Juniper joins climate change initiative

Juniper Networks has joined the board of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing power consumption in ICT, reports Market Watch.

Members of the initiative have worked to increase the adoption of energy-efficient PCs and servers and increase awareness and use of computer power management, says the report.

Arne Josefsberg, Microsoft general manager of Windows Azure Infrastructure and board member for Climate Savers Computing, says: "Juniper's leadership paves the way for other companies and individuals and together we can dramatically reduce global carbon dioxide emissions beyond the computing devices.”

Ireland's Communications minister Eamon Ryan is establishing a next-generation network (NGN) taskforce that will focus on industry collaboration, states Silicon Republic.

Ryan claims his policy objectives for next-generation Internet infrastructure are broadly in line with those objectives set out by EU commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

A core focus of the initiative will be to get spectrum policy in place for the auctioning of 900Mhz spectrum in line with the switching off of analogue TV.

Natural disasters, resource management, life sciences and e-health will be keyed as high priorities for a global research and development lab to be opened at the University of Melbourne by IBM, says Tech World.

The lab, which will attract $22 million in investment from the Australian Federal Government, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2011, and will use ICT to monitor weather modelling, traffic management and mobility analytics.

IBM will use the lab to promote its 'smarter planet' vision, which comprises technologies such as smart grids. This is in collaboration with Energy Australia for its $100 million Smart Grid, Smart City trial.