NASSCOM to release Green IT action plan soon

BANGALORE, INDIA: NASSCOM, the premier trade body and ‘voice’ of the Indian IT-BPO industry, shared an update on its Green IT Initiative.

The NASSCOM Green IT Committee’s three working groups on ‘Green Infrastructure’, ‘Policy & Regulatory Framework ‘and ‘Green Warriors’ identified best practices in these areas and are expected to finalise a detailed action plan by March 2009 for the industry.

The initiative would be presided over by Ganesh Natarajan, chairman NASSCOM, as chairperson and, Laura Ipsen, senior vice president, Global Policy and Government Affairs, Cisco Systems, Inc, as co-chairperson. The working groups have representation from IT industry firms, non-IT industry firms, government agencies and institutions specialising in environment sustainability.

The NASSCOM Green IT initiative focuses on the following areas:

· Make IT Green: Adoption by industry of green technologies and practices including green buildings, green computing infrastructure (energy efficient data centres, power efficient computers etc.) sharing infrastructure (shared data centres etc) and addressing issues like e-waste management.

· Make Green Happen Through IT: Deploy IT solutions which help firms & businesses become green including like cloud computing, video-conferencing, intelligent transport systems, web-conferencing, motion and heat detection sensors among others.

· Make Green Warriors: Encourage the over 2 million employees of IT-BPO industry to adopt a Green life-style and thereby become change agents to create a sustainable impact in the society around themselves through increasing awareness and more importantly changing behaviours.

Som Mittal, president, NASSCOM, said: “Climate sustainability is perhaps the biggest challenge facing mankind today. Becoming reen is no longer a choice for firms, government or individuals. The ubiquity of IT today, makes IT a powerful catalyst for providing systemic solutions for a green world. The NASSCOM Green IT initiative focuses on not only making the IT industry green but also propagate the transformational role IT can play in making other businesses green. In fact, ‘Green IT’ is one of the key focus areas for ILF this year. The Indian IT industry has been at the forefront of many transformational initiatives and I am sure it will play a very important role in creating a more sustainable environment not only in India but also across the increasingly flat world we live in today.”                            

In the near future, NASSCOM plans to initiate a major research project on Green IT in the context of India and also undertake a series of activities to raise awareness on it within and outside the IT industry. Apart from its members, NASSCOM also intends to continue vigorously to engage and partner with firms and institutions outside the IT industry in order to create a ‘Web of Collaboration’.

Rajdeep Sahrawat, vice president, NASSCOM, said: “Green IT is no longer somebody else’s problem. For Green IT to achieve a sustainable impact, companies need to transform their approach towards it from ‘obligation’ to ‘opportunity’. In other words, companies should use IT pro-actively to transform into “Green” businesses rather than only focusing on making IT infrastructure, and products “Green”. Smart grids, intelligent transport systems, motion and heat detection sensors, smart buildings, intelligent machines which can be maintained remotely are not science fiction but illustrations of real-life opportunities today.”