The earth is destroyed by our data

Literally. If no way is wound up to handle data effectively, it will destroy the earth.

The IT industry must therefore make it a top priority. It is necessary to deal effectively and therefore sustainably with data. Against a background of growing investor attention to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, a group of CIOs and other top technology leaders recently launched a new US nonprofit launched† Called SustainableIT.org.

Dates and the state of the earth

One of the goals, says Chris Gates, Allstate’s chief technology officer (CTO), is to clarify which benchmarks tech leaders should follow. This when it comes to measuring progress on various ESG dimensions. “There isn’t really one version of the truth about how to define and manage sustainable IT.”

Business technology leaders have long played a secondary role in sustainability efforts at many companies. But as the stakes continue to rise — ESG scores now affect everything from a company’s stock price to brand image — CIOs are becoming more deeply involved. For example, in the board discussions about how they can stimulate sustainability efforts. There is also a lot of discussion in the Netherlands about building data centers. They consume energy and slurp a lot of water for cooling.

Influence

CIOs will have a significant impact, given the growing environmental footprint of IT. Companies’ heavy reliance on software and online channels is driving demand for energy-hungry data centers. And according to some academic studies, these now account for between 1% and 2% of global electricity consumption.

That figure will rise. This as digital strategies become more and more ambitious. It helps if CIOs can push suppliers for more environmentally friendly ways. Think of how to power data centers. Or sort data more carefully and use virtualization. But also with other techniques to get more out of the existing server capacity, they can help keep this growth in check.