Green IT

The growing concern on environment sustainability, increasing fuel prices and climate change have galvanised business and government organisations to incorporate the Green concepts in all areas. Green IT is an emerging research area in Information Technology field. As IT infrastructure is growing rapidly in Sri Lanka, it is evident that Sri Lanka too would face major issues with energy prices and e-waste. Increasing energy cost is already a major concern in business organisations in Sri Lankan. Thus, study on Green IT adoption in Sri Lanka is an area of interest to academics as well as business organisations. Hence, in this research, influential factors of Green IT adoption in data centres of Sri Lankan banks were studied. To achieve the objective a conceptual model based on literature was developed and four banks were selected for data collection. The results show that there is a high positive relationship between Green IT adoption and technological factors, organizational factors ...

The purpose of this study is related to Green Information Technology (IT), Green Computing, and/or Sustainability (GITS) curriculum initiatives in institutions of higher education in the US and abroad. The purpose of this study is threefold; 1) to evaluate whether GITS academic programs have been initiated in higher educational organizations; 2) to analyze if GITS programs and/or courses are currently in place; and 3) to investigate the conceptual framework of GITS across campuses.

Assessing the average energy intensity of Internet transmissions is a complex task that has been a controversial subject of discussion. Estimates published over the last decade diverge by up to four orders of magnitude — from 0.0064 kilowatt-hours per gigabyte (kWh/GB) to 136 kWh/GB. This article presents a review of the methodological approaches used so far in such assessments: i) top–down analyses based on estimates of the overall Internet energy consumption and the overall Internet traffic, whereby average energy intensity is calculated by dividing energy by traffic for a given period of time, ii) model-based approaches that model all components needed to sustain an amount of Internet traffic, and iii) bottom–up approaches based on case studies and generalization of the results. Our analysis of the existing studies shows that the large spread of results is mainly caused by two factors: a) the year of reference of the analysis, which has significant influence due to efficiency gains in electronic equipment, and b) whether end devices such as personal computers or servers are included within the system boundary or not. For an overall assessment of the energy needed to perform a specific task involving the Internet, it is necessary to account for the types of end devices needed for the task, while the energy needed for data transmission can be added based on a generic estimate of Internet energy intensity for a given year. Separating the Internet as a data transmission system from the end devices leads to more accurate models and to results that are more informative for decision makers, because end devices and the networking equipment of the Internet usually belong to different spheres of control.

Key Points • Presents a green IT readiness, or G-readiness, framework, to display the input, trans-formational and output capabilities in greening IT. • Defines the nomological structure of the framework and offers a series of propositions linking the G-readiness dimensions. • Offers mechanisms to explain the organizational capability in sustainable management of the IT infrastructure and in the IT department's role to promote enterprise-wide sustainability.

Green information technologies and systems IT/IS
are initiatives, strategies and programs that directly
or indirectly address environmental sustainability in
organizations. While practitioners have begun to
focus on Green IT/IS, however there is few research
in this area. The aim of this paper is to develop a
framework to assist practitioners and organisations
in the adoption of green IT/IS practices in IT
Governance. Existing green IT/IS literature were
reviewed. Hence the paper concern research that
addresses Green IT, Green IS and environmental
sustainability mainly in domain of information
technology governance (IT Governance). Findings
from this paper show the components and attributes
that are to be considered in implementing Green
IT/IS in IT Governance. Thus the framework can
also be used as a guide for future research in this
domain.

Abstract Green information technology (IT) adoption has helped enhance the overall organization’s environmental sustainability. Developing the strategies for effective adoption of Green IT is one of the essential goals of decision-makers. This study purposes to investigate the factors that influence decision-makers’ intention to use Green IT and the proposed green IT adoption model in Malaysian manufacturing firms. The 183 valid data were obtained using survey questionnaires from Malaysia’s manufacturing industries’ industrial managers and examine collect data through two analytical techniques. Two-staged structural equation modeling and artificial neural network applied for hypotheses evaluation and finding the significance level of every factor in the model. The outcomes of hypotheses evaluation through structural equation modeling revealed that managerial interpretation and ascription of responsibility have a significant role in predicting the adoption of green information technology in manufacturing companies. Besides, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) results showed that the managerial interpretation and ascription of responsibility are considered as the most significant factors of green information technology adoption. This study will help the decision-makers and policymakers develop policies and programs for the effective employment of green information technology in manufacturing industries.

The environmental performance of presently operated GSM and UMTS networks was analysed concentrating on the environmental effects of the End-of-Life (EOL) phase using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The study was performed based on comprehensive life cycle inventory and life cycle modelling. The environmental effects were quantified using the IMPACT2002+ method. Based on technological forecasts, the environmental effects of forthcoming mobile telephone networks were approximated.
The results indicate that a parallel operation of GSM and UMTS networks is environmentally detrimental and the transition phase should be kept as short as possible. The use phase (i.e. the operation) of the radio network components account for a large fraction of the total environmental impact. In particular, there is a need to lower the energy consumption of those network components. Seen in relation to each other, UMTS networks provide an environmentally more efficient mobile communication technology than GSM networks. In assessing the EOL phase, recycling the electronic scrap of mobile phone networks was shown to have clear environmental benefits. Under the present conditions, material recycling could help lower the environmental impact of the production phase by up to 50%.

ABSTRACT This paper aims to propose the GreenMACC, an extension of MACC architecture (Metascheduling Architecture To provide QoS in Cloud Computing) aimed at providing QoS in a structure green computing services in a private cloud. To test the new proposed architecture, this paper presents a performance evaluation of policies of the four stages of scheduling with a focus on energy consumption and the average response time. The GreenMACC architecture was consistent in its operation allowing multiple users to run various services on a large scale private cloud and being able to control the energy consumption and quality of services.

Connected technologies, such as the connected car, the smart home or the smart grid are powerful tools to reduce the environmental impact of business activity. This is achieved though mechanisms such as optimisation (e.g. of energy consumption, production processes or supply chain operations), substitution (e.g. virtualisation of paper based billing, car sharing vs car ownership), incentivisation (e.g. of healthy behaviour via quantified-self applications) or improved decision making (i.e. big data informed environmental policy making).

Companies can generate immense business benefits from pursuing sustainability - from reduced costs (i.e. through optimised production processes) through increased sales (e.g. via green product lines) and increased innovativeness (Aronson Principle) up to reduced risks (e.g. via intelligent compliance with environmental norms). Strong incentives, such as regulatory and NGO pressure, increasing consumer demand, long term rising commodity prices and board pressure make it hard for any company to ignore business upsides of sustainable business and product innovation.

This slide-document presents a process designed to successfully implement sustainable business and product innovation in practice. Six case studies highlighting the generated sustainability and business benefits are included as well.

This study showed that the green IT awareness and practices of the undergraduate computing and business students at the University of Worcester are mediocre. In general, students do not pay much attention to how sustainable they are in their computer practices and hardware choices, yet, at the same time; they would like to see the lawmakers introduce ‘green’ computer design laws.

Cloud computing is a  highly adaptable and efficient infrastructure for running endeavor and web applications.  Energy consumption expenditure and concurrent effects on environment are the dynamic challenges regarding to cloud computing.  We investigated previous researches based on energy efficiency approaches and retrieved the conditions to promote green cloud computing architectures.  Data centers are considered as the backbone of cloud infrastructure.  Numerous companies are investing in establishing large data centers to accommodate different cloud computing services. These data centers absorb huge amount of energy. They are also very complex in the infrastructure.  Over the years,  power consumption has emerged as an important factor for measuring computing resources expenditure. In this paper we will scrutinize all feasible spheres in an ideal cloud infrastructure which are responsible for massive amount of energy consumption.  Here,  we will also analyze the methodologies by which energy utilization can be reduced without compromising Quality of Services and overall performance. In order to make these data centers more energy efficient, many studies have been proposed.  These researches are based on technologies such as consolidation and virtualization.  Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and energy consumption set up new challenges. The research works for green data centers are derived from the challenges. There is a current demand of integrated energy efficient cloud framework for establishing data centers that minimizes the impacts on environment and lessens CO2 emissions. The framework should combine a green IT architecture with different procedures and activities.

Despite the fact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are responsible for only a small part of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions–current estimations attribute around 2% of man made emissions to ICT–this sector is the one with the fastest growing emissions. As a result, there is an increasing concern about the environmental impact of ICT, especially the climate change potential induced by ICT related energy consumption.

Virtualization is seen as one of the green ITs which can help reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs. It is regarded to be a cost-effective way to dramatically reduce downtime, increase flexibility, use hardware effectively, reduce overall system complexity, and lower carbon emission. Though the popular business literature is replete with anecdotal evidence of green benefits of virtualizing servers, storage, operating systems, and in some cases entire IT infrastructure, there is little academic research on this topic in the MIS area. In this paper we provide a review of its principles, underlying technologies, major applications, and costs and benefits. We also provide implications for both practice and research, and identify some directions for future research.

Green Technology could be defined as set of technologies, help mankind to extract food, feed, fiber, fuel and fertilizer using renewable and non renewable energies from the environment and live happily with the cultural diversity while maintaining the ecosystem resilience, supporting environment to maintain nutrient cycles, pollination, carbon sequestration and climate regulation, waste decomposition and detoxification, purification of water and air and pest and disease control

Businesses are under increasing pressure from competitors, regulators and community groups to implement sustainable business practices. Balancing economic and environmental performance to be green and competitive is therefore a key strategic issue. The increased discussion on green information technology (IT) has sparked the interest of this research. Green IT is poised to influence not only technology but also competitive strategy and even the legality of some business strategic options. Understanding and leveraging Green IT is therefore critical for businesses’ continued progress. Nevertheless, the principles, practices and value of Green IT is yet to be researched. This paper introduces the concept of Green IT and describes the main pillars of a g-readiness framework to help organisations evaluate their readiness for adopting Green IT. It argues that just as e- readiness has been, and continues to be, a critical quality in the digital economy, g-readiness is an equally critical quality in the low carbon digital economy. Without a clear understanding of g-readiness, organisations would approach Green IT initiatives on an ad hoc and somewhat reactive basis which is undesirable.

This paper received Outstanding Paper Award 2010, Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce sustainability as a new dimension of information systems (IS) evaluation. Customers, policymakers and business partners increasingly require the monitoring and reporting of the organisational impact on sustainability. However, traditional IS evaluation approaches are not able to capture the impact of information technology (IT)/IS on sustainability, especially in relation to social and environmental dimensions, so the authors want to stimulate discussion and research related to this area.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper is conceptual. However, it is based on the results of an existing related research project focussed on supply chain evaluation.

Findings – In order to stimulate discussion and research, the authors propose a framework that was originally developed to evaluate supply chain practices, in which IS often play a major role. The framework is built on three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – which are divided further into three sub-dimensions. It can be used as a starting point to develop a framework for sustainability-oriented IS evaluation.

Research limitations/implications – The framework was originally developed for supply chain evaluation; however, it has generic features that can be adjusted or modified in order to be applied to a whole range of IT/IS initiatives

Practical implications – Sustainability and its new dimensions create new challenges for information systems evaluation. Companies require frameworks and tools that can help them to measure and evaluate the impact of IS on sustainability. The researcher's role is to answer such needs and focus on this emerging research topic; this paper aims to stimulate such research.

Originality/value – Sustainability is a new dimension in IT/IS evaluation. Current approaches do not include all sustainability dimensions (environmental aspects are excluded, evaluation of the social impact is limited).

This paper is based on the paper submitted by the authors for the European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems EMCIS 2008, 25-26 May, Al Bostan Rotana, Dubai (ISVN 978-1-902316-58-1). For more details about EMCIS, please visit www.emcis.org

Emerald: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1817308

Sustainable development requires the decoupling of economic growth from environmental impacts and from the use of natural resources. This article gives an overview of existing approaches to using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the service of sustainability: Environmental Informatics, Green ICT, and Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

A life cycle assessment was carried out based on a detailed life cycle inventory for a typical GSM 900 mobile phone network and related End of Life (EOL) treatment infrastructure. The environmental relevance of the three life cycle phases: production, use and EOL treatment was analysed using IMPACT2002+. The environmentally preferable EOL treatment alternative was identified on the basis of six previously developed EOL treatment scenarios.The results indicate that the environmental impacts attributable to the use phase dominate the environmental impacts incurred over the entire life cycle of the network. The impacts of the production phase are primarily attributable to the energy intensive manufacturing of printed wiring boards (PWB). The EOL phase dominates the impacts on ecosystem quality. In particular the long-term emissions of heavy metals have critical effects. Detailed analysis of the EOL phase shows that recycling of network materials in general leads to a two fold reduction of environmental impacts: in the EOL phase itself as well as by means of the avoided primary production of materials recovered in the EOL phase. An increase in the material quality of the secondary precious and rare materials leads to a significant reduction in the impacts on human health.

Amidst increasing pressure for organisations to be environmentally responsible, IT organisations increasingly need to develop their Green IT capability to minimise the adverse impacts of information technology on the environment. This research adopts the theory of absorptive capacity – a dynamic capability that represents the ability of the IT organisation to recognise the value of identifying new and external information, assimilate, transform and exploit this – to identify the processes of, and the factors that influence, an IT organisation’s Green IT capability. Insights from case studies of six organisations implementing and delivering Green IT  initiatives are used to develop a set of propositions and a model for Green IT Absorptive Capacity. Findings indicate that the absorptive capacity of IT organisations is reliant on the acquisition of comprehensive external  knowledge and prior experience. Government policy, internal social integration mechanisms within the IT organisation and parent organisation and the industry in which an IT organisation operates also influence absorptive capacity and ultimately Green IT capability.

The concepts proposed by Green IT have changed the priorities in the design of information systems and infrastructure, adding to traditional performance and cost requirements, the need for efficiency in energy consumption. The approach of Green Cloud Computing builds on the concepts of Green IT and Cloud in order to provide a flexible and efficient computing environment, but their strategies have not given much attention to the energy cost of the network equipment. While Green Networking has proposed principles and techniques that are being standardized and implemented in new networking equipment, there is a large amount of legacy equipment without these features in datacenters. In this paper, the basic principles pointed out in recent works for power management in legacy network equipment are presented, and a model for its use to optimize green cloud approach is proposed.

Global Information Society Watch 2010 investigates the impact that information and communications technologies (ICTs) have on the environment – both good and bad.
Written from a civil society perspective, GISWatch 2010 covers some 50 countries and six regions, with the key issues of ICTs and environmental sustainability, including climate change response and electronic waste (e‑waste), explored in seven expert thematic reports. It also contains an institutional
overview and a consideration of green indicators, as well as a mapping section offering a comparative analysis of “green” media spheres on the web.
While supporting the positive role that technology can play in sustaining the environment, many of these reports challenge the perception that ICTs will automatically be a panacea for critical issues such as climate change – and argue that for technology to really benefit everyone, consumption and
production patterns have to change. In order to build a sustainable future, it cannot be “business as usual”.
GISWatch 2010 is a rallying cry to electronics producers and consumers, policy makers and development organisations to pay urgent attention to the sustainability of the environment. It spells out the impact that the production, consumption and disposal of computers, mobile phones and other technology
are having on the earth’s natural resources, on political conflict and social rights, and the massive global carbon footprint produced.
GIsWatch 2010 is the fourth in a series of yearly reports critically covering the state of the information society from the perspectives of civil society organisations across the world.
GISWatch is a joint initiative of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Humanist Institute for  Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos).

Green information technology (IT) adoption has helped enhance the overall organization's environmental sustainability. Developing the strategies for effective adoption of Green IT is one of the essential goals of decision-makers. This study purposes to investigate the factors that influence decision-makers' intention to use Green IT and the proposed green IT adoption model in Malaysian manufacturing firms. The 183 valid data were obtained using survey questionnaires from Malaysia's manufacturing industries' industrial managers and examine collect data through two analytical techniques. Two-staged structural equation modeling and artificial neural network applied for hypotheses evaluation and finding the significance level of every factor in the model. The outcomes of hypotheses evaluation through structural equation modeling revealed that managerial interpretation and ascription of responsibility have a significant role in predicting the adoption of green information technology in manufacturing companies. Besides, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) results showed that the managerial interpretation and ascription of responsibility are considered as the most significant factors of green information technology adoption. This study will help the decision-makers and policymakers develop policies and programs for the effective employment of green information technology in manufacturing industries.

Data centres are the backbone of the digital economy and the widespread adoption of cloud services, business analytics and big data will continue to accelerate their demand. Because data centres consume a significant amount of energy, research efforts are needed to identify what facilitates actions to implement practices and technologies to either retrofit to or architect green data centres. This paper address this issue drawing from institutional, expectancy and motivation-ability theories and based on survey data collected from 96 data centres. The findings indicate that performance and effort expectancy form the strong order drivers and together with ability will lead to the implementation of practices and technologies that improve the energy efficiency of data centres. In addition, institutional isomorphic forces serve as first order influences to shape expectations and trigger actions to develop skills and polices and to allocate financial resources that facilitate the implementation of greening practices. The paper further discusses a number of implications for research and practice.

This chapter provides an overview of energy demand issues in the field of ICT with a focus on the history of measuring, modelling and regulating ICT electricity consumption and the resulting methodological challenges. While the energy efficiency of ICT hardware has been dramatically improving and will continue to improve for some decades, the overall energy used for ICT is still increasing. The growing demand for ICT devices and services outpaces the efficiency gains of individual devices. Worldwide per capita ICT electricity consumption exceeded 100 kWh/year in 2007 (a value which roughly doubles if entertainment equipment is included) and is further increasing. Methodological challenges include issues of data collection and modelling ICT devices and ser-vices, assessing the entire life cycle of ICT devices and infrastructures, account-ing for embedded ICT, and assessing the effect of software on ICT energy con-sumption.