When most people think of the Green Agenda, factories billowing smoke into the atmosphere come to mind, however software too will soon come under Green scrutiny when looking considering Government contracts.
Trends
The EU has mandated that by the end of 2010 50% of all government public procurement contracts in terms of both value and numbers will be subject to Green Criteria with an ever increasing drive and ambition toward it.
It is envisioned that with an average buying power equivalent to about 16-19% of all GDP governments will become the new drivers of the transition to Green technology which currently resides in the domain of private sector retailers.
Green in the Software Context
The implication for software is that your product development processes and the energy efficiency implications of using your product will come under scrutiny over the entire life cycle of the product. The following are just two considerations when thinking if you are ready for Green Public Procurement:
(1) The energy efficiency of the machines you use for product development are becoming relevant considerations for procurers seeking to lower the countries carbon footprint through applying entire life cycle methods of pricing contracts.
(2) The energy demands using your software places on the end user machine during its use must now also be considered in the coming era of energy efficiency. For instance can your product efficiently index files to reduce resource intensive search time and therefore save on energy consumption?
Solutions
Now that we established that Green is here to stay and that in the foreseeable future it will spread as far as the software sector. What can Enterprise Ireland do to help?
We have a toolkit of supports ready for our clients who wish begin measuring and reducing their carbon footprint to bring themselves in line with international best practises.
These include assistance in gaining (1) European Eco-Labels, (2) funding towards Environmental Management Systems implementation assistance such as the ISO14001 (3) funding assistance in sourcing a qualified consultant to measure your carbon footprint and help you lower it.
Further Information
Further information about Enterprise Ireland’s GreenTech offering can be found by clicking here.
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