Sustainable IT
Reduce the environmental impacts of digital operations, cloud, data, devices and ICT supply chains through common measures, practical guidance, standards and coordinated adoption.
Proposed mission renewal
Each mission moves from executive dialogue into coordinated work, standards, implementation or verification as the opportunity matures.
Make the environmental impact of digital technology measurable, manageable and visible in organizational decisions.
Digital growth has a footprint
Organizations often lack consistent information for measuring emissions from cloud, data centres, data practices, devices and ICT supply chains.
Renew coordinated action
DGC can reconvene members, confirm priorities, coordinate adoption of recognized practices and determine where new standards are needed.
Re-establish the mission group
The next opportunity is to reconvene the Sustainable IT Advisory Committee, confirm the mission priorities and select an initial standards or adoption project.
Digital transformation creates environmental impacts that are difficult to see and compare
Cloud migration, data-centre operations, expanding data use and rapid device turnover can increase energy demand, greenhouse-gas emissions and material waste.
Organizations need credible, comparable information and practical approaches that connect sustainability objectives with IT architecture, procurement, operations and end-of-life decisions.
- Limited transparency and harmonization in cloud and data-centre emissions reporting
- Short device and equipment lifecycles
- Unclear environmental impacts from data collection, storage and compute
- Inconsistent green procurement and ICT supply-chain requirements
Move from voluntary commitment to coordinated implementation
DGC’s existing pledge and advisory work provide a foundation for a renewed mission focused on measurement, circularity, procurement and standards.
Renew the advisory mission
Bring CIOs, sustainability leaders, public procurement, cloud and data-centre operators, vendors, researchers and circular-economy experts back into a shared forum.
Confirm common priorities
Revalidate priorities for cloud and data-centre measurement, device life extension, the environmental impact of data practices and sustainable procurement.
Develop practical standards
Determine where consensus standards, specifications or implementation guides can address device end of life, impact reporting and common procurement expectations.
Coordinate adoption and evidence
Help organizations use recognized standards, disclose relevant evidence and signal consistent expectations across public and private procurement.
A cross-sector mission
The mission requires organizations that purchase, operate, measure, design and recover digital technology.
CIOs and IT operations
Organizations responsible for cloud, data centres, enterprise architecture, software, infrastructure and device fleets.
Sustainability and finance
Climate, ESG, reporting, finance and enterprise-risk teams connecting IT decisions with organizational targets.
Public and commercial procurement
Buyers that can use common sustainability criteria to influence vendor practices and market behaviour.
Cloud and data-centre providers
Operators responsible for energy use, emissions reporting, workload efficiency and infrastructure transparency.
Device and circular-economy organizations
Manufacturers, refurbishers, recyclers and service providers involved in repair, reuse and responsible end of life.
Standards, research and civil society
Experts contributing measurement methods, impact reporting, environmental safeguards and public-interest perspectives.
A pledge, advisory structure and practical evidence base already exist
The proposed renewal builds on established DGC work rather than starting from zero.
Sustainable IT Pledge and Advisory Committee
DGC established a member pledge and advisory committee to support target setting, emissions measurement, supply-chain action and broader adoption of sustainable IT practices.
Research with ICTC
DGC and ICTC convened roundtables and published reports on environmentally sustainable ICT and strategies for reducing environmental harm in a digital world.
Device and equipment end of life
The Advisory Committee identified a potential consensus-based standard for device and equipment end of life and coordinated adoption of recognized standards as practical next steps.
THE SUSTAINABILITY PLEDGE
A connected world should not cost the Earth. The members of the Digital Governance Council created the Sustainable IT Pledge, the first of its kind in North America. The pledge aims to reduce the rapidly increasing emissions from digital technologies and has been signed by some of the biggest, most influential companies in Canada. Join us and take the pledge.
Reconfirm the priorities and choose the first renewed workstream
Organizations can help reconvene the Advisory Committee, update the Sustainable IT Pledge, confirm the four mission priorities and determine whether the first renewed workstream should focus on measurement, data-centre transparency, circular devices, sustainable procurement or an end-of-life standard.
Organizations with significant digital operations, procurement influence or sustainability expertise
Priority participants include CIOs, public and private procurement leaders, cloud and data-centre providers, device manufacturers and recyclers, sustainability teams, standards experts and research organizations.