Some 41 per cent of public sector bodies do not measure their IT energy usage, according to a new survey of more than 150 public authorities conducted by E-Government Bulletin.
Almost half (48 per cent) of respondents said that their organisation does not have a policy of switching off computers when they are not in use, with only about 22 per cent running energy-smart software to switch off computers, the survey found.
Most organisations do have carbon reduction strategies, though about 10 per cent of respondents said that their organisation does not have a strategy. Around half of organisations represented in this survey encourage home working, and two thirds are looking at video conferencing as a way to reduce carbon emissions. In addition more than 80 per cent are trying to minimise paper consumption, and about 70 per cent said that their organisation were encouraging the use of multi-function printing devices and green printing defaults.
Most of the people who took part in the survey believe that the biggest challenge to reducing carbon emissions will be motivating staff to take action. One respondent said that one of the main barriers would be getting the support of the IT department, given that “they don’t pay the energy bills”.
The survey was conducted ahead of our conference ‘Techno-footprint: ICT and sustainability in the public sector’, to be held on 27 November in central London: http://www.headstar-events.com/techno08/.
