Green IT: ‘Fashion trend’ or asset?
The heated debate around the real power of green IT raises a question: is it just a fashionable trend that everyone is talking about or could green IT truly have some positive impact on our environment?
Article by Anna Krupnik
Tackling environmental issues has become one of the top priorities for the international community, and green IT is seen as one of the solutions to the problem. But the heated debate around the real power of green IT raises a question: is it just a fashionable trend that everyone is talking about or could green IT truly have some positive impact on our environment?
To assess the potential of green IT, it is crucial to look at all of its aspects. First, what is green IT? Also known as green computing, green IT is the practice of designing, manufacturing and using information technologies with zero or minimal impact on the environment. Green IT is also about using information technologies to support and supplement environmental initiatives and to create green awareness. In short, it is a combination of different practices. Green IT could be as simple as handing over your old computer for recycling and urging other people to do so on social media.
An issue today is the lack of general understanding of the positive implications of green IT for our societies. How do we use it to make a difference? The first step is to reach out to all stakeholders and explain the benefits green technologies can have for their spheres of activity. Representatives of the public and private sectors, young people and vulnerable groups should be given the knowledge and skills that enable them not only to understand the opportunities that green IT can provide, but to put them into practice in daily life.
Green IT has become a topic of international concern and now unites countries all over the globe. The participation of youth in discussions about green technologies is a positive sign. The UN Environmental Forum in Ukraine and the Swiss IGF 2021 provided a platform for young people to voice their opinionon the role of green IT in mitigating climate change. As a Youth IGF Ambassador and a representative of the ITU Generation Connect — Europe Youth Group, I had a chance to bring this topic to the table and call on other stakeholders to collaborate and take positive action to exploit the potential of green technologies.
Whether green IT remains just a trend or is fully harnessed to solve environmental problems depends on us. Are we ready to work together to transform a trend into a tangible tool that will help us save our planet?
