U.K. Groups Call for £1 Billion Stimulus Plan for Efficient IT
The U.K. government is being asked to consider a £1 billion ($1.6 billion) stimulus package to support IT energy efficiency efforts in the public sector.
The plan is being pushed forward by environmental group Global Action Plan, the Society for Information Technology Management and IT companies Logicalis and CA.
The consortium says that a £1 billion injection into IT efficiency efforts for government, health and education organizations would provide a savings of £2 billion over three years and reduce carbon emissions by 12 percent.
The groups point out that the Climate Change Act of 2008 sets a legally binding target of reducing greenhouse gases by 80 percent by 2050. The public sector is responsible for 8 percent of the U.K.'s carbon dioxide emissions and spends more than £3 billion a year on energy. According to the Sustainable Development Commission, the U.K. government has failed to meet a recent carbon reduction target due to increases in electricity use from computers, printers, chargers and other IT equipment.
The consortium argues that the proposed stimulus package should focus on IT projects that result in financial efficiency, carbon reduction and public service improvement or expansion. They also say the package should prioritize projects that can provide the highest return in all three of those areas, support local projects like teleworking, encourage public bodies to look at collaboration and sharing services, and stimulate actual efficiency and not just additional IT purchasing.
The groups have also put out a report, A Shared Vision for Smarter Services, outlining why a stimulus package for IT is needed and showing a case study of the savings possible with better IT hardware, software, education and practices.
The London Borough of Hillingdon reduced its operating costs by £250,000 over three years through a £70,000 investment and changing IT practices. The government's main efforts included virtualizing servers, utilizing power management settings on PCs, automatically turning off unused computers after 6:30 p.m., switching to more efficient printers and replacing 2,700 CRT monitors with flat screen monitors.
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