New study shows critical impact of IT on global sustainability initiatives

published research Yesterday we are looking at opportunities for closer collaboration between technical experts and those charged with corporate sustainability to reduce an organization’s environmental footprint.

computing is wrote before The need for enterprise technology and enabling customers to do the same to better quantify and reduce their digital carbon footprint. GHG emissions are typically underestimated due to the complexity of technology supply chains, and the impact of digital activity on overall emissions is far greater than we think.

The good news is that as digital technology scales, Reduce emissions by 20% by 2050.

goal gap

The survey of 1,000 sustainability program directors produced consistent results across all global markets surveyed, including the US (400), UK (200), France (200) and Germany (200). rice field.

Some of the findings are particularly eye-catching, such as the gap between greater sustainability aspirations and reality. For example, 73% of UK Sustainability Managers say their company management treats sustainability initiatives as a priority, with the majority saying he will reach sustainability goals within 7 years from his 3rd year. (55%). However, only about half (51%) of those surveyed in the UK said they were on track to reach their goals.

There is also a strong understanding that technology plays a key role in determining whether sustainability goals are being met. 90% of UK Sustainability Program Managers agree that companies must significantly reduce the energy use of their technology infrastructure to reach their sustainability goals, and 76% agree that their companies’ carbon footprint We predict that the impact of technology infrastructure on

Even as the carbon footprint of technology increases, 63% of UK respondents say vendor sustainability is likely to be overlooked in the vendor selection process. SustainabilityHe said nearly as many leaders (64%) would only get involved after the technology buying process had already started.

Furthermore, more than other functions such as finance, leadership and operations, IT was identified as not taking the necessary steps to support corporate sustainability goals. Less than half (46%) of those surveyed in the UK say their IT team at their company appropriately considers sustainability when making technology purchasing decisions.

Data storage decisions are one of the most important.

Collecting, storing, analyzing and monetizing data is a challenge for businesses from every angle, but poses some very specific challenges for those looking to make their business more sustainable. .

The data sphere is now so huge that the General Assembly of Weights and Measures I had to create a new unit of measure, and all its data must be stored. Decisions about how and where to store that data have a significant impact on overall sustainability and become more important as the amount of data increases.

Determining the true environmental footprint of a data center, whether on-premises or in the cloud, is undoubtedly difficult, but companies that are serious about sustainability need to think a little bit about it. of GHG emissions, especially those related to energy consumption, are newsworthy topics But there are other factors to consider, such as impacts on materials, water use, waste management, and impacts on biodiversity.

The research shows that increasing collaboration and advocating for more sustainable infrastructure by technical teams can have a significant and immediate impact on the sustainability of employers.

Wes Van Den Berg, Regional Vice President, UK and Ireland, Pure Storage, said:

“By leveraging the right technology and partners to support their sustainability initiatives, businesses can drive their green transition. This first report could be an important tool for IT leaders to improve their data storage strategies.Modern sustainability infrastructures require much less power, cooling and waste, resulting in It can have a significant and immediate impact on reducing an organization’s carbon footprint.”