A range of new perspectives on how the public sector can use digital technology in its sustainability efforts emerged from last week’s 'How Green is our Digital?' event.
Staged by UKAuthority and Microsoft, it took place against the backdrop of increasing numbers of local and regional authorities declaring climate emergencies, and a growing realisation that how they use digital tech is going to play a big part in meeting their own sustainability goals.
The event focused on how organisations need to think about their sourcing, deployment and disposal of digital equipment and services, to pay more attention to the possibilities for re-use and recycling, and how they can use data technologies to create more environmentally sustainable communities.
It included perspectives from the Government Digital Service and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on important aspects of the movement, examples of local and regional initiatives that have begun to yield benefits, and insights from technology, data and business specialists on how public authorities can raise their game on sustainability.
Overall, it provided a great learning experience and plenty of thought provoking ideas and reflections for any authority thinking about how to ensure the green credentials of its digital tech.
You can watch all of the presentations individually below. You can also download the event information here. And a copy of the report that was launched at the event here.
Sustainability in the public sectorChris Perkins, General Manager Public Sector, Microsoft UK |
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Sustainability in the Public Sector and why this is important - findings of the UKAuthority survey in local and regional government. |
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Implementing sustainability in ITMattie Yeta, UK Government Sustainability ICT Lead, Defra |
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Mattie shared examples of where and how to implement sustainability within your technology function. Sustainable procurement is just one factor of many. |
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How do we reduce the carbon footprint of digital services?Emily Labram, Senior Product Manager, Government Digital Service |
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Emily explained how the Government Digital Service estimated the CO2 footprint of their websites, and what they’ve done to reduce it. |
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Supporting local authorities in our regionAnna Bright, Chief Executive, Sustainability West Midlands (SWM) |
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Anna covered the way that SWM are using their expertise and cross-sector networks of stakeholders to support local authorities in the West Midlands to improve their sustainability in line with the region's Sustainability Roadmap to 2030. |
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Panel - Morning session speakers |
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Panel discussion with: Chris Perkins, Microsoft |
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Sustainable Cambridge: a test bed for sustainable citiesDan Clarke, Smart Cambridge Strategy & Partnership Manager, Cambridgeshire CCBill Wilson, Head of Data & Analytics, Kainos |
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This session will discuss the work that Cambridge is doing in partnership with the university and industry innovators to understand and influence carbon emissions in line with civic ambitions. Data - at the right grain and scale - is at the heart of true digital transformation and is the starting point for making a rapid and significant impact on the decarbonisation challenge. Dan will look at how this is being applied in Cambridge and Bill will discuss how it is impacting other cities, including the work being done by the Urban Data Project (a partnership between Smart Cambridge, Kainos, Microsoft and Samsung). |
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Digital CitiesDavid McGovern, Regional Director, Bentley |
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How to utilise Digital Twins for better decision-making - digital twins are there to give you a platform to test scenarios and hypotheses and also to get a better understanding of the performance of the city. |
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Greener Meetings & Culture ChangeGareth Bedford, Head of IT Portfolio, London Borough of Tower HamletsMark Reynolds, Founder, Hable |
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It makes sense that moving meetings online can help to reduce an organisations carbon footprint, by reducing travel. But what is stopping more organisations from doing just that? Its simple: Culture. In this session we will explore how we can start to change the culture in local government, using the ADKAR Change Management model. |
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Panel - Second morning session speakers |
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Panel discussion with: Mark Reynolds, Hable |
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On the path to “net zero” by 2050Jean-Marc Jefferson, Business Advisor, N2S |
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Our journey with our clients and partners as we set our sights on carbon neutrality by 2050. The things we do today and our plans for tomorrow. Lastly, some practical things everyone can do immediately with little additional effort and cost. |
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Microsoft’s Moon ShotEllen Wilson, Industry Manager Government, Sustainability and Smart Cities, Microsoft UK |
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This session covered Microsoft’s recent global sustainability announcements and its relevance to the Public Sector here in the UK. |
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Panel - Afternoon session speakers |
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Panel discussion with: Chris Perkins, Microsoft |
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Click here to see and book future UKAuthority events |
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Event picture gallery
