The meeting followed a detailed formal submission to the Review made on behalf of members and the wider ICT industry in Australia earlier this month. It provided the opportunity to discuss the detail of AIIA’s submission in a face-to-face environment as well as to clarify the industry’s concerns around a number of issues.

AIIA will continue to take forward the position of the ICT industry in light of the recently released draft of the Garnaut Climate Change Review.

The Review provides Australia with the opportunity to take a significant step towards understanding the future role of ICT in climate change management and emissions control across all areas of business, industry and government.

In a statement to the press, AIIA CEO Ian Birks said that ICT will play a critical role in the design and implementation of solutions that meet the challenges identified in the Garnaut Review, both within Australia and around the world.

The Garnaut Review will become a significant component of AIIA’s ongoing environmental work, one of five key priorities for AIIA’s representation of the industry.

The ICT sector has clear responsibilities to improve the environmental credentials of its own products and services, a challenge that the industry is demonstrating an active commitment to on many fronts. AIIA is currently involved in a number of initiatives in this area, such as the trial of end-of-life equipment recycling through Byteback in Victoria and discussions with the Federal Government about setting Energy Performance Standards for computer equipment.

ICT’s largest role, however, will be transforming the approach taken by other industry sectors. AIIA will be actively examining the draft report to identify the industry's ongoing role in abating carbon emissions. A recent report by the Climate Group said that better use of technology could reduce world-wide emissions by 15 per cent – or five times more that the total emissions from the ICT sector – and save global industry over $800 billion in annual energy costs by 2020.

The NSW Government has several panel arrangements covering ICT-related supplies.  The opportunity for appointment to these panels arises periodically, typically every three years. As part of streamlining procurement, the NSW Government has invited ICT providers to submit expressions of interest (EOI) for appointment to an ICT services panel that will initially stand for three years (RFT 0800542).  It is anticipated that the ICT panel will replace a number of the existing panel arrangements as they end.