Ellen Wilson, sustainability lead for local and regional government at Microsoft UK, invites readers to explore the lessons and perspectives from the 'How Green is our Digital?' event
The issue of digital technology’s role in the public sector’s sustainability efforts is nothing new, but as we get deeper into it more unexpected elements emerge.
This became clear at the recent How Green is our Digital? conference, staged by UKAuthority and Microsoft, at which speakers from public authorities and the IT industry provided a series of valuable perspectives on the subject.
There was talk about some of the issues that have been on the agenda for several years: energy consumption by hardware and data centres; the benefits from recycling old equipment; and how advanced data technologies can help to plan and maintain more sustainable communities.
But the event also threw the spotlight on issues that have attracted little attention. These included the implications for energy consumption in the design of web pages; the potential for ‘mining’ disused equipment for raw materials; the need to look at the whole life environmental costs of different technology options, including cloud services; and the need to build sustainability into business models for digital investments.
These are complex issues in which it can be difficult to assess the balance between costs and benefits, and a lot of work is needed to establish reliable metrics and identify best practice. But organisations should begin to think about them now, and ask questions about how they relate to their own plans.
It is a priority issue for the public sector, and taking on board the lessons and perspectives from the conference can be a valuable step towards the development of practical policies for the sustainable use of digital technology. You can watch all of the presentations and view all of the slides on the special event hub here.
