CIOs have one further consideration for the design and delivery of users’ workspaces, as concerns over the environment and sustainability have risen up the business agenda.
Supporting research by environmental consultancy Px3 (Px3, 2018) found that, following the introduction of carbon emissions reporting in annual reports, 95% of all FTSE250 companies are now reporting greenhouse gas emissions.
It further highlighted that ICT is a significant contributor to those emissions, being responsible for 1.5% of total worldwide energy consumption and producing 2% of global carbon emissions.
With businesses seeking to prove their ‘green’ credentials; IT departments therefore have a key role to play in building greener workspaces of the future and helping their organisation meet its Corporate Social Responsibility commitments and statutory emissions targets.
Three quarters (76%) of organisations now include IT when setting or achieving CSR policy guidelines or goals, though 14% of organisations don’t include IT and 10% have no CSR policy at all.
A more agile workspace is a greener workspace – reducing the amount of travel required by staff, decreasing the use of IT ‘consumables’, improving the recycling of technology assets, and cutting power consumption. At the same time, employees and businesses alike are becoming more aware that IT can have a significant impact on sustainability and are exploring ways to minimise the negative impact of IT operations on the environment.
More than half (51%) of organisations include reducing power consumption in their IT strategies; followed by adopting remote working to reduce commuting (47%) and following WEEE guidelines for recycling (47%).
For CIOs, being user-centric helps them meet two goals at once – not only improving agility and productivity, but helping to build a greener IT workspace. If configured and managed properly, remote and mobile working reduces an organisation’s carbon footprint by cutting unnecessary travel and reducing the number of buildings needing lighting and heating.
Similarly, BYOD policies reduce the number of devices and hardware in circulation that need to be disposed of. As people become more aware of how they impact on the environment in their personal and work lives, strong green credentials will actually improve employee engagement and help to attract new staff to the organisation. Sustainability concerns and being ‘green’ will continue to hold significance for businesses – CIOs can get ahead of this trend by enabling a smarter way to work now.