Fujitsu ICT Sustainability Benchmark Survey Report Confirms All Australian Industry Sectors Are Missing Financial Gains of Environmental Programs

Fujitsu today released its ICT Sustainability: Australian Benchmark 2014 report. It highlights key areas in ICT where performance and efficiency improvements are required and outlines the actions that can be taken. In addition to the survey responses from the CIOs of 200 of Australia’s leading ICT-using organisations, the report is an excellent resource which includes expert insights, focus areas and quick win recommendations that are supported by industry commentary and examples.

Fujitsu’s commitment to the Benchmarking research is part of its determination to raise awareness of ICT’s impact on the environment. As an industry, ICT is responsible for 3 percent of the world’s total global emissions – a figure that is predicted to grow to as high as 10 percent by 2020.

The report was released at an executive briefing on ICT sustainability practices in Sydney today which was opened by the NSW Minister for the Environment, Rob Stokes and attended by sustainability champions from across industry and government. The commitment of Government and NGOs to this Fujitsu initiative was confirmed in the forewords to the report from Rob Stokes MP, and WWF Australia CEO, Dermot O’Gorman.

William Ehmcke, Director of Connection Research which undertook the research, said: “From the last Benchmark Report, we can see that ICT Sustainability across Australian organisations has, by and large, stalled. Over the next two years we hope to see some very real flow-on benefits stemming from better Metrics and increased investment in Technology Enablement. These will have the capacity to drive wholesale improvement and value across private and public sector enterprises.”

This benchmarking research takes a critical look at the five key areas of the ICT supply chain – Equipment Lifecycle Management, the Data Centre, End User Computing, Technology Enablement and Metrics - and how to measure and manage performance and ICT energy use. It compares the performance of large IT-using organisations across Australia’s Finance and Business Services; Government, Heavy Industry; IT, Comms and Media; and Wholesale, Retail, Logistics industry sectors. Fujitsu has commissioned this research in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and, to date, has surveyed more than 3,000 CIOs across eight countries including Australia. This is the first dedicated Australia-specific report.

Lee Stewart, Head of Sustainability at Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, said in releasing the report: “It is clear that Australian enterprises are making only token gestures towards the environment. Failure to take responsibility for the impact on the planet is one thing but failure to see ICT Sustainability improvements as key to reducing CapEx and energy costs is missing the requirements for every area of every business to produce savings. ICT Sustainability, even if seen in pure financial terms, cannot be ignored.”

In encouraging CIOs to download the ICT Sustainability: Australian Benchmark 2014 report, Stewart said: “If you take only one thing from this resource, it is to isolate and understand your ICT energy usage. Treat it like cash in your business - measure it, monitor it and control it. This single action will push efficiencies beyond ICT to your whole organisation. Every new technology implementation is an unmissable chance to improve sustainability and financial performance.”