Government's green IT must be more ambitious, say MPs

Government green IT must be more radical

The government’s green IT strategy needs to become more ambitious and take more radical steps to achieve its goals, according to MPs.

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has made the recommendations in its latest Greening Government report, published this week.

The report acknowledges the progress that has been made since the launch of the Greening Government IT Strategy in July last year, but says that more now needs to be done.

“Government must consider urgently raising the ambition level of the strategy as industry momentum has gathered around this agenda. The chief information officers and chief technology officers have responded well to the first set of targets but they must now be increased,” says the report.

“The strategy itself acknowledges there is a need to work with departments and industry to explore and invest in radical green ICT solutions for the ICT problem, but also consider issues relating to lifecycle impact and disposal of old IT hardware.”

The committee recommends a number of possible steps to improve the environmental credentials of public sector IT, such as: extending procurement cycles to four years; stop staff having more than one computer; datacentres to conform to industry best practice to reduce server use and opt for more datacentre sharing; and introduce a government-wide videoconferencing plan to cut travel.

The report cites the production of a Green IT Scorecard that is currently being developed, and also a CIO Roadmap due to include an 18-point action plan to track the progress of the green IT strategy.

The MPs also note that IT has a greater role to play in making transport more sustainable, through the use of technology to cut the need for travelling to meetings, as well as influencing or changing driver behaviour through better route planning and real-time traffic management.