Government Technology - December 2007 - (Page 57)

said, “It’s just kind of become standard operating procedure here.” Hopeful Signs Info-Tech’s Hay added that recent federal government mandates offer hope for increased green priorities in government. In July, the White House issued an executive order that 90 percent of all federal technology purchases must comply with the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave a grant to the nonprofit Zero Waste Alliance to create EPEAT, a list of green criteria for electronics companies to meet for green bragging rights. Hay said forcing government to purchase mostly EPEAT-compliant products was a useful step. “That’s a new order,” Hay said. “That’s something that has come from the top. That’s an example of a really great mandate. It’s going to cause these IT managers to say, ‘Now we have to do this.’” “Those managers are forced not to care because they’re saying, ‘I don’t have a budget to make green improvements in my operation. I don’t have top-level management that cares about this. I have to fight tooth and nail to make any of this happen. Why will I even bother?’” Indeed, paying attention to green issues could be a liability for these IT managers because it could distract them from the full load of IT headaches they already face each day. “How are they ever going to have time to care or time to plan for green issues if it’s not a directive that they’re going to be given time to do, and given resources and money to do? It’s impossible for them to care,” Hay said. initiatives first. However, ‘green’ adoption is a mixed bag, with pockets of greening applied to data center and IT resources throughout the state level. There hasn’t yet been a comprehensive effort at the federal level in either the U.S. or Canada for greening IT, other than in very isolated cases.” Determining Concern Below are questions that state, local and federal governments answered to help produce Info-Tech’s data on green concern in government. How might your ofﬁce answer them? To what degree is IT leadership concerned about improving energy efﬁciency and environmental responsibility? ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Not concerned Somewhat concerned Concerned Very concerned Extremely concerned Nuts and Bolts The Info-Tech survey questioned 700 respondents, 60 of whom were government officials, mostly from state government. “I feel that 60 government organizations was an appropriate representative sample because [the results] fairly accurately reflected what we tend to see in all of our government clients, anecdotally,” Hay said, adding, “Many of our clients are in the U.S., and state-level organizations generally start these kinds of No Time to Care Hay said a lack of green priority among top agency management makes caring about green IT impractical for IT managers. Which of the following IT-related green initiatives are implemented by your organization? ❑ ❑ Budget allocation for green IT projects Optimizing energy efﬁciency in the data center Green considerations in sourcing and RFPs Rightsizing IT equipment to meet near-term requirements Server consolidation and virtualization Data center airﬂow management Hot aisle/cool aisle data center layout Liquid cooling for IT equipment Airside/waterside economizer Print optimization Equipment recycling (e.g., PCs, monitors, print cartridges, batteries, etc.) DC-powered IT equipment Carbon offsetting None of the above Who’s Leading the Green Index? Very/Extremely Green Agriculture, forestry, ﬁshing, water, energy 27% Very/Extremely Concerned 49% ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Transportation, utilities, communication Wholesale/retail Education Business services Health care Financial services Manufacturing Government 0% 38% 8% 33% 8% 27% 9% 26% 11% 18% 5% 17% 7% 13% 6% 10% 7% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% In your opinion, how green is your organization’s IT operations? ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Extremely wasteful Very wasteful Wasteful Neutral Green Very green Extremely green Respondents Source: Info-Tech Research Group N=686 57 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - December 2007

Government Technology - December 2007 Contents Point of View Big Picture Profile The Last Mile GT Spectrum Well...How Did We Get Here? Dark Spaces A Paler Shade of Green? Decertification Dilemma Game On Two Cents Products Signal:Noise

Government Technology - December 2007

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