Government needs to push Green IT

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Green IT is back on the agenda but needs more support from European governments to make a real difference to the region.

This was the belief of Chris Dedicoat, vice president of Europe for Cisco, who expressed concerns about the lack of public sector involvement, during a roundtable discussion at the Cisco Live event held in London today.

Dedicoat claimed the push for Green IT had taken a knock in the past few years but things were changing.

"I'll be honest, [Green IT] went to the bottom of the pile during the recession as cost became the focus," he said.

"But now it is back on the agenda, especially in the data centre."

It may be back on the agenda for Cisco but when IT PRO asked whether he thought the Government was doing enough to push for IT to be more environmental, he slammed the efforts, claiming the lack of drive could also affect the economy.

Dedicoat said: "No, I dont think they are doing enough. If governments want to get the EU back to work they need a balanced economy and a big element of this is manufacturing."

He claimed there were four elements to the manufacturing industry, two of which we competed well at but two which need investment, and that is where green technology could play a role.

"When it comes to raw materials, we are competitive, when it comes to logistics, we are competitive, but our two disadvantages are labour and our huge energy costs," said Dedicoat.

"We need to innovate in these areas and the recession and recovery provides an opportunity for that."

There was light at the end of the tunnel for the UK, however, as Dedicoat claimed the Silicon Roundabout project in Old Street - announced by David Cameron back in November - would innovate in this area.

"There will be a big push towards green," he concluded.

Cisco is the latest company to sign up to an innovation centre to be based at the new technology hub, along with Google and Intel.

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