Greening Your Business Through Technology - WITSA

6The FutureFor example:• An intelligent road system will help us to reduce traffic congestion by warning people of trafficjams and suggesting alternate routes.• An intelligent energy system will have smart meters that help people to better manage theirelectricity bills.• An intelligent water system will help to reduce water restrictions by minimising waste acrossthe system.• An intelligent health system will improve the speed and quality of treatment and help take thepressure off hospitals.• Intelligent broadband communications will deliver new services, create new industries and allowmore Australians to work from home or avoid work related travel.According to new research by Access Economics, smart systems also offer the most promisingpath for Australia to lift its long-term economic growth potential.Conservative estimates from a ten year plan to adopt smart technologies in electricity, irrigation,health, transport and broadband communications point to benefits such as:• Increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1.5 percent over ten years.• Increasing the Net Present Value (NPV) of GDP of $35-80 billion over the first ten years.• Creating more than 70,000 jobs in 2014 alone.As smart technologies are integrated into everyday situations, more opportunities are opened upas we examine the overarching, societal advantages of digital infrastructure.For example, as fibre extends to the home, it will enable telenetworking, thereby reducing theneed for motor transport as communities and workplaces re-align themselves. Thus, digitalinfrastructure could actually reverse the separation of work and home that started in the industrialrevolution, delivering environmental, health and efficiency benefits.How does this relate to GreenIT?Building a Smarter Planet is all about using our resources more intelligently to minimise waste andthe release of CO 2 emissions into the atmosphere. While GreenIT technology innovation is focusedon initiatives that relate to operating IT infrastructure, GreenIT business innovation is focused oninitiatives that relate to business operations.Each of the initiatives highlighted above all have a contribution to make. They provide thefoundation in which a future vision can be built and provide a solution to the environmentalchallenges we are experiencing today.• Smarter energy grids (reduces the loss of power).• Smarter water (reduces the loss of water).• Smarter traffic (reduces transport issues).• Smarter healthcare (reduces healthcare issues).• Smarter Broadband Communications (enables smart technologies and business productivity).Of these, the key to building a Smart Planet is the implementation of the National BroadbandNetwork. It will open up new ways of communicating and delivering services and allow the datafrom smart systems to be used more effectively.Page 47