Green IT and Sustainability - Literature review Example

Green IT and Sustainability Introduction Green IT and Sustainability play an important role in enhancing environmental enhancement, especially with the digital age of innovations. Green IT helps to reduce carbon footprints in the environment, and plays a role in sustainability by helping to minimize the effects on the environment. Sustainability, on the other hand, seeks to minimize the effects of human activities on the environment. Carbon is detrimental to the environment, and thus, Green IT should be promoted in an effort to achieve the efforts of sustainability. Definitions Green IT can be defined as a collection of strategic measures and tactics which are aimed at directly reducing the carbon footprint of an organization’s computing operation. Green IT does not only aim at reducing the environmental impact of information communication technology (ICT), but also focuses on the role of ICT in reducing carbon footprint in an organization. All organizations can engage in green IT activities irrespective of their activities and size (O’Neil 2010, p.4). Sustainability, on the other hand, has been defined as minimizing the consumption of the world’s resources by pursuing better environmental performance for a product’s lifestyle (Bell & Donnelly 2006). In the London 2012 Olympics, Green IT will be incorporated in the planning and delivery of information at the venues, and to global audiences to attain sustainability. Activities will be geared towards attaining the goals of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games 2012, and technology will play a vital role in attaining such success. Use of Green IT and Sustainability The strategies and tactics of Green IT and Sustainability can be used in homes, institutions or organizations in any part of the world. Individuals and groups of individuals may use the strategies and tactic measures of Green IT and sustainability out of free will or because a state demands so. The two concepts are employed in order to realize a better environment that is exposed to minimum degradation and carbon footprint (Velte et al. 2008). These two concepts may have many beneficiaries depending on who is executing them and for what reasons they are being carried out. The London Olympics 2012, for instance, has plans for being the greenest ever Olympics. The reasons behind this are that they want to better the environment for the citizens and their guests, and they also want to set an example to the rest of the world (House of Commons 2011). Benefits of Green IT and Sustainability Green IT and Sustainability, in most cases, will be driven by the economic benefits accrued to it. The two concepts, when put in use, will lead to an increase in efficiency and lower the costs of operations and general expenses (Greuel 2010). The 2012 London Olympics preparations are an expenditure on the British government, and thus the need to minimize spending by applying the relatively money-saving technological approach. The aspiration to better the environment may lead one to practice Green IT and Sustainability (Higgins et al. 2010). The two strategies are aimed at improving the environment. In the 2012 London Olympic situation, the people involved want to reduce and minimize the damage of the event. The concepts save time and energy (O’Neil 2010). In the context of the London Olympics, use of IT to communicate between organizers in different venues will save the fuel and time that the participants would have used. This increases efficiency of the work performed for better outcome (Higgins et al. 2010). The people involved will have more time to prepare for the game. Government policy is a driver to the use of Green IT and Sustainability. The requirement and implementation of the Green Agenda by the government of Britain is aimed to achieve the greenest Olympic ever (House of Commons 2011). When it is prescribed by a state or a company, the people in that state or company will be driven to use the concepts. This will be in compliance to the laws/rules and obligation of the people at power. Space will be saved when the two concepts are put in use (O’Neil 2010). These spaces include parking, stadiums and some infrastructure. The London Olympics games will be aired live as they happen thanks to digital innovations in technology. The people around the world will not have to travel all the way to London to enjoy. The stadiums in London will thus not suffer congestion. Limitations to Green IT and sustainability Implementing the strategies may require financial commitments in the short run (Bonda & Sosnowchik 2007). If the company does not have this initial cost the implementation of these concepts will be difficult. In some cases, for example the design industry, the innovation may not last long enough to recover the money. The industry keeps on evolving and new innovations might come up to replace the existing ones leading to more initial costs. High initial cost may discourage some ideas in the London Olympic in 2012. In some cases, adopting a new technology may lead to more environmental effects than what would have happened if the existing systems were maintained (Yanarella & Levine 2011). In such cases, though technology and innovations are encouraged the use of new concepts will be limited and avoided. These concepts include Green IT and Sustainability. In the 2012 London Olympic event, if the use of digital technology will cause negative environmental conditions such as pollution it will be avoided. Critical success factors Impact evaluation and methods of choosing materials needs for the new technology are the critical success factors (Boonstra et al. 2000). The people making decision on the practice of Green IT and Sustainability should think critically on the impact of adopting new technology and what the effect of using new material will be. The new technology should have minimum negative impact while the materials needed for it should be affordable and environmental friendly. Contributory environmental factors These include, change in government policy and law (Redclift 2002). If policy or law put in place favors Green IT and Sustainability, it will contribute to success in the implementation of the Green IT and Sustainability. On the other hand, if the policy and laws put it place contradict the two concepts, they will be adversely affected. The government will have reasons to advocate for or argue against the concepts in certain situations. It may reject the concepts if they are adversely affecting the environment. Stakeholder relationships contribute to Green IT and Sustainability (Tilbury 2002). The stakeholders in an organization may include the shareholders, management and workers. If the stakeholders work together towards the realization of Green IT and sustainability the end result will be positive. If the work against it or are divided, the end results will again be affected. The consumers, suppliers and competitors are working towards Green IT and Sustainability, the organization relating to them will have to adopt the concepts (Bhattacharya & Dubey 2007). The consequences of ignoring the concepts will be enormous. The firm or organization may lose its consumers to competitors who have embraced the changes; alternatively it may lose the suppliers affecting their production processes. Conclusion There are other factors that affect the use and success of the Green IT and Sustainability concepts. Much as the two concepts favor each other, they must be favored by other contributory factors to succeed. If the other contributory factors are absent or are working against the concepts, success will be minimal if any. On the other hand, if all the other contributory factors work for the concepts success will be evident. References Bell F. G., Donnelly L. J. (2006) Mining and its impact on the environment. New York: Taylor & Francis. Bhattacharya A. K., Dubey M. K. (2007) Public people private partnership for sustainable forest development: proceedings of the workshop, contributory articles and relevant acts, rules, and regulations. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. Bonda P. and Sosnowchik K. (2007) Sustainable commercial interiors A Wiley book on sustainable design. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Boonstra C., Rovers R., Pauwels S. (2000) Sustainable Building 2000, 22-25 October 2000, Maastricht, The Netherlands: proceedings. Boxtel: Æneas.. Greuel V. (2010) Economic Benefits of Green It. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag Fur Hochschulschriften AG. Higgins J., Office S., Johnson B. (2010) Information lifecycle support: wisdom, knowledge, information and data management (WKIDM). The Stationery Office. House of Commons. (2011) - Foreign Affairs Committee: FCO Public Diplomacy: The Olympic and Paralympics Games 2012 - HC 581 Second Report of Session 2010-11, Report, Together With Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence, Hc 581 House of Commons papers Series Oneil M. (2010) Green It for Sustainable Business Practice: An Iseb Foundation Guide. London: BCS, The Chartered Institute. Redclift M. (2002) Sustainability: Life Chance and Livelihoods. London: Routledge. Tilbury D. (2002) Education and sustainability: responding to the global challenge. IUCN: Gland Velte T., Velte A., Elsenpeter R.C. (2008) Green IT: reduce your information systems environmental impact while adding to the bottom line. New York: McGraw-Hill Prof Med/Tech. Yanarella E.J., Levine R.S. (2011) The City as Fulcrum of Global Sustainability. London: Anthem Press. Read More