EXPERT OPINION
Green IT –
a sustainability strategy for
Middle East innovators
As the amount of data
inflates exponentially, more
and more data centres are
being established to serve
this Digital Transformation.
Patrick Smith, EMEA
Field CTO, Pure Storage,
discusses ways of reducing
the environmental impact
caused and how to manage
the pressure to deliver
sustainable IT operations.
reen initiatives are nothing
new in the Middle East,
G where carbon emissions
are a constant concern for
governments undergoing economicgrowth.
In 2017, Abu Dhabi Ports
introduced a sustainable paper-usage
initiative as part of a wider ecofriendly
strategy. In the same year, the
UAE’s Ministry of Justice launched a
sustainability project as part of Vision
2021. Saudi Arabia is also setting its sights
on green issues as part of its own national
economic programmes, with paperless
courts being front and centre of its justice
ministry’s eco efforts.
All Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)
economies and many throughout the
Middle East have seen the potential of
technology and Industry 4.0 to propel
their economies to greater heights.
Innovation and competitiveness are
buzzwords now across the region –
shorthand for a renewed sense of destiny.
Each nation sees itself as a potential
world leader, whether economically,
technologically or environmentally. In
the GCC region, which produces a fifth
of the world’s oil, leaders are faced with
green-minded consumers around the
world leaning away from petrochemical
reliance, while new technologies continue
to intensify competition. As a result,
much of the economic activity in the
region over the past decade has been
inspired by governments’ efforts to
diversify their economies.
Energy consumption in a data
centre world
This eco-friendly mindset now pervades
all policy, down to the private sector that
40 Issue 17
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