Green IO Newsletter - April 2024
Building a greener digital world, one byte at a time
Hello responsible technologist!
For the last few months I have been so excited about hosting the first conference in Asia focusing 100% on Green IT. Yet as I sat down on my plane to Singapore for the Green IO conference on 18 April, I had my doubts about whether spending so much energy (carbon, physical, emotional) would actually benefit anyone. So was it worth testing my physical and mental limits, and using up precious planetary resources? The resounding answer is yes!
It was an amazing opportunity to connect with academics, activists and IT practitioners, and I even met people I’ve been working with for almost 3 years and never had a chance to shake hand, or hug, like my first ever podcast guest Fershad Irani. 🙂 All of them welcomed and supported having a place to gather, share networks and learn about sustainability in IT. And they were definitely not shying away from the paradox of pushing for Green IT especially in a place like Singapore. Don’t get me wrong, the community is already building momentum. Green IO is no knight in shining armor, but I’m just following my philosophy: provide sustainable tools, yet ultimately be disposable or at least recyclable in other places 😂. Maybe at some point the Green IO brand can even be used by local tech communities, rather than me flying around the world for the next decade…
And so, beyond any doubt, my key takeaways from Singapore are that:
GenAI is all the rage. It is a buzzword as Natasha Ann Lum rightfully pointed out in our panel discussion, and unfortunately it is an unchallenged one, as I experienced it in a networking event for a French NGO during my stay. I’ve always loved getting out of my comfort zone, starting with popping information bubbles. And being surrounded by climate activists and responsible techies, it’s very easy to see things in a biased way. Sure, my clients help me face day to day challenges, but as a whole they are front runners in pushing sustainability adoption (otherwise they wouldn't be my clients). So I welcomed Thibaut Meurgue-Guyard’s offer to attend with him an event where panelists were discussing “how to navigate the shifting AI landscape”. And it came as a shock in the round table, as the question of AI use was almost never challenged, except once via ethical concern. And its environmental footprint was never addressed, except by yours truly at the very end of the Q&A. But beyond the questions of environmental and carbon footprint, I enjoyed Simon Schillebeeckx’s statement of shifting the perspective and focusing on handprint rather than footprint: what we will do with technology is pivotal. Direction beats consumption, reduction, which beats intensity mitigation.
We have a datacenter situation hence the focus on several resources in this newsletter. Even an arch-expert in DC facility management and water cooling, such as Pr PS Lee, seems to throw in the towel at some point. We can optimize as much as we can, and increase the resiliency of our infrastructure in face of climate change, but the question of the level of consumption will have to be addressed at some point.
Nuance is required to accelerate momentum in sustainability. Two of the talks had the word in their title and it was much welcomed. Sustainability is complex, and complexity requires both humility and subtlety. This starts with humans. We should welcome people on their sustainability journey from where they start, not where one believes they should already be. Sure, greening IT is not the most efficient way to reduce the environmental footprint of many organizations, and L’Oreal or Cap Gemini made this clear on stage. Yet what about the ones who don’t have that much say regarding the business model of their company? Or even the possibility to speak up regarding their country's economic path? It is important to let people work also from where they can, as long as they have access to the big picture and don’t fall into the greenwashing trap.
So the upshot is, I am still buzzing from the Singaporean welcome (and maybe that gin sling cocktail too), and the subsequent feedback that I have since received has helped chase away my initial doubts about acting as a catalyst to generate or accelerate existing momentum.
Which leaves me to say a HUGE thank you to all those who attended the conference, to the many volunteers who gave up their time and energy, and a special thanks to Thibaut for connecting us with the Singaporean ecosystem, and Jezelei Manangan, who had my back all the way. Enjoy our pick of resources, and see you next month!
Gaël DUEZ
As ever, your feedback is much welcomed. Contact details are at the end of the newsletter.
What’s been happening this month in Green IO?
Hot off the press! Get key info & reflections from our recent Green IO conference in Singapore - see Green IO conference section below
🕸️Check out greenio.tech for all our podcast, conferences, articles, transcripts and news.
🎙️ Latest podcast episodes
Here are the podcast episodes you might have missed this month. No time to listen to the whole episode? Don’t worry, all podcasts come with a wrap-up article and full transcript. 🎧 Enjoy!
#36 “Sustainable datacenters in adverse environments” with Pr. PS Lee. Listen | Read
#37 “How to be a climate active product manager” with Antonia Landi & François Burra. Listen | Read
🔔 Don’t want to miss out on the next release discussing building green software with Sara Bergman ? Follow Green IO on your favorite podcast platform here or subscribe for email notification here.
🎤 Green IO conferences
Singapore was the go-to place for decarbonizing your tech stack this month! Our in-situ correspondents from the Transmutation Principle - Jezelei and Thibaut - posted a great overview of proceedings here.
September 19 2024, London
Bringing together an amazing community of responsible technologists
Call for speakers has been launched in partnership with Apidays here (select “Green IT and Sustainability") & early bird tickets are on sale here.
December 3 & 4 2024, Paris
The most comprehensive line-up combining experts and use-cases worldwide
Call for speakers has been launched in partnership with Apidays here (select “Green IT and Sustainability") & early bird tickets will be available in May.
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# Listen # Watch # Read # Study # Participate # Attend
What else has popped up on our Tech & Sustainability radar?
# Listen - We’re all ears
Gaël’s pick: Environmental Variables podcast on Greening Digital & the rebound effect. Maybe, the clearest explanation heard about direct and undirect rebound effects in technology.
Jill’s pick: The importance of resilience and adaptation in today’s climate with MCJ Collective & Dr Sarah Kapnick from the NOAA.
Bonus: If we sometimes feel that we are Impatient for Change, this latest podcast from Outrage + Optimism with Hannah Richie explores data dynamics in the context of oscillating doom and cautious optimism. And The Great Simplification asks Luther Krueger whether Goldilocks Tech such as solar ovens can inspire a (s)lower energy throughput future across the board. An insightful discussion about how Kara Swisher exposes Tech journalism flaws, plus back to basics with the MIT energy podcast on ‘TIL about the electric grid’.
# Read - Our coffee break reading this month
Gaël’s pick: ‘Building Green Software’ O’Reilly book from authors Anne Currie, Sarah Hsu and Sara Bergman (March 2024). For and by software pratitioners, hands-on tips on how to decarbonize our Tech Stack. Do not expect comprehensive analysis on the footprint of digital technologies and the future of tech but actionable advices on how reducing GHG from IT.
Jill’s pick: AWS customer restrictions point to data center power issues in Ireland.
Bonus: Climate justice & sovereignty are at the heart of this article on the AI energy crisis outsourcing to LATAM, which dovetails with examples of actionable solutions for creating circular energy models. For those of you interested in digital advertising, the IAB ‘State of Readiness’ Sustainability in Digital Advertising 2024 report has also been published. The invisibility of deep sea cables which are keeping the internet afloat is a thought-provoking read, and to finish on a feel good note, read this simple 5 point plan to help you get sustainability initiatives off the ground.
# Study - We’re never too old to learn
Gaël’s pick: The Global E waste Monitor 2024 report is out. The trends are bad, the “recycling” rate didn’t move and yet knowing these updated figures is more crucial than ever.
Jill’s pick: Sustainability competencies & skills in software engineering, Heldal et al, Journal of Systems & Software (May 2024).
Bonus: Plenty to go at this month, including a proposed corporate digital responsibility maturity model approach, addressing both environmental and social dimensions. More focus, a Green Software Measurement Model (GSMM) has also been proposed, plus check out the KPIs listed in the EU-wide reporting scheme for rating the sustainability of data centers.
# Participate - One byte at a time
Boavizta/CRiP study on the Environmental impact of public cloud: still time to answer.
#EcoWeb is the CAT’s latest survey to determine the status quo of web sustainability knowledge.
GenAI Impact is a project launched by the French NGO “Data For Good” to assess GenAI footprint (short video in FR). Datascientists and developers are welcomed to contribute.
# Attend - Meet fellow responsible technologists
24-25 April 2024 - OCP Regional Summit Lisbon (P)
28 April 2024 - Umwelt Festival, Berlin (D)
4 May 2024 - La Réalité Minière du Numérique, Paris (F)
28 May 2024 - Sustainable IT Day, Lausanne (CH)
18-19 June 2024 - Green Tech Forum, Brussels (B)
24-28 June 2024 - ICT4S 2024, Stockholm (S)
One last (positive) thought…
Green IT even figures in expert advice and coaching given to Eco-Design Art Prize 2024 winners 😀. This competition supports artists in reducing their environmental impact and aims to contribute to the global acceleration of environmental action in the artistic sector.
See you next month!
Gaël DUEZ, Jill TELLIER & the Green IO Team
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