The next wave of green IT, a report co-authored by Deloitte and CFO Research Services, takes the pulse of how Canadian companies view corporate responsibility. How important are green IT and energy efficiency to Canadian executives?

Although IT is one of the biggest energy eaters in business today, nearly 80 per cent of CIOs don’t see the energy bill. By linking responsibility and accountability for energy spending, the economic incentives can be put in place for CIOs to make efficient and effective operating decisions.

• Ninety per cent of organizations surveyed have made incremental and/or aggressive efforts to reduce their impact on the environment. Server virtualization (to improve server efficiency) is one of the most common first steps an organization takes when embarking on green IT initiatives.
  
• Thirty-two per cent of respondents have a formal green IT program in place, with another 34 per cent of respondents planning to launch a green IT program in one year.
  
• North American organizations are now investing more aggressively in green IT than are their European counterparts.  More than 40 percent of North American companies surveyed say their company anticipates allocating 15 per cent or more of its IT budget to green IT initiatives, compared with just 23 per cent of European companies.
  
• Forty per cent of respondents have not yet established a baseline for IT’s environmental performance. This is a critical step for measuring change, assessing performance metrics and demonstrating the business value of green IT.
  
• Eighty-three per cent of Canadian respondents (the highest for any region surveyed) cited controlling costs, increasing efficiency and reducing waste by adopting environmentally sound business practices to be high priorities.
  
• Employee engagement in climate change (let’s fight it together) is paramount to changing behaviour. Actions such as switching off computers, videoconference participation to reduce business travel, and efficient file storage need to become engrained in the organization’s culture to make a real difference to going green.
  
• On issues such as climate change and corporate responsibility and sustainability, IT can provide a tremendous opportunity to bridge the gap and improve communication between an organization’s various silos.
• As the regulatory environment evolves and matures, investments in green IT are likely to increase. The C-suite will need IT to better identify, assess, prioritize and manage risk and make the critical decisions needed to meet regulatory and disclosure requirements.
  
• The chief information officer (CIO) needs to have a seat at the table when the organization is making sustainability decisions. The CIO is the ultimate "keeper "of the information and needs to communicate the meaning behind the data effectively. 

To read the full report click here.

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