[LINK] ICT's Role in the Low Carbon Economy

[Tom Worthington]

Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
> Tom W's work doesn't get a mention. Maybe he needs to promote it a bit 
> harder. ...

Yes, I was a little disappointed that the Green ICT course I have been 
running for ACS and ANU since January 2009 did not get a mention in the 
AIIA report. It would be difficult for the report's authors to be 
unaware of it as they have had to sit through many presentations about 
it at conferences in the last 18 months. ;-)

But that aside, the AIIA has provided a good compendium on Green ICT 
issues <http://www.aiia.com.au/pages/lowcarboneconomy.aspx>.
As with Graeme Phillipson's previous report for ACS on ICT emissions in 
Australia, I have recommended the new AIIA report to my students.

The report is timely, coming out the same day the Australian Prime
Minister announced a Multi-Party Climate Change Committee:
<http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/media/whats-new/climate-change-committee.aspx>.

I have told my 24 ANU Green ICT masters students that if they want a
challenge, they can write their final assignment "Ways to reduce the
carbon footprint" in the form of a background paper for the Climate
Change Committee, replacing "organisation" with "nation" in the question:

"Write a report identify ways to reduce the carbon footprint  of your
organisation (or an organisation you are familiar with) through ICT.
This could be by changes to polices for procurement of ICT, changes to
the ICT operations (such as turning up the thermostat in the computer
room), or revising business processes. Describe the current way of
functioning and the problems associated with it. Propose a "to be"
process that is based on established standards, proven practice, or
proposed developments. How will you tailor the processes to suit your
organisation? What are the challenges the organisation will face? How
will you measure the success of the proposals? The target audience of
the report the organisation's ICT management committee. ".

From: "Green Technology Strategies
Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions"
<http://www.tomw.net.au/green/>.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/