The Efficient Enterprise: Advancing sustainability through Business and ICT synergy

The Corporate IT Forum is participated in this workshop, together with The Environment Agency of England and Wales, in support of the Enterprise Strategy Competency, one of 2 senior groups in the UK IT Professional Skills initiative, driving to build and foster a natural home for CIO strategy skills development through a collaborative network of public and private sector peers.

Despite the recession, environmental issues have remained on the agenda at the top table. Not only is there a strong correlation between 'green' activity and saving money, but regulations such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment as well as sustainability targets for the public sector have also focused minds.

Environmental concerns are only one high-profile element of a wider sustainability picture, however. This picture covers all aspects of the financial and social wellbeing of an organisation, including ethical trading and supply chain considerations.

But changing the business to become sustainable is no mean feat and most organisations in both the UK public and private sectors are only taking their first steps on what will undoubtedly be a long journey.

This report explores the value in both IT and business terms of going down this route as well as the barriers that organisations are likely to face along with some suggestions of how they might overcome them. It also looks at how the IT function can support the business in making the change it needs to ensure that operations are sustainable now and into the future