Schwarzenegger drives green IT

Arnold Schwarzenegger urged business leaders to create jobs with green technology innovations that reduce energy use, at this year's green IT world exhibition at CeBIT, the world's largest technology trade show, says The San Francisco Chronicle.

"I've always said the answers are in technology, for us to really hit our goals," remarked Schwarzenegger. The governor also signed a landmark law three years ago to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California.

This year, the international fair highlighted green technology, following a key report that found such technologies could curb global emissions by 15% by 2020 and result in energy savings worth more than $800 million.

Cisco Systems has signed a memorandum of understanding with Metropolis, an organisation of 106 large cities mostly outside the US, to collaborate on a project helping leaders use technology to be more efficient and less polluting, states Mercury News.

Cisco sees such alliances as part of its larger plan of moving beyond its core products (routers and switches accounted for about half the company's revenue during its most recently completed quarter) to meet CEO John Chamber's aggressive growth targets of 12% to 17% a year.

Cisco aims to build the foundation for 'intelligent' city infrastructure based on IP technology. That includes everything from better-managed power grids that use less energy to 'smart' buildings running on a single network.

Dell has reiterated its promise to increase the use of LED screens in its laptops to make them more environmentally-friendly while attending the recent Greener Gadgets Conference in New York, reports Rapid Online.

Michael Murphy, senior manager of environmental affairs at Dell, spoke with other major computer company representatives during a discussion titled 'Measuring your hue of green', which examined the topic of making consumer electronic devices more green.

Jeff Clarke, Dell's senior vice-president says, "As an industry, we can shape the future of green innovation and significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with mobile computing. Dell is committed to leading the transition to energy-efficient LED technology."