Awareness, opportunities and challenges of Green IT: An Australian perspective

Human beings have been responsible for the majority of the damage done to the natural environment. The problems created by humans must be tackled immediately and effectively so that the next seven generations can enjoy the same lifestyle as we do. Unfortunately, there is no Plan B for our planet. Therefore, to minimize the impact from e-waste, energy usage, and other ICT practices on Mother Nature, businesses and individuals can integrate Green Information Technology (IT) in their corporate strategies and daily work. This study aims to examine the awareness, opportunities and challenges of Green IT adoption in Australia. An online survey was distributed to 157 participants in Australia. From this study, new factors are generated for awareness, challenges and opportunities; awareness factors are namely: e-waste, eco-friendly materials and design efficacy. For the opportunities, three new factors are generated namely: environmental value, productivity and new opportunities, while the challenges generated three new factors namely: the rise of scandals and failure, the upsurge of cost and rates, and the escalation in competition and environment policies; in order to mitigate these challenges designers should very carefully consider their strategies. The new factors for this study will encourage Human Computer Interaction and IT researchers to integrate Green IT concepts within their designs in order to save our planet, as our planet is currently suffering and deteriorating as a direct result of human actions and activities