IT Workers Need Green Skills, Says BCS

IT professionals need new skills to deliver green IT solutions, according to BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, which has launched a new qualification to satisfy some of these skill requirements.

The Institute said that new regulations, such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, put pressure on businesses to reduce their carbon emissions mean that there is a growing demand for sustainability-focused roles.

Analysts at Forrester have also been urging companies to hire green IT managers, while IT industry association Intellect is currently calling for businesses to tell its Green Economy Council what they need from government to enable them to become low carbon.

"Our aim is to enable the IT industry to become more energy efficient in itself by providing the IT profession with the knowledge and expertise it needs to lower carbon emissions and reduce the environmental impact of IT.

"There is no doubt that legislation is going to create demand for an IT professional with new skills, and generate new roles, for example, we're already seeing the emergence of new business roles, such as sustainability managers," said Michiel van der Voort, director international and professional development services at the Institute.

As well as launching a new intermediate certificate in Energy and Cost Management for Data Centres, the Institute has also updated its intermediate certificate in the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres.

"There's a real opportunity here for IT professionals to get ahead of the game, understand the legislation and the associated challenges of reducing emissions," said van der Voort.

The new certificate is aimed at a wide range of people, including data centre managers, consultants, business unit managers, IT purchasers and CSR professionals.

It aims to cover issues such as what energy and cost management in the data centre involves, and why it is important, predicting and demonstrating appropriate management processes, as well as compare the differences between energy and cost management options.

More information about the courses can be found here.

Meanwhile, businesses can have their say in what Intellect's Green Economy Council, which provides a dialogue between business and government, asks for from the government to help them operate in a low carbon world. Intellect is also asking for businesses to provide suggestions on what commitments the industry could be willing to make in return for these requests.

Suggestions should be sent to Emma Fryer by 6 June at emma.fryer@intellectuk.org.

Source: http://feeds.pcworld.com/click.phdo?i=9c6ff29b4e985e22bd40da6e307aa916

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