The Green IT Strategy – cloud and e-procurement take center stage

CIO Jennifer Rigby, Department of Energy and Climate Change announced the driving forces of the Government’s green IT strategy, as cloud and e-procurement whilst speaking at the Efficient ICT: 2012 Conference at Westminster in Central London.

Rigby who also chairs the government’s Green ICT Delivery Unit (GDU) explains that the plan to use Cloud technology and Servers that are energy-efficient will aid the UK government’s ICT strategy for delivering “better public services at a lower cost; to improve productivity through re-use and sharing; to reduce waste through harmonising IT infrastructure”

Speaking to www.computing.co.uk Rigby explained that using servers that conform to power-efficiency standards will be integral to driving the planned efficiencies and create the savings needed in public sector ICT. Green hosting is the key element to the plan complemented by other green ICT plans including the government’s strategies for cloud, end-user devices and capability.

GDU’s strategy includes other measures to reduce carbon emissions and waste including “simple stuff like using video conferencing instead of travelling or taking a manual process and computerising it – using the transformative nature of IT.”

The GDU’s energy-efficiency strategy has already seen results since its launch in March last year and has helped government ICT save £1.3m and approx. 232,000 tons of carbon annually. The targets set for the government departments have been a success with 14 departments hitting five or more of their 10 key target outcomes already. ICT efficiency in the government is being overhauled with simple steps and achievable targets that will continue to help and pave the way for the UK to hit carbon reduction challenges and budget reductions.

It is not just the government that are looking for ways of using smarter working techniques including cloud strategies, flexible working, limiting the use of consumables, streamlining business operations and efficient servers, will all be hot topics for most ICT departments and boardroom discussion points in organisations across the country.



Cristie Software understands the world-wide business benefits of using and working in the cloud for availability, data storage and data protection, fuelled by both economic and environmental corporate strategies. Cristie will be launching a cloud migration tool later this year and are currently developing the software in close conjunction with one of the largest global service providers who require a solution to on-board customers into their efficient and environmentally friendly cloud data centres.

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