ICT Sustainability

According to Malcolm Johnson, the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the ICT sector is currently one of the fastest growing parts of the global economy in terms of its greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. In fact, the total energy demand for the ICT sector is expected to double by 2030, with severe implications for the sector’s carbon footprint and environmental impact.

However, tech-driven companies across the world are eager to become more environmentally responsible and begin greening their IT-based businesses. Doing so is not just a matter of doing their part for the environment; it also makes good business sense. In fact, studies have shown that, for the ICT sector, SMEs who implement relatively basic energy efficiency measures can expect to start making savings of between 18 to 25% in an average of just 1.5 years.

Unfortunately though, the costs of implementing these measures, together with a lack of information, enabling policies and adequate resources has made it hard for willing ICT businesses to implement consistent energy and e-waste controls.

In fact, according to a survey of the sustainability of ICT operations conducted by ITC among some 80 tech-driven start-ups in East and West Africa, less than half of companies had clear policies in place to manage their environmental impact, nor did they have a clear grasp of their energy use or waste generation. Less than half reported being aware of the amount of bandwidth their company currently consumed!

As a result, ITC’s Netherlands Trust Fund and #FastTrackTech projects worked with Sustainable Business Consulting in Kenya and Blab East Africa to develop trainings in the areas the surveyed tech companies were most interested in:

Namely:

1. Energy efficiency and sustainable data storage;
2. Electronic waste management; and
3. ICT sustainability certification

In this course we will dive deep into those three topics and make sure you know how to make your ICT related operations greener, more cost-efficient, and better for the environment, so you can position yourself as a green operating company.

We hope that you enjoy this course and that you find it useful for your business!