ICT industry comes out in support of decarbonised business growth model

The CEO Round Table organised by Greenpeace in association with CyberMedia Online India Limited (CIOL) saw the industry and civil society stalwarts like Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman, HCL infosystems, Arun Seth, Chairman, British Telecom, India, Raman Roy, Chairman and Managing Director, Quattro BPO Solutions , Pankaj Mahindroo, President, Indian Cellular Association, Pradyut Mukherjee of The Climate Group, Prasanto Kumar Roy, Chief Editor, CIOL and Dr. Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International, coming together and acknowledge the need of the hour to adopt a sustainable and decarbonised business model.

Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman HCL Infosystems said in his keynote speech at the roundtable, “Sustainable business is not just about corporate social responsibility initiative but a business opportunity now. ICT has to develop more solutions which will bring transformation in energy sector; HCL has already been deploying smart meters across the country as we believe that Energy saved is equal to Energy generated.”

“The ICT sector has revolutionised India's economy and put India on a global stage. Now they need to use technology to clean the economy and push for a sustainable green-economy concept. It needs a collective effort from the civil society and the industry to push for policy reforms in favor of a sustainable development.” said Dr. Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International.

“The information and communications technology sector spends a lot on energy and it makes sense for them to go green as they can play a critical role in cutting large scale emissions.” said Pradeep Gupta, Chairman, CyberMedia India Online Ltd.

The conference pointed out the major responsibility the ICT sector has to bring in solution and applications to help in decarbonising operations internally and externally and help save businesses in excess of Rs 48 trillion and cut down on green house gas emissions upto 15% by 2020. The delegates also emphasised on the government’s role in formulating policies to incentivise consumers to buy these greener products.