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So far, much of the discussions regarding ‘GreenIT’ have centered on two areas: firstly reducing the electricity load, and thus the carbon footprint of the ongoing operations of a large data centre; and secondly in reducing the environmental impact of the production and eventual retirement of electronic equipment. Both very worthy efforts, and both topics that I will address in detail in separate posts at another time. However there is a third area that is actually a topic that is in my view, one of the most interesting ones associated with IT and sustainability, and that is “How will IT adapt to, and enable the changed working models that may evolve from how society reacts to the requirements of a lower-carbon-emissions world?”. This is an area that I have given considerable thought to over the last year, and I am currently in the midst of consolidating my thinking and research around that question into a paper which I’ll publish soon. One of the basic ideas is that working models must change due to the requirement to reduce the CO2 generated by both commuting traffic, as well as that generated by flights. Cutting out a lot of detail for now, the basic premise is that we will see a lot less commuting to large central offices, and a lot more telecommuting and remote working. We will see a pressure to reduce flights across the board, whether passengers are flying for holiday / personal purposes, or whether passengers are flying for business.

While business associated travel accounts for far less actual seats on planes than personal travel, it is very profitable for airlines. The airline industry does very well out of charging premium rates for travel booked by executives and sales people who book late, are relatively inflexible as far as their travel times go, tend to travel all at the same times (anyone who has ever dealt with Heathrow on a Monday morning will know the truth of this), are less price sensitive as they are spending company money not their own money, and have a higher expectation of service than most budget holiday travel (laptops need room to be opened and places to be plugged into, even sexy 4mm thick Apple ones). While holiday travelers may be tempted to go to an alternate destination, avoiding the need for any air travel at all, business travelers are driven by the needs of sales techniques, face to face negotiation and business communications.

It is my view that the only viable alternatives to that sort of travel is uber-capable video based conferencing. That is why the announcement of the successful testing of super-broadband intercontinental linkages, combined with high definition videoconferencing is interesting. See http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/video-conferencing-on-steroids/2008/01/16/1200419926879.html. Videoconferencing is nothing new, and of course we have seen it touted as being the ‘next big thing’ a few times; I recall after the September 11 attacks against the US and the subsequent chaos in the airline industry that a lot of hyping went on regarding the capabilities of videoconferencing. However it has always been seen as a poor cousin to the face-to-face meeting due to the constraints of the technology. If it is to be adopted as a viable alternative it must provide instant response, and crystal clear audio and visual display. Early stages so far, but the so called “video conferencing on steroids” is a great step in the required direction.

After many years of ignoring the issue, most individuals and some corporations and governments have woken up to the issue of climate change. Indeed the UK’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says that “Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today.” (source: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/climatechange/). Indeed, even George W. Bush says “…global warming is a serious problem”. Curious to see how this issue is being communicated to the average, interested UK citizen I have signed myself up to the Winter Season of discussion, training and action run by the Climate Outreach and Information Network, in conjunction with The Environment Council (see: www.coinet.org.uk/news/tecnews). This program is designed to communicate the basic facts around climate change, and also teach people how to engage with others and communicate to them the facts, the impact to the biosphere of an unchecked rise in global temperatures, and what actions we can all take in order to reduce our environmental impact. I will write more on the program as it progresses.