Simon Mingay

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Entries Tagged as 'Sustainability'


IT’s Role in Travel Substitution – Have We Reached The Tipping Point ?

by Simon Mingay  |  April 29, 2010  |  2 Comments

A combination of the recession, continued focus on productivity, organizational and individual responses to climate change, changing demographics in the workplace, changing views on the acceptability of “junkets” or jollies, and Icelandic volcanoes, have created a significant change in attitudes towards business travel. I’d hesitate to talk about the “perfect storm” at this stage, but [...]

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A Pause For Reflection On Where IT is On Earth Day 2010

by Simon Mingay  |  April 22, 2010  |  Comments Off

Earth Day is upon us again, an opportunity to pause and reflect on where the IT industry is. On the whole I’m very optimistic and boy have we come a long way in the last 5 years, particularly relative to other industry sectors. 2005 was when I started actively covering how climate change and sustainability [...]

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IBM Putting A Little More Pressure on its’ Supply Chain

by Simon Mingay  |  April 19, 2010  |  Comments Off

Last week IBM announced (http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2010/04/smarter-sustainabilityold.html)  that it was requiring all its’ supplier to put in place an environmental management system (EMS).  Here’s what they are asking suppliers to do :- We’re asking them to establish voluntary environmental goals and measure performance for at least three topics applicable to virtually all businesses: energy conservation, greenhouse gas [...]

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ICT and Water Footprinting

by Simon Mingay  |  April 19, 2010  |  Comments Off

This news item from the BBC related to the UK’s global water front caught my eye this morning.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8628832.stm Water footprints are different to carbon footprints for a number of reasons. With carbon/GHG emissions it’s the balance between carbon input vs that output in a process/cycle, and a tonne of carbon produced in the UK [...]

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UK Flights All Grounded – How Much Can Get Done Without Flying ?

by Simon Mingay  |  April 16, 2010  |  Comments Off

There is a good business continuity story here of course. But also an interesting sustainability perspective (I’ve always said the cloud would be good for sustainability). ICT remote collaboration tools will never replace travel, but it can certainly reduce the need for it significantly.  You can be sure that a lot of those people grounded and [...]

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COP15: Where Does the Conclusion to Copenhagen Leave the ICT Industry and Why Should An IT Professional Care ?

by Simon Mingay  |  December 22, 2009  |  Comments Off

In the melee that was the last few days of the Climate Summit negotiations in Copenhagen many things fell down the cracks, including information and communications technology (ICT). No sign of the text that the ITU and others were trying to get added.  Nothing binding or definitive for the enterprise carbon management software providers or [...]

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COP15: Sustainable “Smart” Cities A Bright Spot in the Copenhagen Melee

by Simon Mingay  |  December 16, 2009  |  Comments Off

Towns and Cities, the buildings that they consist of, the infrastructure and services that support them, will all play an important role in tackling climate change. Yesterday the Climate Summit for Mayors started (http://www.climatesummitformayors.dk/).  From a distance, compared to what we seem to be witnessing in the Bella Center in Copenhagen this seems an oasis [...]

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COP15: What Does The IT Industry Actually Want Policymakers To Do ?

by Simon Mingay  |  December 14, 2009  |  Comments Off

The goal of those representing the information & communications technology (ICT) industry at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen is to get “recognition” amongst policymakers that ICT has a significant role to play in tackling climate change. The ITU (a UN agency which among other things is charged with developing standards in ICT)  is pushing for [...]

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COP15 An Interesting Session on ICT

by Simon Mingay  |  December 11, 2009  |  2 Comments

I don’t have time to summarise this session at the IseeT forum in COP15, but if you have 70 minutes to spare it’s worth your while if you want to get some old and more importantly, some fresh perspectives on the role of ICT. http://www1.cop15.meta-fusion.com/kongresse/cop15/templ/play.php?id_kongressmain=1&theme=unfccc&id_kongresssession=2366 It ebbs and flows a little, but there are some [...]

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COP15: ICT Needs To Compete Against Alternative Technologies

by Simon Mingay  |  December 11, 2009  |  Comments Off

If you want to get an insight into the debate around the potential positive & negative impacts of  technology (far beyond ICT, though same basic issue applies) take a look at this press conference. You’ll get the basic message of this group by simply listening to the first panellist, but as the discussion goes on [...]

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