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 Senior Executives start a Green IT Program. 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:

Topics to Consider:

· Green IT strategy or policies

· Top reasons CXOs initiate a Green IT strategy

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

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

· e-Waste—What is e-waste? What is in e-waste that is dangerous to the environment? Where does most electronic waste go to today? How can companies and citizens reduce electronic waste? (This is an important topic—maybe have up to 10 slides on this; also there are good you-tube videos on this topic.

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

· Challenges organizations face when implementing Green IT

Original Data Collection:

Your group should interview senior IT leaders or other business leaders on this topic—what are their organization’s strategies for “going green”? What policies and practices do they use? How do they dispose of corporate e-waste?

You might get very creative about your interviews; you might:

· Visit a recycling facility that accepts computers, monitors, printers or other electronic devices; learn all you can from person in charge.

· Visit a store that accepts old computers, monitors, printers or other electronic devices like Best Buy and interview a manager on why they provide this service, what they do with the old equipment, etc.

· Conduct a survey to find out what people do with their old waste

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 “Corporate Social Responsibility” or “Sustainability” as that is the more serious terms for “Green”.