With the realities of climate emergency facing us all, is it time to put sustainability at the heart of digital transformation and efficiency in our public services?
As a growing number of councils declare climate emergencies and set out to become carbon neutral, they are seeing digital as one of the key tools to make it happen.
New technologies and innovative uses of data are opening up possibilities to make an organisation's own operations more environmentally friendly - and for councils it is also an opportunity to increase the green influence on the development of their communities.
Organisations can modernise their work processes to use less energy and harness technologies such as the internet of things, predictive analytics and digital twins to create better local environments. Modern ways of working can replace travel with videoconferencing and shared digital workspaces, shared information can replace in person updates with real-time knowledge.
This aligns closely with the public sector's efforts to make itself more efficient, improve interactions with the public and transform services for better outcomes for all citizens. All of the technology and data solutions that contribute to the green agenda can also provide major benefits in other areas, so that sustainability and transformation go hand in hand.
Forthcoming event
Some pioneer organisations are exploring the possibilities, others are becoming aware but feel the need to learn more. It is against this backdrop that UKAuthority and Microsoft are staging the How Green is our Digital event at the Microsoft Reactor in the City of London on 24 February.
It will involve a group of speakers from the public and third sectors, including Mattie Yeta, government sustainability ICT lead at the Department of Environment, Dan Clarke from the Smart Cambridge programme and Anna Bright of Sustainability West Midlands. They will be joined by Microsoft representatives in outlining the priorities, examples of projects that have already delivered results, and the technology that can make a positive contribution to the cause.
There will also be a series of discussions and workshops designed to identity the quick wins and next steps that organisations can take in harnessing technology to combat the challenge of climate change. It provides an opportunity for learning about the possibilities and contributing to the debate on the factors around using digital for greener government.
This is a great chance to get to grips with an issue that is rapidly becoming a priority for the sector. We hope that you can join us.
The event is for UK public sector only. The venue is the Microsoft Reactor, 70 Wilson Street, London EC2A 2DB, and there will be limited space so take action to attend now.
You can find more details and register for the event here.
Image from iStock, LuckyStep48
