IT departments can save the planet

According to a new report released by the Climate Group and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, changes to the way that businesses operate could have a dramatic impact on emissions and energy consumption, and can help reduce enterprise carbon footprints.

The report, called Smart 2020, enabling the low carbon economy in the information age, is supported by analysis from management consultants McKinsey and Company, and states that by making some changes to their use of ICT, companies would be able to contribute to a reduction in global emissions - up to fifteen per cent, and would be able to take a share of some £400bn in energy savings.

According to the report IT departments currently contribute about two per cent of all global emissions, an amount that is set to double by 2020. However the authors say that reducing this could be relatively easy, because of "ICT's unique ability to monitor and maximise energy efficiency both within and outside of its own sector."

Rather than talk up the use of teleworking and video-conferencing the group has made a number of alternative suggestions, recommending that physical machines be replaced with virtual solutions, or that firms consider further " transformational" cuts.

In the first instance the report recommends that firms look at how they operate, saying, "to help, rather than hinder, the fight against climate change, the ICT sector must manage its own growing impact and continue to reduce emissions from data centres, telecommunications networks and the manufacture and use of its products." It added that this could be achieved, in part, through a focus on next generation networks and long-life devices.

The groups also recommend that firms follow a SMART project management framework, explaining, "through this enabling platform, transformation will occur when the business models that drive low carbon alternatives can be developed and diffused at scale across all sectors of the economy."

Molly Webb, ICT project director at the Climate Group, said, "ICT is a vital tool to combat global warming because of its unique ability to make energy visible and communicate the information in real time to business managers who can use this to make valuable efficiency gains. It is certainly possible for ICT to reduce global emissions by 15 per cent by 2020, but by no means inevitable. Although many low carbon technologies already exist, a more integrated policy framework is required to kick start industry action and enable these to be taken to scale."

Written by David Neal

Surge in oil prices hits IT

The dramatic rise in oil prices is causing a rethink of IT strategies, as energy costs look set to drive the IT agenda.

Chief information officers (CIOs) face being charged for datacentre services by kilowatt hours, and industry attempts to curb energy use in datacentres are being seriously questioned.

Energy savings through technologies such as virtualisation are improving performance but can be offset by greater cooling needed for consolidated servers.

And even in areas such as software as a service, supplier sources told Computing that customers will also feel the impact of surging energy prices, as costs of running power-hungry datacentres are passed directly to customers.

“Datacentre providers have started to price by kilowatt and not by server footprint and performance, and those prices have gone up by 30 per cent in the past month,” said Duncan Scott, CIO at global commercial real estate management company DTZ Holdings.

“Inevitably we will have some kind of formula such as that used by the airlines that includes distress and passes the costs on.

“It is a bit of a stand-off at the moment. The question is what the price of oil is going to do next. Are the providers going to completely change their business model based on the oil price? My advice is avoid kilowatt pricing at the moment but accept that it is going to come eventually.”

A $200-per-barrel oil price would be a jolt for IT, said David Tebbutt, programme director at analyst Freeform Dynamics. “This may wake people up to the true cost of IT, and move the cost of electricity from facilities budgets to IT,” he said.

“The cost of IT infrastructure would go shooting up. But you are not going to solve the problem quickly. You can get staff to behave differently and economise on power, but you can’t transform IT infrastructure at a stroke. It can take yea rs.”

A source at a major IT supplier said: “For those building server farms, rising energy costs will affect their business. There was a time when server and storage spend was two-thirds of costs, now one-third is IT costs and two-thirds is power and operational.

“I haven’t seen any commercial arrangements taking this into account yet but it might come. At the moment we’re underwriting the energy costs. Risk and reward may happen in the future.”

Read more about how CIOs plan to deal with higher energy costs here.

Written by Ambrose McNevin

Virtualisation is top choice for SMBs

Two in five small to medium businesses (SMBs) say virtualisation is the best way to bypass a potential recession.

Of 100 companies questioned by internet service provider Star, 43 per cent cited virtualisation tools as a key way to protect their organisation from the current economic climate. A further 21 per cent of respondents said that a converged approach to new technologies was the best strategy for dealing with the situation.

The availability of broadband was the most important factor for 17 per of respondents, while 10 per cent believed new Web 2.0 technologies would play an important role in battling economic instability.

"One of the biggest challenges facing small businesses today is access to finance, so as the economic slowdown continues, the number one priority is to do more with less, making the most of existing technology investments and using technology to respond quickly to changing business conditions,” said Ben White, chief executive of Star. “Virtualisation helps achieve those business needs."

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T-Mobile to cut roaming rates

T-Mobile has announced that it will cut data roaming charges by 80 per cent from 1 July, and the cost of sending texts from EU countries by 30 per cent from 30 August.

In a statement, the German mobile operator said, "We will cut the cost of international internet access from a handset and mobile broadband connectivity via a USB dongle or data card from £7.50 per megabyte to £1.50, and the cost of sending a text from EU countries will be brought down by 38 per cent, from 0.40p to 0.25p."

T-Mobile's action will be welcomed by corporate mobile workers who download lots of data using 3G when abroad on business.

The announcement may also placate European Union Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding. She has continually harried EU mobile operators, to get them to reduce mobile charges.

Earlier this month she set a deadline of 1 July for EU mobile operators to reduce both SMS and data roaming prices. "I saw the figures released yesterday by the GSM association: SMS roaming prices are now at 28 eurocent – down from 29 eurocent per roamed SMS. Ladies and gentlemen, I am not impressed by this," she told a ministerial meeting.

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Sega builds 'kissing' robo-girlfriend

Japanese toy manufacturer Sega has built a robotic girlfriend that will kiss its owner on request.

The Eternal Maiden Actualization is a 15in robot with dark hair and impressive chest measurements which can obey the owner's commands.

It can perform a variety of actions, including entering "love mode" and kissing its owner.

"Strong, tough and battle-ready are some of the words often associated with robots, but we wanted to break that stereotype and provide a robot that's sweet and interactive," said Minako Sakanoue, a spokeswoman for Sega Toys.

"She's very lovable and, although she's not a human, she can act like a real girlfriend."

The robot can also sing, dance, "walk like a lady" and hand out business cards.

Eternal Maiden Actualization will go on sale in September for around $175, and Sega Toys hopes to sell 10,000 in the first year of production.

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