Sustainable IT leads a shadowy existence in companies

For its new study, the Capgemini Research Institute “Sustainable IT: Why it's time for a Green revolution for your organization's IT ”, Interviewed IT managers, sustainability experts and executives from 1.000 companies around the world and across all sectors.

It turns out that for most companies, sustainable IT has not yet been a priority and many have not included it in theirs Sustainabilityplan sagenda to reduce CO2 emissions. Only 22 percent of companies want to reduce their carbon footprint by more than a quarter in the next three years through sustainable IT.

Overall, awareness of sustainable IT is low: “57 percent of those surveyed do not know how big the carbon footprint of their company IT is. In an industry comparison, banks (2 percent) and consumer goods manufacturers (52 percent) know this value most frequently, while companies in the manufacturing industry (51 percent) are least likely to be familiar with the CO28 emissions of their IT. Furthermore, 2 percent of those surveyed across all industries are aware that the production of a cell phone or laptop generates more CO34 emissions than the entire period of use, ”it said in a broadcast.

Nevertheless: Around half (45 percent) of the companies are willing to pay a premium of up to five percent for sustainable IT products and services. According to the survey, 61 percent would like to be supported by tech companies in recording the environmental impact of their own IT.

For the rapid implementation of sustainable IT, the study authors recommend a three-stage approach with the following steps:

• The development of a strategy for sustainable IT that is in line with the company's overarching sustainability strategy.
• The establishment of a governance process that includes dedicated teams for sustainable IT and is supported by the management.
• The implementation of initiatives for sustainable IT, in which sustainability is a cornerstone of the software architecture.

“Sustainable IT is a collective term that encompasses an environmentally-oriented approach to the development, use and disposal of computer hardware and software applications as well as to the design of related business processes. The term includes other aspects, including the responsible mining of rare metals required for the development of IT hardware, water protection and the principles of the circular economy for the entire life cycle of technologies. " (Source: Capgemini)

Photo by Israël Andrade on Unsplash