IT 'can help lower emissions'

News Article - 13 November 2008
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The IT industry can help lower emissions, despite accounting for approximately two per cent of the global carbon emissions measurement, according to an analysis firm.

At its symposium in Sydney this week, Gartner said that IT will play a large part in the future low-carbon economy, through innovations like carbonaccounting software and systems capable of carbon emissions reporting for businesses.

However, the firm did not believe that IT was currently being considered to be part of the low-carbon drive because both the industry and business in general did not realise its potential involvement.

"One of IT's main roles in this new economy will be in the development of new technologies," said Gartner fellow and vice president Kristian Steenstrup.

"This can range from technologies to manage the organisation's entire carbon trading initiative to technologies for auditing and accounting for the organisation's carbon footprint."

However, a recent survey from Gartner and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) found that many IT service firms were "immature" in their environmental plans.

The majority had not looked at how a low-carbon economy would affect their business.

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