ICTFOOTPRINT.eu is the European support action in the field of energy & environmental efficiency in ICT. It is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Programme (Grant Agreement no 690911) and it aims to create an independent information & services hub for organisations and citizens in Europe.
ICTFOOTPRINT.eu, in its 36-month workplan, will deliver a platform with online services in the field of energy & environmental efficiency: These services will include carbon footprint measurement tools, advisory services to green procurement, and one-on-one help desk services.
The final goal of the initiative is to support all European ICT players on how they can become energy and environmentally efficient. In particular it will support the practical calculation of carbon footprint in ICT (products & organisations), by allowing easy access to methodologies that are internationally recognised and, contextually, help organisations to be efficient & reduce their carbon footprint.
Methodologies are already available to stakeholders but they have very low workability, nor they provide, in a simple and usable form, the information and the resources to perform carbon footprint calculations: ICTFOOTPRINT.eu will address this aspect, by developing a high-usability online platform.
Finally, ICTFOOTPRINT.eu will raise awareness among all key stakeholders, namely all ICT-intensive organisations (with a particular attention also to SMEs), ICT industry players, public bodies, policy makers and relevant standard bodies (SDOs), besides all European citizens. In order to allow barrier reduction, the platform will be translated in 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish and Italian), making it naturally accessible for almost 58% of all European SMEs.
In more detail, during its 36-month life, ICTFOOTPRINT.eu platform will deliver:
· High quality tools to carbon footprint methodologies, which will guide end-users, to measure their ICT carbon footprint using standards procedures and metrics;
· A help desk, with high-standard response time, providing assistance to organisations interested in using the methodologies @ ICTFOOTPRINT.eu;
· A marketplace for energy & resource efficiency solutions;
· Webinars & communication materials;
· Best practices in adopting ICT footprint methodologies in Europe.
SMEs will receive a special attention, through a continuative set of effective coordination and support actions that aim to raise awareness and develop a large community of end-users. The benefits received from ICTFOOTPRINT.eu will become valuable assets, through cost savings, brand building, lean processes, transparency and external reputation in “green ICT”.
Silvana Muscella, ICTFOOTPRINT.eu’s Coordinator and CEO of Trust-IT Services, believes that “As an ICT SME understanding my carbon footprint through adopting energy efficient methodologies is key for my future sustainability as a company. I can't wait for ICTFOOTPRINT.eu to provide a place for SMEs, like me, to find low-carbon footprint solutions and, at the same time, incentivise those "green-oriented policy" suppliers to provide products with energy benefits which would be a real win-win for the ICT community at large - I am really excited on embarking on this".
