1. ITU Kaleidoscope 2016 ICTs for a Sustainable World
How organisations can assess and improve their Green ICT activities in a standard and efficient way
Albert Hankel, Patricia Lago VU University Amsterdam
Bangkok, Thailand
14-16 November 2016
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

2. Introduction of Green ICT and Research topic
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

3. Impact of ICT on the environment
Part of the
Problem
Part of the
Solution

4. Our definition of Green ICT
We define Green ICT as a combination of activities that minimise the negative impact of ICT on the environment and optimise the positive impact ICT can have.
Or, in other words, as any activity that considers the direct, indirect and systemic impact of ICT on the environment.
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

5. ICT & GHG emissions: positives and negatives
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

6. Research Topic 2% vs 16%: what are we focusing on?
How can Green ICT be made accessible for organisations to assist in their efforts to improve their environmental sustainability?
In this study we want to:
demonstrate how organisations can use a maturity model to assess and improve the use of Green ICT
show the effect of the model
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

7. The SURF Green Maturity Model
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

8. Concept 5 levels of maturity Score different attributes on maturity
Attributes grouped in domains (thematic)
Average scores for discussion
Little to no activity
Quick wins
Support from management
Monitored and improving
Green ICT leadership
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

9. Green ICT in the Organization
Greening of ICT
Greening of Operations
with ICT
Green ICT Strategy
Housing
Travel Reductions with ICT
Governance of ICT services
Computing Infrastructure
Space Reductions with ICT
Green ICT Procurement
Network Infrastructure
Energy Reductions with ICT
E-waste Policy
Storage Infrastructure
Paper Reductions with ICT
Green ICT in Information Management and Architecture
End User ICT Equipment
Feedback and Decision Support
Community collaboration
Software and ICT-services
Green ICT Supply Chain Management

10. Example attribute Attribute Definition Level 5 description Score
Computing Infrastructure
The resource and energy efficiency of the computing infrastructure.
Factors: Hardware Capacity; Turn Capacity on/off; Usage of Capacity; Asset Management; Monitoring and Awareness.
The computing power required for delivering all service levels is dynamically adapted to the demand. Where possible, the computing capacity will be delivered from virtual machines and the physical devices/environment necessary for these machines are optimized for energy efficiency. Unused physical devices will automatically be turned off. Total capacity is sufficient for normal demand. Short peaks in demand will be provided for from solutions from the cloud or (additional) rental. The physical environment is monitored for energy use and this is reported and billed to users in proportion of use of (virtualized) resources.
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

11. How to use the Maturity Model
Someone in the organization wants to use the model. This is the assessment manager (AM).
The AM composes an assessment team. The team should be a combination of skills and responsibilities.
The AM organizes a kick-off for the team to explain the model and assessment process.
All participants fill out the maturity model spread sheet and score all attributes 1-5.
The AM summarizes the scores and discusses the result with the team in an evaluation session. Based on this discussion actions for improvement are defined in an action plan.
The AM can evaluate the progress on the action plan by letting the team score again. This creates a constant improvement cycle.
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

12. Bangkok, Thailand, 14-16 November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

13. Example scores Bangkok, Thailand, 14-16 November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

14. Method for
the study
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

15. Overview
Four organisations participated. Each had a point of contact, the Assessment Manager who was motivated and had a mandate. We used the steps previously described.
Key data collections
Maturity scores
Evaluation session
Questionnaire
We facilitated the maturity scan with the following:
Analysing of the maturity scores
Facilitating the evaluation session
Providing a summary of the evaluation session
The Assessment Manager was responsible for:
Forming the assessment team
Getting them to fill out the model and collect the scores
Organising a date for the evaluation session
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

16. Evaluation session
All team members were asked to join the evaluation session
Two analyses were presented:
Radar diagrams for each domain
Individual scores per domain
Team members were invited to discuss the results to share their views and suggest ideas for improvements
Both strong deviations and the general averages were good starting points for the discussion
The sessions were recorded on video
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

17. Questionnaire
The questionnaire was given out after the evaluation session and consisted of the following questions:
Did you find it useful to fill out the maturity model? Why (not)?
Did you gain more insight in the possibilities of Green ICT?
Were you more inspired to apply Green ICT?
Will you from now apply more Green ICT in your daily routines?
Do you have any feedback on the maturity model?
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

18. Results of
the study
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

19. Overview of average scores
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ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

20. Results Questionnaire
Results summarised over all individual participants:
93% found the maturity model useful
93% had learned about new possibilities in using Green ICT
73% was inspired to promote more Green ICT activity
67% planned to apply Green ICT principles in their work
General feedback was on the whole positive. Frequent comments:
The maturity model helped their awareness on the topic
It gave insights in where their organisation stood
Some found it difficult to fill out or said that they needed the evaluation session to fully understand the model
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

21. Discussion of the results
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

22. Common observations and patterns (1)
We found common issues and solutions amongst the four organisations:
There is a general lack of strategy concerning Green ICT
Almost always there was someone who was giving good examples on how to procure more environmentally friendly or dispose of equipment properly. But these were not formalised.
There is a lack of communication on what is already there, from policy documents to good practices, both to management and to users
Organisations have slowly started with and going beyond quick wins:
a green paragraph in project documents
total-cost-of-ownership in procurement
virtualisation of servers
promoting teleworking
power-over-ethernet solutions
improving asset management and monitoring
Some areas are deemed too advanced for now
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

23. Common observations and patterns (2)
The findings indicate typical signs of bottom-up enthusiasm. The reverse, a lack of top-down support, was often mentioned.
Participants often stated: any green action should also improve something else (QoS, $).
From the questionnaire, the individual views of the participants showed a positive attitude towards the model and using it for improvements. In addition it also helped increase their awareness.
Finally, participants also mentioned that the model can be applied in an improvement cycle or in a benchmark.
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

24. Summary and Conclusions
For Green ICT to be truly effective, organisations need to know how they can both reduce the environmental footprint of their ICT equipment as well as how to use ICT to help reduce the footprint of their other business activities. The SURF Green ICT Maturity Model is designed to address this issue.
In this study we followed four organisations who used to maturity model to see if the model would help them improve.
The participants were stimulated to consider actions to address the problem-side and the solution-side.
Individuals and organisations were positive on the use of the model. It increased awareness, inspired to take action and was insightful.
We should be careful to draw general conclusions, but the strong positive reception is encouraging.
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016
ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World

25. The maturity model is free to use. Take a look at: www.surf.nl/SGIMM
Thank You
The maturity model is free to use.
Take a look at:
Bangkok, Thailand, November 2016 ITU Kaleidoscope ICTs for a Sustainable World