Online business was developed over the last few decades to increase profits, drive new revenue streams, reduce costs and maximise efficiency. However with the green issue at the forefront of many organisational initiatives, e-business is a welcome asset for supporting the environment. While many are concerned about hosting and recycling of computer equipment, online business is a champion for paper and fuel reduction. How can businesses implement e-business efficiently and cost-effectively to support green initiatives?
E-Business by its very nature reduces an organisation’s carbon footprint. The biggest challenge and concerns about digital business however relate to electricity costs for hosting. With recent improvements to solar power technologies, solar powered hosting has become more and more reliable and affordable. There are also a number of information management tactics we can employ to decrease the volume of power required to run our hosting. These include not only IT activities, but more importantly the way everyone in an organisation works with information.
There are a variety of organisations using online business to promote or generate revenue from the green issue. ‘Greentech’ (greentechmedia.com) make money from downloadable research articles and papers, which are sold a premium, as well as online advertising and events. There are also a number of online social networking sites, which allow businesses and individuals to campaign and educate each other about green issues. One thing is clear, when it comes to any ethical issue such as ‘Green’, social media is a valuable asset in helping us support and collaboratively work together to improve the environment. However, with so much activity and duplicated information being generated from social media discussions and recommendations, analytics and other 'big data', the electricity required to run the server disks for social media and online means that there is a downside.
Discover some useful tips to support your eco-friendly organizational and e-business initiatives on the following subjects in our article
· Solar-Powered Hosting
· Reducing Deforestation
· Avoiding Data Duplication
· Green Product Supply Chain
· Ethical Travel