Green IT as an Economic Imperative in Africa

By Ben Uzor Jr*

With today’s  market complexities  – rising energy costs; increased regulatory scrutiny; shrinking power and space, higher customer expectations – going green is not just socially responsible, it is an economic imperative.

This is even as traditional green Information Technology (IT) strategies have focused on the data center alone, which accounts for only two percent of global CO2 emissions.

Chuks Udensi, Country Manager, IBM Nigeria made these remarks at a seminar organized by CBC entitled: “Global Financial Crisis, Associated Problem”, in Lagos recently.

He noted that for IT to impact the other 98 percent requires a new paradigm where software is the key to realizing energy efficiencies throughout the organization thereby reducing environmental impact and energy cost.

Udensi said: “People directly and indirectly contribute to a company’s carbon foot print in a variety of ways – from the daily commute, to business travel, to the physical office space and its energy requirements.”

“However, increasing energy efficiency across the greater population can be achieved as we are starting to see a rise, driven by cost reduction, in unified communications and mobile workforces.”

He added: “At IBM, we are constantly looking at ways of achieving energy efficiency in all our offerings, both as a cost driver and also from an innovative perspective. We are looking at how IT in itself can have broader benefits to society, and help in reducing CO2 emissions, a contributor to climate change”.

He added that globally organizations were not only being scrutinized for their carbon management strategies, but they were also being studied for their work styles and environment.

He said that IBM had the right solutions and business skills to help companies make this shift. This includes IBM’s Global Business Services (GBS) division, which offers consulting services and assistance in defining carbon management strategies and for managing the change process.

Udensi pointed out that in October 2009 IBM would be hosting a panel discussion on “Building a green future for a new Africa”.

“This is because much of Africa’s economic activity has been built on the extraction of the continent’s natural resources. Going forward, African countries will need more sustainable development strategies with the associated environmental energy frameworks and solutions”, he added.

*This post was first published as a Business Day Online article.

Image credit: Frankie Robero/ Flickr