ICT often overlooked in carbon reduction initiatives

A new Economist Intelligence Unit study explores how information and communications technology (ICT) can be used to reduce organisations’ carbon-dioxide emissions

Information and communications technology (ICT) can do much to help companies achieve their carbon reduction targets, particularly by enabling them to connect international operations while reducing the need for executives to travel. Yet a survey* by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by AT&T and Cisco, found that most corporate carbon reduction strategies ignore the role of ICT in achieving these targets.

Of the 345 C-level executives polled for this survey, 18% say their companies have a carbon reduction strategy, and a further 39% are in the process of developing one. Of those that have a carbon reduction strategy, or are in the process of developing one, nearly half say that no mention is made of ICT. This is surprising given that the majority of those polled believe that senior management is aware of the potential of ICT to help achieve carbon-reduction goals.

It is clear from this survey that IT chiefs are well positioned inside their companies to promote the green benefits of ICT. While most survey panellists agree that the CIO should not lead carbon reduction initiatives, they should at least play an important consultative role in advising on the best use of technology to cut emissions. However, at present, only half the organisations polled by the Economist Intelligence Unit said the CIO is consulted when it comes to developing the company’s carbon reduction strategy.

According to Robin Bew, Editorial Director at the Economist Intelligence Unit, “There is a lot of talk about reducing carbon footprints in today’s organisations, but not much action. Putting technology to work in this endeavour offers a simple, effective way to move from rhetoric to action,” he says.

“It is interesting to discover that many organisations do not fully take advantage of the CIO’s strategic role in tackling carbon emissions,” says Phil Smith, European vice president of marketing at Cisco. “Through this report, we can learn more about the attitudes in these organisations and how businesses can reduce carbon emissions by adopting ICT solutions."

"While the topic of 'Green ICT' has been high on the agenda in the ICT industry for some time, this report shows that the CIO has an important role to play in the development of a company's carbon reduction initiatives," says Lloyd Salvage, Vice President, Global Segment Marketing at AT&T. "The report also shows that ICT can make a real difference."

Other key findings of the report include the following:

• Pressure to change. Most companies say that the pressure to be more green is coming from government and customers. Contrary to what many people believe, very little pressure is coming from shareholders and employees.
• Web and video conferencing are the most popular technology tools for reducing the organisation’s carbon footprint. Part of the attraction of audio, video and web-conferencing is that it is easy to measure the resulting reduction in air or car miles following its adoption. In terms of an internal environmental audit, this makes conferencing an attractive technology compared with other initiatives which may not deliver such direct benefits.
• Home-working is not widely adopted, despite the tools being available to make it possible. However, Braden Allenby, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Arizona State University, has found that a lot of home working goes on under the radar. Indeed, home working is often ad-hoc and given as a perk to select individuals, but most survey respondents believe that many more people will work from home in two years’ time.

Managing the company’s carbon footprint: The emerging role of ICT
is available, free of charge at: www.eiu.com/sponsor/ATT-Cisco/carbonfootprint

Press enquiries:
Economist Intelligence Unit
Joanne McKenna, Press Liaison, +44 (0)20 7576 8188, joannemckenna@eiu.com

AT&T
Niall Hickey, Director of Communications, AT&T EMEA, +44 20 7663 5076, nhickey@emea.att.com

Cisco
JoAnne Hughes, Cisco Systems, +44 (0)20 8824 0314, joahughe@cisco.com

About the Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. Through our global network of about 650 analysts, we continuously assess and forecast political, economic and business conditions in 200 countries. As the world's leading provider of country intelligence, we help executives make better business decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies.

About AT&TAT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

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