The Environment Agency has signed an IT contract which aims
to halve the department's carbon emissions.
The seven-year £336m contract will see IT services company
Capgemini take over day-to-day IT services for 13,000 users and
network services at the Environment Agency.
The deal claims to be the first UK IT contract to lay down green
metrics.
The contract covers the production and transportation of
hardware and energy savings for each end-user. Further green
measures will include reduction, reuse and recycling of hardware,
and all disposals will be done under strict Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations.
Graham Ledward, director of resources at the Environment Agency,
said, "This contract not only aims to exceed the government's
sustainable IT targets, it also sets a high standard for
environmental performance, which we hope that other public sector
organisations and businesses would wish to reflect."
Christine Hodgson, vice-president and member of the Capgemini
group executive committee, said the contract uniquely makes green
issues a prerequisite. "It will be the most sustainable IT contract
in government. Everything will be done on a backdrop of
sustainability."
This means Capgemini will minimise travel to sites, use green
datacentres and low-energy devices, and cut electronic waste by
extending the life of hardware at the Environment Agency.
"We will produce a
scorecard for carbon emissions. There will be a carbon target
for every piece of work we undertake," Hodgson said.
The contract relies on Capgemini meeting its own internal green
targets. By 2014, Capgemini aims to reduce its travel carbon
footprint by 30%, eliminate landfill waste and increase datacentre
efficiency by 20%. As part of this strategy, the services company
recently attained
ISO 14000
environmental management certification.
The Environment Agency hopes the service from Capgemini can be
reused by government and other public sector organisations.
Industry experts have estimated that IT contributes 2% of total
carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to that usually attributed to
aviation.