The Business of Government is a magazine dedicated to improving the management of government.

From the Editor’s Keyboard
By Albert Morales

The Greening of IT

It is becoming widely understood that the way in which we are behaving as a society is environmentally unsustainable, causing irreparable damage to our planet. Rising energy prices, together with government-imposed levies on carbon production, are increasingly impacting the cost of doing business, making many current business practices economically unsustainable. It is becoming progressively more important for all organizations to act (and to be seen to act) in an environmentally responsible manner. Information technology (IT) has a large part to play in all this. With its increasing importance in our economy, IT is driving an exponential increase in demand for energy.

The Problem

Rising energy costs will have an impact on all organizations, and all will increasingly be judged according to their environmental credentials, by legislators, customers, and stakeholders. This won’t just affect the obvious, traditionally power-hungry “smoke-belching” manufacturing and heavy engineering operations. Indeed, IT operations are more vulnerable than most—they have sometimes been a reckless and profligate consumer of energy.

Development and improvements in technology have largely been achieved without regard to energy consumption.

The Impact

Rising energy costs and increasing environmental damage can only become more important issues, politically and economically. They will continue to drive significant increases in the cost of living and will continue to drive up the cost of doing business. This will make it imperative for governments to operate as green entities, risking massive and expensive change. Solving the problems of rising energy costs and environmental damage will be extremely painful and costly, and those perceived as being responsible will be increasingly expected to shoulder the biggest burden of the cost and blame. It may even prove impossible to reduce the growth in carbon emissions sufficiently to avoid environmental catastrophe. Some believe that the spotlight may point more and more to IT as an area to make major energy savings, and some even predict that IT may become tomorrow’s 4x4/SUV and the next thing to lose public support and consent.

The Solution

A fresh approach to IT and power is now needed, putting power consumption at the fore in all aspects of IT—from basic hardware design to architectural standards, from bolt-on point solutions to bottom-up infrastructure build. There is a real, economic imperative to change arising now, and it is not just a matter of making gestures.

Albert Morales is General Manager, Federal Civilian Industry Leader, IBM Global Business Services, and Managing Partner, IBM Center for The Business of Government.

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About the IBM Center for The Business of Government

Through research stipends and events, the IBM Center for The Business of Government stimulates research and facilitates discussion of new approaches to improving the effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local, and international levels.

The Center is one of the ways that IBM seeks to advance knowledge on how to improve public sector effectiveness. The IBM Center focuses on the future of the operation and management of the public sector.

About IBM Global Business Services

With consultants and professional staff in more than 160 countries globally, IBM Global Business Services is the world’s largest consulting services organization. IBM Global Business Services provides clients with business process and industry expertise, a deep understanding of technology solutions that address specific industry issues, and the ability to design, build and run those solutions in a way that delivers bottom-line business value. For more information visit www.ibm.com.

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