The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a workstream to develop a standard on the use of cloud services as part of the sustainable use of IT.
Mattie Yeta (pictured), head of sustainable IT in the department, is leading the work with the aim of publishing the standard by 1 April.
She said it is part of the One Government Cloud Strategy (OGCS), developed by the Government Digital Service and the Government Commercial Function, and will focus on elements of sustainable IT including the target of net zero carbon emissions, the eradication of modern slavery and other supply chain issues.
Defra is aiming to pull together a range of relevant guidance produced by the cross-government Sustainable Technology Advice and Reporting Group, the Defra e-Sustainability Alliance and the private sector.
Yeta said: “Sustainability is the latest workstream, led by Defra, in this ongoing journey of the OGCS to maximise the value of cloud for the benefit of all our citizens and indeed our planet.
“We believe that properly implemented cloud technologies can improve sustainability. We define sustainability as a paradigm for thinking about the future through environmental, societal or social and economic considerations to pursue an improved quality of life.”
She added: “With the increasing adoption of cloud services across government come some challenges and opportunities. For example, the risks and benefits of vendor lock-in, supplier concentration, sustainability, security and other operational issues.
“These are multi-faceted issues requiring a pan-government and multi-functional approach to tackling them.”
Yeta has called for anyone to send material they believe could be considered for the new standard by the end of this work to mattie.yeta@defra.gov.uk and said that a workshop will take place in March.
