Download PDFOpen PDF in browserInnovation alliances for sustainable ICT - Good practices and success factors, using the example of initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of data centers12 pages•Published: May 10, 2018AbstractDigitalization is driving the increasing energy and resource needs of ICT. In Ger- many, ICT accounts for eight percent of electricity consumption. Data centers alone cur- rently consume 2.3% of the electricity in Germany, with an upwardtrend. Although the ICT sector is generally considered to be very innovative and new solu- tions are often implemented very quickly, deployment of energy- and resource-efficient innovations is frequently confronted with considerable obstacles and barriers. Innovation alliances of companies are a promising instrument of governmental sup- port for new environmental technologies in the fast-paced ICT sector. In the past ten years, several initiatives of this kind have been launched, e.g., the consortium GreenIT Amsterdam, the Innovationsallianz Rechenzentren (Innovation Alliance Data Centers) in Hesse, Germany, and the Netzwerk energieeffiziente Rechenzentren (Network Energy- Efficient Data Centers). Some of these initiatives have achieved remarkable successes. The present paper analyzes such innovation alliances using the example of energy efficiency in data centers as the field of application. Three good-practice examples from Germany are presented. The paper shows what these innovation alliances can achieve and analyzes the factors contributing to their successful implementation. It concludes with concrete recommendations for practical implementation of such initiatives. Keyphrases: data center, energy efficiency, good practices, greenit, innovation alliances, sustainable ict In: Birgit Penzenstadler, Steve Easterbrook, Colin Venters and Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (editors). ICT4S2018. 5th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology for Sustainability, vol 52, pages 125-136.
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