Karlsruhe CDR Summit on strategies for sustainable digitalization

Holger Gies has long been committed to the sustainable use of resources. “We want to manufacture our products responsibly and make good things,” says the Panasonic marketing expert. However, how best to protect the climate in day-to-day work and in the production of electronic items is a complex matter. “There are too many different issues and that’s why standards are urgently needed,” emphasized Gies during his presentation at the CDR Green Summit from 21. – October 22, 2021 in Karlsruhe.

For two days, participants were given impulses for the development of sustainable IT infrastructures on site and via livestream. Climate and resource protection in corporate IT were discussed as well as the design of a CO2-neutral workplace and advice on the topic of “Green IT.” The specialist congress was initiated by the Karlsruhe-based IT company Bechtle GmbH & Co. The event was supported by Panasonic, IBM, the Karlsruhe TechnologyRegion and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, among others.

Older PCs produce more CO2 than modern tablets

“We have always wanted to make an important contribution to achieving climate neutrality and thus have an impact on the region,” said Bechtle Managing Director Richard Einstmann, explaining the reason for the specialist event. In the search for the right path for this goal, the CDR Summit was then developed together with trade fair organizer HINTE. For the Bechtle boss, the constructive exchange between experts is the right approach, especially due to the high complexity of the topic. After all, if you want to reduce CO2 emissions in the long term, you have to ask yourself the right questions.

“If you hold a video conference with an older PC at home, you generate three times as much carbon dioxide as with a modern tablet,” says Einstmann. And sometimes, from an ecological point of view, traveling to the office even makes more sense than participating in a longer video conference at your desk at home. Another important aspect of green IT for Einstmann is the handling of unused data. “In the future, manufacturers and service providers will definitely also be called upon,” emphasizes Einstmann: after all, the streaming service Netflix consumes more electricity in Germany alone than in the whole of Spain. “We only have one earth,” Einstmann continues. “And if you can save money by protecting the environment, companies will be happy to join in.”

Increase efficiency in data processing

“If we invest in sustainable IT in the future, we can save a lot of CO2,” emphasized system specialist Bruno Michel from IBM. But first of all, we need to put our own house in order and increase the efficiency of existing data processing. Moving large amounts of data back and forth between computers in an unstructured way is just as unsustainable as working with an outdated infrastructure. In addition, the relationship between effort and benefit in the processing of complex issues should also be examined more closely in future. “Climate models are often created on large high-performance computers these days,” says Michel. “Although they provide us with important data, they can also influence the climate due to their high energy consumption.”