Studies show that carbon emissions generated by the internet, devices, and systems that support it account for 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than all aviation emissions (2.5%). It doesn’t end there. Research conducted by “Green the Web.” found that a single web page consumes on average 1.76 g CO2 per page view. As businesses, the question we need to ask ourselves is how much every click on our website/data storage/use of tech devices costs the planet.
There are no specific points or steps to follow while designing a green or sustainable IT system. In truth, it’s a collection of ideas, facts, and best practices that should be followed while prioritizing sustainability principles. Climate change is an indisputable reality every organization under the sun is grappling with. Increased global warming due to rising carbon emissions is compelling both companies and customers to think about sustainability for their own future. A few statistics to understand the gravity of the current scenario:
Related reading: The growth of green consumerism: Shaping sustainable futures
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investors are using non-financial aspects more often as part of their analytical process to assess opportunities and identify material risks. ESG investors have become a growing force in capital markets and poured around $649 Bn into ESG funds in 2021. The US has experienced the highest growth in recent years and may come to dominate the category starting in 2022.
Green or sustainable IT is bringing about a transformative change in the users’ mindset. Right from the efficient utilization of resources, reduction in waste, innovative and sustainable design approach, low power devices, and more, ICT companies can immensely contribute towards this objective of global environmental sustainability. Global IT industry leaders like Accenture, Microsoft, IBM, HCL, Oracle, etc., are working towards IT sustainability and incorporating a sustainable approach in their products and services. There are tools available to measure CO2 emissions in front-end web applications (E.g. Wholegrain Digital and GreenFrame). However, for native/mobile applications currently, a few startups are working to measure CO2 emissions. Some of the names include Pangolin, CoGo, and ImpactVision.
Increasing use of 3D arts, electronics wearables, mobile apps, NFTs, gamification, IoT devices, and data centers have raised serious concerns for designers and developers about incurring sustainability issues and reducing carbon footprints. Savvy startups eager to prove their concern are already working towards providing sustainability in their product/services. Current innovation in and sustainability R&D concept in the IT industry are being developed and applied to future paradigm parameters like the generation of extremely consistent recycling management approaches for hardware and batteries.
The entire environmental sustainability revolves around 3 Rs (reusing, recycling, reducing). IT enterprises (more likely hardware companies) can create advanced IT systems keeping these 3 Rs in mind. Recycling is using old components or parts in a new way or using waste as resources. Reusing refers to the repeated use of items or parts of items which still have usable aspects including network interfaces and communication devices. Reducing means optimizing the amount of waste or energy consumed with means of choosing things with care to reduce the amount of waste generated. Optimized customer experiences are turning into game-changers and IT technology trends are focused on this digital-savvy generation.
Before discussing sustainable IT trends, let’s start with why it is imperative to catch up with these trends:
Sustainability will remain a top priority for ICT brands to survive and thrive. A few key trends we think will help your customers and the market at large take note of your sustainable approach now and into the future:
Ensuring these ideas are embedded into hardware and software designs will not only lead to improved performance and usability. It will also ensure quality of product or services that company offers. As leading ICT brands like Microsoft, Intel, Google, AT&T, AWS, etc. need to implement a sustainability approach to build a green future, accessible to all. Creating a simpler, smoother online experience can also help reduce visitor screen time and webpage bandwidth usage. As a part of sustainable product/service design, savvy companies are already working to support the environment by compact designs, use of advanced technologies like AI and ML, and incorporate energy efficient systems. Going green is a core part of doing business today for any enterprise.
Sustainable/green approach results in a win-win-win situation for the economy, society, and environment. Enterprises operating in ICT sector must consider sustainability as their responsibility while developing new technologies, products, and services.
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