Standardization work is essential to the credibility and scalability of Green IT, and thus for the ICT industry’s ambitions of supplying the world with solutions for combating climate change.
There is much focus today on smart grids. In Sweden, the Zigbee trials demonstrate the necessity for open standards because we want to keep our opportunities open for the new applications that might come. In order for such trials to be economically feasible there must be a perception that smart technology invented in one corner of the world may be used in other corners as well – that economies of scale can be reached, that one invention can be placed on top of another, that the market is functioning and that we have a level playing field. Without this belief there is neither fair play nor urgency – if each of us only has his own market to think of there would be no competition.
Standardization is essential for scalability. In Norway we have seen the use of videoconferencing greatly reduces the CO2-footprint of large corporations and certain areas of the public sector. TrygVesta, the insurance company, saved ten times the amount of money that they have spent on video conferencing equipment. In the North Sea, on the oil platforms, potential patients meet with their doctor on the main land via video conferencing.
The pilots and small scale deployment of the technology are very promising. But In order for us to launch video conferencing as a tool to enable us to benefit from the technology on a larger scale, to use the technology in communication between different companies and not only in one large company, it is necessary for us to overcome the barriers that different standards raise between the different platforms. Standardization in this field is promising.
Standardization not only ensures a functioning marked – in the case of mobile phone chargers, it gives the whole ICT industry credibility. It shows that we can work together towards a common goal. If we could not, it would be impossible for us to market ourselves as part of the solution to the climate crisis – we would still mostly be considered part of the problem.