Sustainability today, not tomorrow.

As someone who has been involved in carbon reduction and sustainability efforts throughout my career, it was a joy to get involved with the SustainableIT.org team, who have created an active and supportive community of technology leaders in the US, and have made the transatlantic leap to do the same in Europe.? At the end of January, I took my place at the first European Steering Board meeting alongside technology and transformation leaders from across the continent. ?

One of my key learnings from this event was the number of organisations and individuals within them that have grasped the nettle of sustainability, in all its forms.? Much is driven by regulation, but the belief and enthusiasm amongst the attendees of this forum was not inspired by rules, but by the knowledge that they are in a unique position, at a critical point in time, to make the necessary changes. ??Many businesses represented here are reaching the point that they have to report “Scope 3” carbon emissions as part of their annual reports or for customer audit.? These are carbon emissions created by their supply chain, rather than directly by the business itself.? This is not straightforward, but IT vendors of equipment and services can help a lot if they provide this information in accessible ways.? There was a clear desire from the group to use their collective power to encourage vendors to improve this information.

Another lightbulb moment was how much our technology is beginning to become the stand-out item when it comes to energy use, accessibility, equality of opportunity, and transparency.? CIOs are often reluctant to take on yet another responsibility, but this is becoming unavoidable and honest conversations with the board about how, when, and where these things are addressed across the organisation are becoming inevitable.

In terms of our use (or abuse) of data the subject of Generative AI was, of course, part of the conversation. This technology has great potential to provide people with tools and information that were not easily available before, but can also be misused very easily and could worsen inequality in those groups that do not have access to it. ?Where it is available, we must accept that people will use it, and we must provide guidance about how to do this safely and appropriately, as the risks around privacy and confidentiality are significant.? A good example of this guidance has recently been released by the UK government and can be found here.

?https://cddo.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/19/artificial-intelligence-introducing-our-series-of-online-courses-on-generative-ai/

From a Jumar point of view, it was extremely valuable to talk to people involved in change programmes about how they can use the opportunity of a software modernisation or migration project to build sustainability into that process.? This can take the form of improved accessibility, reduced carbon emissions, building knowledge and experience in diverse teams who have previously not had access to these tools, enhanced security, and privacy – so many options to embed a sustainable approach into what might otherwise be seen as a pure technology play.? We know we have to be part of the answer to our sustainability challenges, it’s simply not an option to leave it to everyone else.

SustainableIT.org is a worthwhile effort and credit should be given to Delphix for providing initial funding for this not-for-profit venture.? I’m looking forward to contributing to the ongoing effort. To learn more about SustainableIT.org visit the website !