As the first decade of the 21st Century draws to its end, the IT industry faces new challenges… and is even being asked to play a major role in saving the planet!
With the government launch of a new Centre of Expertise for Sustainable Procurement (CESP) and announcement that a major Green Government IT programme will be launched in the summer, the UK government is now acting on its plans to achieve targets for reducing carbon emissions. This means a huge change in the procurement process to work more closely with suppliers who can demonstrate their sustainability credentials.
The European Commission is increasingly recognising the importance of the ICT sector as the catalyst to drive innovations and new ways of working in all sectors of the economy. At a recent high profile EC event in Brussels (ICT4EE – ICT for energy efficiency 19-20 March) Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, spoke of how she would like to see the ICT sector leading the way in the drive for energy efficiency and the setting of the required standards around this.
Regular legislation
Everything that BASDA is hearing, from the EC down, is that legislation will continue to appear regularly over the next months and years. Being at the heart of the debate is the only sensible place to be and, some would say that, business software providers and accountants should be driving the debate on this issue.
Over the last decade in the software sector, integrated business systems have become commonplace in both public and private sector organisations. The debate here is to whether you want to buy your solution from one of the major vendors who have consolidated the market over the last few years or prefer a smaller supplier who can provide a more tailored solution for your organisation’s needs.
There is also the increasing choice of whether you even run your own systems. There are a growing number of companies offering ‘software as a service’ over the web and providers of out-sourced IT. It is yet to be seen if these channels will become the norm and continue to grow in changed economic circumstances – software delivered as a service or ‘rented’ is easy to turn on in good times but just as easy for businesses to turn off in a downturn. Particularly with the current economic downturn, there is a desire for organisations to make more from the systems they already have and enjoy the promised returns on their investments.
Improving carbon efficiency
ICT’s role, as the engine that drives the vast majority of today’s business processes, provides the greatest opportunity for the ICT industry to make a contribution to improving carbon efficiency. It is impossible to imagine modern government and business processes being conducted without the internet, computers, e-mail, telephones and mobile devices being involved at every step of the way. Behind the scenes, it is software that powers these processes – from decisions on sourcing and purchasing, to managing complex supply chains through to providing the right information to drive management action and to satisfy compliance and reporting needs.
At BASDA we are helping the software industry take the initiative in the green debate in the form of the BASDA Green Charter which has also been adopted by AFDEL, the French ICT trade association and ESA, the European Software Association. The BASDA Green Charter is clear and simple to understand, covering four main areas where business software companies can make a difference:
- The steps needed to improve their own organisation’s carbon efficiency.
- A commitment to help set standards for business processes, data transfers and reporting so that all organisations can adopt changes as efficiently as possible.
- A promise to help educate customers in what needs to be done and how it can best be achieved.
- The provision of enhanced and new business software solutions to enable the changed ways of working that will be required.
The BASDA Green Charter has already been adopted by over 30 business software providers of all sizes from SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and Sage to a whole range of medium sized and small software companies.
It is in both the software industry and accounting profession’s interest to make sure that the move to a greener global economy can actually be achieved in a timely, cost-effective, practical way – that doesn’t impact profits and growth. Business software offers opportunities for innovation and growth in providing environmentally efficient solutions to the world – an area where BASDA members are already developing new applications to help manage the risks and opportunities that arise from organisations having to adopt carbon efficient working practices.
BASDA’s involvement means helping set standards, lobbying for the right legislation, demanding consultation and practical implementation times and minimising unnecessary differences in country-specific requirements. Whether an individual or organisation views environmental issues as ways to drive revenues, reduce costs or to become a better business does not really matter.
The reality is that the world economy could not function without software, hardware and communications technologies and the industry needs to step up to its responsibilities to help reduce carbon emissions across the public and private sectors. BASDA is working closely with its members to help achieve this.
Jairo Rojas is Director General of BASDA, the Business Application Software Developers Association, a UK-based, member-driven organisation that represents business software organisations of all sizes from the world's largest business software suppliers through to UK headquartered medium and small sized businesses.
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