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Last updated: 16 September 2009
Thank you, James [Garner]. It is heartening to see so many people here today who believe so passionately in the worth of Greening ICT.
Over the first decade of the twenty-first century, information technology has become the single most important tool in our working lives. In Government we spend hours at the keyboard using computers to help make a real difference to people’s lives - be it storing over 400 million digital x-rays, booking 2.7 million driving tests online or, in the case of the Department for Work and Pensions, delivering £121 billion of payments each year.
But for too long we have ignored the demons that stalk behind our terminals. While the hard-drives whir, computers currently pump out enough carbon emissions to rival the aviation industry.
The effects of carbon emissions on the environment have been well publicised and the threats posed by associated global warming are too severe to ignore. If we do nothing, we can look forward to some devastating consequences; rising sea levels and ozone depletion, catastrophic storms and the spread of disease, and continued pollution of our planet by ‘e’ waste. But this bleak vision of the future can and must be prevented through a sustained effort to be more Green.
One year ago we took up this substantial challenge. By launching the Greening Government ICT strategy, we not only made a firm commitment to reduce our impact on the environment but also led the way. The UK Government is one of the first in the world to have tackled the environmental problems caused by its IT and our vision now signposts the future for the private sector as well.
If staving off environmental catastrophe wasn’t enough to motivate us, then the financial implications of our Green ICT strategy certainly are. With the economy still recovering, we can’t afford to pass up any opportunities to improve efficiency. Every time we save energy, we also save taxpayers’ money and by pursuing our Green ICT strategy, we will save a lot of both.
A year after the strategy’s launch, we have achieved a great deal. The ‘Greening Government ICT: One year on’ report reveals that carbon emissions are down by over 12,000 tonnes and we have saved at least £6.8 million.
One hundred and ten public bodies have produced Green ICT roadmaps that set out 22 specific actions from 18 key areas focused on driving down carbon cost.
Furthermore, we have had a much wider scope of responses than we first anticipated – Central Government, Wider Public Sector, Devolved Administrations and Local Government. This shows how important this agenda is right across Government and just how seriously people take it.
The action plans show significant progress has been made with 80% of actions delivered, in progress or planned by over 60% of public bodies.
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to replace 9,500 computers and 2,500 printers every 5 years rather than 3. This delivers £2.35 million in savings which is being reinvested in other greening government ICT programmes
The Department for International Development is in partnership with an organisation that refurbishes computers and distributes them for reuse in education, health and not-for-profit organisations in developing countries - to manage the redistribution and re-use of obsolete IT equipment. Once data is securely wiped, equipment is redistributed safe in the knowledge that it will have a second life helping to provide training and new skills in developing countries, fighting poverty and social exclusion. The scheme also takes responsibility for the disposal of the equipment in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive.
HM Revenue and Customs are currently introducing ‘Wake On LAN’ to over 75,000 PC’s – and is expected to reduce HMRC’s CO2 Emissions by 12000 tonnes, and save £2 million per annum in energy costs. This programme puts PC’s into low power mode overnight, at weekends and at other times when they are not in use. HMRC still provide a secure and stable desktop infrastructure by allowing remote activation of machines to deploy security patches and software updates remotely.
As well as Government departments, external IT suppliers have also been targeted by the strategy. A scoring model has been developed which provides a clear metric score to indicate whether a supplier meets the basic requirements for UK tenders and providing products and services to government.
In collaboration with the international community we are ensuring that best practice is shared beyond our shores. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment sub group has drawn up definitive regulations for Europe and the US, ensuring that Green principles govern the disposal of any used IT hardware.
As we improve the way we think about technology enabling a more efficient business, we can provide a better service to the UK citizen.
Technology continues to advance and we have positioned ourselves to take best advantage of this, taking a pan-government approach to collaborating with the environment and technology industry.
By changing our working culture we can use IT to reduce carbon emissions still further. Embracing social networking tools and video-conferencing will cut down on building occupancy and travel.
We need to identify common Green ICT standards and clear measurement criteria for the UK and internationally.
If we can sustain this rate of progress then, to hijack a famous advertising slogan, “The future’s bright, the future’s Green.”