Green ICT Visiiri boosts sustainable development in Finland’s ICT sector

The environmental impact of the ICT sector is growing rapidly, and will only accelerate. The sector is becoming one of the major sources of environmentally harmful emissions.

Combined with a growing waste stream, increasing regulatory pressure and sustainability reporting obligations, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), are also compelling the ICT sector to reduce its environmental impact.

Even though the ICT sector already emits about the same volume of greenhouse gases as the aviation sector, the importance of the former in terms of these emissions is not yet widely recognised.

“Other sectors can also think of ICT not only as a tool but as a means to achieve their environmental goals. ICT goes further than merely facilitating the green transition – it makes it possible.”

And this is an opportunity worth seizing. In addition to the positive climate impact, the development of operations in line with Green ICT is often also directly reflected in a company’s finances, as greener operations result in savings in energy consumption, among other things.

The challenges of the green transition do not just lie ahead. They are already part of everyday life for many companies.

The CSRD directive obligates larger companies to report on their sustainability-related responsibilities for the financial year 2024. Smaller companies will follow in 2025, and finally, in 2026, almost all companies will be obligated to publish a sustainability report.

Corporate sustainability-related issues can already affect smaller companies if they are part of the supply and value chain of a larger company that is subject to CSRD requirements. More and more consumers are also aware of the need for sustainable practices, and are increasingly demanding them. With Green ICT in place, environmental friendliness becomes a competitive advantage.

The green transition is not just about reporting, however. It is above all about action and changes in activities that are reported. With sufficient know-how, it is easier for companies to operate more sustainably. This is the expertise that the Green ICT Visiiri project provides to participating companies.

The ICT sector’s impact on environmental issues is visible in two ways: both through its environmental handprint and its environmental footprint, the sector plays a significant role in environmental issues.

The environmental footprint is the impact a company’s solutions have on the emissions and environmental impact in its sector. The environmental footprint of ICT is affected by factors such as electricity consumption. Now, as artificial intelligence comes to the fore and other forms of digitalisation also continues to grow, this will only increase. By developing their activities in line with Green ICT, companies can save on energy consumption. This also contributes to profitability.

A handprint is the impact of a company’s decisions on the energy savings, environmental impacts and sustainability of other parties. The handprint of the ICT sector can affect the carbon footprint of many other sectors, as well as affecting the overall ability to meet the EU’s green transition targets and obligations.

How can ICT companies best respond to the demands of the green transition? To answer this question, a national Green ICT Visiiri project has been set up. This is an ICT green transition project that develops Finnish expertise and promotes the adoption of Green ICT nationwide.

The Green ICT Visiiri project offers a wide range of benefits for participants:

Co-development also includes customised training for employees. Small amounts of funding (de minimis funding) can be sought from the EU to facilitate this. Through the aid, the value of the training is approximately €1,800. If a company is not eligible for de minimis funding, it can also be purchased at full cost. De minimis funding is an instrument of EU aid that is limited so at to avoid distorting competition.

Mäkilä says the project will result in more productised services and tools that will make it easier to measure and assess the environmental performance of systems.

As measurement and evaluation become easier, so does decision-making, making it simpler to improve energy efficiency.

The Green ICT Visiiri project offers companies many benefits related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Once companies are involved in Visiiri, environmental friendliness gradually becomes a natural part of their processes. In this way, the green transition ultimately provides a competitive advantage for them.

Porras emphasises that green ICT should be seen as an investment in skills, new ways of working and the desire to be more efficient while respecting nature.

Porras lists three first steps that companies can take towards Green ICT:

With other Green ICT Visiiri participants, companies can share their experiences and lessons learned, improving at the same time.

“Together, we can make Finnish ICT companies more environmentally friendly and make this a model country in accordance with the ICT strategy of the Ministry of Transport and Communications,” Porras says.

As Mäkilä sees it, the companies that are already implementing Green ICT will benefit from networking with other like-minded companies. “These companies benefit from the expertise of the universities and other experts involved in the project, as well as from the latest research.”

The Visiiri project is an excellent channel for raising awareness of Green ICT matters. The project’s work packages are ideal for identifying and monitoring the climate and environmental impacts of the ICT sector from various perspectives, including measurement, consulting, software, telecommunications and server rooms.

Led by researchers at the University of Turku, the project addresses issues concerning the measurement of environmental impact. The University of Oulu’s Visiiri project work is linked to the 6G Flagship programme, which explores future sustainable information networks.

“In addition to environmental sustainability, the design, preparation and use of information networks also aim to increase social and economic sustainability,” says Sanna Tuomela, project manager of the Green ICT Visiiri project at the University of Oulu.

The University of Oulu’s contribution to the project will focus on the environmental sustainability of mobile networks, such as the energy efficiency of networks.

“Companies can participate in research in the Visiiri project, for instance by contributing case study data on the environmental resilience and energy efficiency of mobile networks and by joining the national Green ICT network.

Through the network, companies can participate in discussions and obtain tools and information for making their activities more environmentally sustainable.”

The University of Eastern Finland’s contribution to Visiiri focuses on green ICT and environmental friendliness in server room environments and server hardware.

“Environmental sustainability goals are reflected in the entire value chain of IT service production, such as the selection of server room suppliers, service design, sustainable service production through digitalisation, and the management and recycling of workstations and mobile devices in an efficient way that meets data security and data protection requirements,” says Marko Jäntti, adjunct professor of digital service management at the University of Eastern Finland.