Green trends and opportunities to take centre stage at Comex

Themed "Comex Goes Green", Comex 2009 presents not just the latest ICT trends but also the significance of Green Information Technology.

"Today, Green IT is no longer just about recycling old desktops. It's about improving productivity and organizational efficiency, minimizing risks, and increasing customer value. With Green IT solutions, users will be able to respond faster, streamline operations and automate manual tasks. This is an added feature at this year's Comex, which will help enhance the awareness of the visitors on the benefits of Green IT solutions,"

said Atif Khan, Sr. Manager - Trade Fairs of OITE, the event's organizer.

In a report titled "SMART 2020: Enabling the Low Carbon Economy in the Information Age", developed by The Climate Group, an international, non-profit organization, the information and communication technology sector (ICT) is cited to have a key role in spearheading global emissions savings that represent a significant proportion of the reductions below 1990 levels, which scientists and economists recommend by 2020 to avoid dangerous climate change.

The report found that "through enabling other sectors to reduce their emissions, the ICT industry could reduce global emissions by as much as 15 per cent by 2020 - a volume of CO2e five times its own footprint in 2020."

CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) is the universal unit of measurement used to indicate the global warming potential of greenhouse gases.

The report describes how the use of information and communication technology can contribute to a low carbon economy across all sectors of the global economy. Its findings envision practical solutions to the crisis of global climate change; as the report summary concludes, "It is now up to policy makers, industry leaders and the sector itself to make sure this potential is realized."

"Green building practices are more important now than ever due to climate change, thus, it is necessary that people should be more aware of the significance of Green IT solutions", Atif Khan added.

IT, telecom and consumer electronic industry consumes a considerable amount of global carbon emissions. There is a huge capacity to cut these emissions by improving on energy efficiency and decreasing power consumption. Computers and handheld device manufacturers are introducing recyclable material into their products and there is a focus on customer awareness to recycle their computers or gadgets.

Without the cost benefit however, most innovative solutions are unlikely to go further than the planning stage, and it is important to demonstrate how going green make a good business sense at this year's Comex.