Green IT

As business people, citizens, and human inhabitants, we are increasingly aware of our need to conserve resources and protect the environment. Businesses are increasingly “going green” and IT has a significant role to play in reducing energy consumption. Within the IT organization, CIOs are increasingly choosing technologies to reduce power consumption of computers and hosting centers. Beyond the IT organization, CIOs are helping the entire business to reduce energy consumption. For example, companies are increasingly investing in video conferencing to reduce business travel. This not only saves the company money, it reduces its environmental footprint by burning less jet fuel.

There are many reasons CIOs start a Green IT. For example, a survey by ZDNET found that reduced energy costs and the desire to do the right thing for the environment were the top reasons in this study:

A Green IT strategy requires a holistic approach. The following is an example of a Green IT vision by Computer Sciences Corporation:

Topics to Cover:

· Green IT strategy (See CSC 2008 for an example)

· Top reasons CIOs initiate a Green IT strategy

· Specific examples and practices CIOs implement to reduce energy consumption within IT organizations

· Specific examples and practices CIOs use to help the entire business reduce energy consumption

· LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification: what is it and how can IT help?

· Top 12 Green IT Users and Vendors (search Computerworld online)

· Challenges CIO face when implementing Green IT

· If your group can interview some CIOs or senior IT leaders on this topic, that would be great!

This topic is so new that we are just starting to see good academic research in this area. For example, the International Conference of Information Systems devoted an entire track to Green IT: http://www.icis09.org/. Also, the academic outlets oriented towards practitioners cover Green Business and Green IT including the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and Communications of the ACM. Look also at organizations that are starting Green IT Forums including the Society of Information Management (see: www.misqe.org for discussion of the Advanced Practices Council coverage of UPS at http://misqe.org/ojs2/index.php/misqe/article/view/250 .

You will find plenty of articles in ABI inform and general searches on the web. Your search words should also include “Social Corporate Responsibility” as that is the more serious term for “Green”.

Good resources to start your project:

Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston, (2006) Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value , and Build Competitive Advantage, New Haven, Yale University Press.

Friedman, Thomas (2008), Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—And How It Can Renew America, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

June 2008 issue of Computer Sciences Corporation CSC World, The Green IT Issue (available from your professor).