 is the year of future opportunities in which information technology (IT) plays a key role.

Businesses will need to find innovative solutions, and learn to manage natural resources better. And IT can play a key role in finding the answers that businesses will need.

Managing the environmental sustainability, its supply chain operations across its products, services and resources can all be attributed to ‘IT for green’. Though some of them will span multiple enterprises, the concept will also apply in a broader context to towns and cities.

To begin with, IT will need to demonstrate that it has solved its own energy problems. This is ‘Green IT’. For Green IT, technologies and choices on how to run data centres efficiently is now well understood.

The gamut spans data centre infrastructure, including LEED-certified buildings and efficient lighting; integrated sub-systems that are optimised for region- and climate-specific needs; adoption of best practices for managing data centres well; including those at rack, aisle, functional deployment and end-user levels.

Green IT does not stop here. The future is already unfolding in terms of virtualisation and cloud computing. These technologies will redefine data centres themselves and, accordingly, there will be opportunities for making technology choices.

In addition to IT solutions, there are green energy technologies. These are environment friendly, renewable and ultra-clean. Companies will find adoption meaningful as they begin to factor in energy costs over the complete lifecycle of the energy producer.

The starting point for an enterprise is to measure its carbon footprint. Measured even in broad terms, it allows an enterprise to prioritise its next steps.

Wipro has developed a carbon accounting tool called Hara. This can help in identifying reduction opportunities based on actual work practices of the enterprise.

Once the worst energy guzzlers, IT companies are now tackling the problem. ‘IT for green’ is about putting together a sustainable solution. Typically, these benefits are reaped for doing things efficiently and for experiencing cause and effect. Whether it is through green dashboards or by timely reports or by circulation of pending action items, IT can help us experience cause and effect closer to each other.

An IT products company has an additional opportunity. It can make its products greener to augment their value. Some examples are energy-efficient servers and storage; electronics devices that consume less power in standby; incorporating RFID tags for energy-efficient logistics.

These are just a few examples, but the opportunity — to use IT to make our process, products and infrastructure more efficient from an ecological footprint standpoint — is unlimited. This opportunity extends not just in the context of energy, but for water management and waste management. Wipro has joined hands with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to explore and establish how IT and communication technologies can make energy usage greener.

Energy needs of highly populous nations such as China and India are huge, and IT can help in managing the energy grids better or in designing cities that use resources better.

‘IT for green’ has the potential to transform industry, improve standards of living and apply technology in ways previously unseen. This, in turn, will augment value and drive economic growth. So, while Green IT is necessary, the real opportunity — for businesses and for tackling ecological issues — is through ‘IT for green’.

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