Information and Knowledge Management using ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Grant Howard and Sam Lubbe
3.6 Environmental, economic, and social consequences
3.6.1 Environmental, economic, and social sustainability
The radical changes proposed by Green IT have economic and social benefits, costs, and
consequences. The environmental, economic, and social views on sustainability are essential
contexts of sustainability. Green IT can be regarded as a complex set of trade-offs between these
views.
The environmental consequences of Green IT are expected to be positive. This is deemed to be good
for the environment and critical for people. Green IT at the very least highlights the negative
environmental effects of not practicing Green IT. However there is strong debate about the
measurements and quantified effects.
3.6.2 Economic and social consequences
Economically, environmental sustainability prescribes reduced energy usage which means lower
energy bills for organisations and households. These realisable cost savings are a great motivator for
Green IT, although reduced energy costs do not always mean reduced energy usage. However,
reducing energy usage may be an expensive and long-term exercise for organisations and its
consumers.
Apart from the realisable cost savings from reduced energy bills, it is difficult to quantify the costs and
benefits of Green IT solutions. Some organisations are concerned that Green IT will negatively impact
their competitiveness and economic viability. However, other organisations that have implemented
Green IT show increased profits and market share. Another cost that organisations may have to bear
is the cost of cleaning up e-waste pollution; currently society bears these costs.
Socially, Green IT provides organisations with an answer to employee, investor, customer,
competitor, ethical, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and regulatory pressures. In organisations
and in households Green IT prescribes new ways of procuring, using, and discarding IT products;
encouraging Green values, ideologies, attitudes, behaviours and lifestyles, and requiring people to
become agents of change. Further, Green IT legislation may hamper desired IT usage.
Green IT and especially Green IS can transform an entire organisation’s business model and
business processes. Paperless business processes are promoted to replace the need for printing and
signatures. Measurements for organisations are altered to provide motivation for environmental
sustainability; the triple bottom line approach is one such measurement approach and consists of
economic, environmental, and social aspects. In addition, the work environment may change so that
workers do not commute to work and instead use IT enabled telecommuting and teleconferencing.
3.7 Development of Green IT in South Africa
3.7.1 Africa
The dilemma for African countries is the economically debilitating cost to respond to climate change
and the life threatening cost of not responding. However, one advantage for developing countries to
respond to climate change is that they have a diminished reliance on GHG causing fuels. In African
countries, IT can decrease transport related GHG emissions through m-commerce, e-commerce, and
telecommuting, although Internet access and speed is a severe hindrance. Other countries in Africa,
for example Ethiopia, are beginning to realise that Green IS can provide key environmental
sustainability information for agricultural and economic development.
3.7.2 South Africa
There is little literature on Green IT in South Africa. This suggests that Green IT is still emerging in
South Africa. The government environmental agency is beginning to publish the importance of Green
IT, as the negative and positive aspects become noticeable. The South African Government
acknowledges the fatal threats of climate change, is committed to reducing GHG emissions, and
recognises the potential of IS to alleviate climate change, but significant practical implementations are
not evident. So, the development of Green IT in South Africa is nascent. This is both a threat for the
present and an opportunity for the future. Although there is little literature on Green IT in South Africa
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