Estonian Information Society Yearbook 2011/2012. Karin Kastehein

or stagnation depends on the viewing perspective. Spatial data have at least become more open over the last few years and this trend will continue.

      CHAPTER 2

      GREEN IT

      We are facing a situation where natural resources keep on decreasing and become more difficult to access even as countries need more and more of them to continue their growth. Raising the economy’s competitiveness will require more intelligent and resource-efficient production and use of smarter technologies. The OECD considers ICT a key enabler of sustainable economy and has indicated that while the ICT sector generates 2 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide, it can alleviate the negative impact of the remaining 98 per cent. This chapter gives an overview of the results of a survey conducted to map Estonia’s green ICT potential and looks at plans for implementing the recommendations issued in this regard. The chapter also gives an overview of developments in the private sector: the ambitious Smart Vormsi initiative on that western island, and the ELVIS project – the timber industry’s electronic waybill project.

      Green ICT as enabler of environment and resource conservation

      Kristiina Kitsik

      [email protected]

      Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications

      In late 2011, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in cooperation with Ernst & Young Baltic conducted a study for mapping the level of awareness of green ICT areas and their potential in Estonia.

      Green ICT is a concept that has developed in the early 21st century. It is a combination of ICT solutions and environmental conservation. In the big picture, green ICT is engaged in two main areas: environmental sustainability of ICT equipment and solutions (making ICT greener) and raising sustainability in other walks of life through ICT solutions. Earlier environmental conservation topics were considered purely green-movement topics but today, with ICT solutions developing, they are becoming increasingly intertwined with businesses’ everyday activities. The reason is the fact that ICT helps bring about savings on resources in work processes. It also represents a business opportunity for companies developing new products and services.

      A study entitled “The role of green ICT in enabling smart growth in Estonia“24 reveals that Estonian enterprises realize the role of ICT solutions and, using green ICT, seek ways of making manufacturing processes more efficient and environmentally friendly. The adoption of such solutions is largely motivated by the desire to save money, although conservation as such is also considered important.

      Green ICT solutions can be found in many walks of life. An example of building energy efficiency is the smart house solution devised by an Estonian company, Yoga. The company estimates that the design will allow the heating costs for the building to be reduced by as much as 30 %. In the field of transport, ICT is used to optimize itineraries. Estonia’s biggest telecoms companies, EMT and Elion, are piloting solutions where residual heat from server rooms is used to heat surrounding offices and homes. An active community on a western island is behind the Smart Vormsi project designed to improve the living environment for the islanders (see p 32).

      In addition, resource savings are provided by the replacement of services that require paper copies and in-person office visits with online services and software solutions. Although the state sector has had an active role in this area (ID cards, X-road, e-health, e-school, electronic tax returns) there are also good examples from the private sector, such as Internet banking and mobile parking, green ICT solutions that have been in use for over 10 years.