INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, CLIMATE CHANGE:  PART OF PROBLEM OR PART OF SOLUTION?

 

UN Conference to Address How Information Technology Can Address Climate Change

Leaders from business, Government, academia and diplomacy will discuss ways to use information and communications technology (ICT) to address climate change at a conference at the United Nations on 27 and 28 November (Conference Room 4).

The conference, on “The Positive Impact of ICT on the Environment and Climate Change”, will also address the broader effects of these technologies on the environment and their role in ensuring environmental sustainability.

Alexander “Andy” Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, United States Department of Energy, will be the special guest speaker at the opening.

Joseph Klimavicz, Chief Information Officer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States Department of Commerce, will illustrate on Wednesday the role of technology in expanding environmental information for global users.

Speakers include General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim; Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang; Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development; Wayne Balta, IBM Vice-President for Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety; Paul Calento, Senior Vice President, InfoWorld Media Group; and Mike Lackey, President, AIT Global Inc.

Information technology has created great economic and social benefits, but also increased energy consumption.  According to one of the speakers, Enterprise BusinessGeneral Manager Mike Andrews, worldwide ICT generates an estimated more than one billion tons of carbon per year, and ICT energy efficiency could make a difference.

Speakers will illustrate the steps their organizations are taking to develop environmentally correct products and to reduce carbon footprints while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

Pat Tiernan, Hewlett Packard’s Vice-President for Social and Environmental Responsibility, will illustrate how ICT can help to address climate change by enabling the economy to operate in less energy-intensive ways.

Tod Arbogast, Director of Sustainable Business at Dell Computer, will argue for the life-cycle approach, which takes into account the environmental impact of products and services from their design to their end of life.

Patricia Calkins, Xerox Corporation’s Environment Vice-President, will describe innovations that reduce office workers’ dependency on paper, new ways of making paper that require less trees, and how to protect forests through sustainable paper sourcing.

One panel will explore how ICT can shape the low-carbon economy for individuals and communities, and how social networks and technology can contribute to a cleaner energy future where people learn to leave a lighter footprint.

Two panels will look at the power consumption of data centres and server arrays as well as at ways to increase their efficiency, cut down power use and reduce carbon emissions.

The event is organized by the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), under the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and AIT Global Inc., a global association of management and information technology professionals.

For information, please visit www.un-gaid.org or www.aitglobal.com or contact Enrica Murmura at the Global Alliance, tel.:  212 963 5913, e-mail:  murmura@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record