Sustainability Special Report Must-Reads: 4/12/23

AI, machine learning, data analytics, and supercomputing are core to the modern enterprise IT toolkit, but those data- and compute-intensive activities take a toll on the planet. How can CIOs balance sustainability / ESG and digital transformation?

You already know that every day at InformationWeek there will be original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else. In case you missed our Sustainability Special Report launched on Monday in honor of Earth Month, here are some of our favorites from the package:

1. InformationWeek talks Sustainability with Sanjay Patnaik

IWK's Brandon Taylor sat down with Sanjay Patnaik , Director of the Center on Regulation and Markets (CRM) at The Brookings Institution, for a brief conversation about best-practices for sustainability in the tech industry.

2. Sustainability Special Report

Stories by? Sara Peters & InformationWeek

Key Points:

• "Green AI" surely will not be green enough. And when data storage gets too tight, most of us respond by loosening the belt on iCloud, OneDrive, or Google Docs and proceeding to gobble data at the same rate as before.
• In the enterprise, there is often an assumption that more data, better data, more powerful computers, more intelligent computers will automatically provide life-saving, earth-shattering, business-empowering insights.

3. Improving Data Center Power Efficiency

Story by?Salvatore Salamone

Why is the issue so important?

• New technologies like DPUs, IPUs, and CXLs offload switching and networking tasks from server CPUs. They have the potential to significantly improve the data center power efficiency and sustainability.
• In fact, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)?believes?enterprises that use such techniques and focus on power reduction can realize about a 33 percent power efficiency improvement.

4. Supercomputers and Sustainability

Story by? Joao-Pierre Ruth

Why is the issue so important?

• Supercomputers broke the exascale barrier, marking a new era in processing power, but the energy consumption of such machines cannot run rampant.
• The energy needed to run supercomputers, as well as keep them cool, is not insignificant -- and in some cases rivals the power demands of entire neighborhoods.

5. Green IT Businesses Impacting Tech

Story by John Edwards

Why is this so important?

• For many IT companies, making a commitment to soften computing’s impact on the environment is little more than empty rhetoric: promises, pledges, assurances, and precious few real-world results.
• Green businesses integrate sustainability and conservation into its operational model.
• Yet a rapidly growing number of IT businesses are beginning to understand that blunting technology’s environmental impact is not only the right thing to do but is actually good for business.

6. April 26th Webinar on Wi-Fi 6E

On Wednesday – April 26, from 1 pm to 2 pm EST – check out Network Computing 's online webinar,?“Is Wi-Fi 6 That Much Different? Is It Better?”?Our keynote speakers are?Salvatore Salamone, Managing Editor at Network Computing?and?Jonathan Davis, Vertical Marketing Manager at Juniper. The biggest difference with Wi-Fi 6E is that devices use a dedicated spectrum with additional 160 MHz channels compared to legacy Wi-Fi 4, 5, and 6 devices. As such, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity has the potential to provide more bandwidth and lower latency. Find out if Wi-Fi 6E will truly be beneficial to your business in the future?in our latest webinar.

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