Taha Khalifa, Intel Egypt’s country manager, aims to promote green IT collaboration between the public and private sectors. News Focus Freeing Taxpayers The ruling NDP cut personal income and corporate taxes in half, but the emergency law is here to stay High Times Bankers expect higher interest rates to heat up the investment climate and cool inflation Mastering Law A new law program at the American University in Cairo seeks to get students serious about law Until the Cows Come Home Consumers are still waiting for Sudanese beef to hit the market AloAchoo! The next generation of viruses has hit mobile phones Star Power The 2004 Olympics created some unlikely national icons and a powerful lineup of marketing potential Below Par The World Bank says Egypt is handicapped by the high costs to start a business and the difficulty of firing people, to name a few Corporate Bonding Orascom Telecom and Telecom Egypt have made a splash in the bond market, but rising interest rates may damper enthusiasm Unmaking Monopolies Opposition MPs say changes to a proposed anti-trust law defy the purpose of the law by protecting monopolies On Topic The Euromoney conference put an exclamation point on the liberalization efforts of the government Investment Matchmakers Egypt Invest 2004 seeks to convince foreign investors that the country has finally turned a corner ’Dish’ing it Out Satellite TV stations are set to give the state-run channels a run for their advertising revenues during Ramadan Cargo Crunch As exporters complain about skyrocketing airfreight prices, the government seems to be turning an unsympathetic ear Star Power The 2004 Olympics created some unlikely national icons and a powerful lineup of marketing potential By Courtesy Intel Taha Khalifa, Intel Egypt’s country manager, aims to promote green IT collaboration between the public and private sectors.

By Osama Diab

While no one will ever confuse the polluting effects of the information and communications technology sector with, say, the oil industry, all is not green in the realm of ICT.

The world throws away of hundreds of millions of mobile phones, computers, printers, batteries and gadgets annually, while energy and raw materials consumed by the industry account for more than 2% of global greenhouse gases emissions.

It is with this in mind that the Egyptian government has begun work on a green information and communication technology (ICT) strategy aimed at reducing the sector’s energy use and finding a place for the tons of hardware thrown away every year.

The strategy kicked off at this year’s Cairo ICT, the biggest tech fair in the country. The Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed a two-year agreement to reduce the environmental impact of the burgeoning ICT sector and outlined standards for trashing electronic waste.

“As Egypt becomes more and more technologically advanced, integrating green ICT into the overall vision is key to success,” says Taha Khalifa, Intel Egypt country manager. “Sustainability is a business imperative and this was echoed at Cairo ICT this year.”

The push comes as the government, which until last month had no environmental policy for ICT, attempts to turn Egypt into regional hub for technology.

And with climate change at the top of the global agenda, the industry at large has been pressured to reduce waste.

The sector makes up about 7% of global GDP, according to Mohamed Bayoumi, an environment specialist at the United Nations Development Program, and emits between 2% and 2.5% of all of greenhouse gases.

“This is not that much, especially when comparing it to the 7% of global GDP. But ICT can have an important role to play in reducing the other 98% [of greenhouse gas emissions].”

Sherif Abdel Rehim, a top official in the environment ministry, says in addition to reducing its own footprint, the ICT sector can help other industries with green initiatives through innovation

One company that has embraced environmentalism is Vodafone Egypt. The company converted 200 communications towers to solar power, tracks its electricity use and monitors how much fuel employees use in company cars, among other things.

“Vodafone is in every place in Egypt now, therefore we are very watchful of our impact on the environment,” says Noha Saad, the company’s manager of corporate social responsibility.

Vodafone also allows customers to exchange their old phone in return for air time or a small gift.

The company gives the mobiles to recycling companies or fixes them so they can be re-used. Despite a less-than-stellar start, Vodafone has collected about 15,000 phones.

“Even though we are a developing country, there are other countries that are less advanced when it comes to the use of technology,” says Saad. “So this way, [customers] can contribute to making technology more accessible [] in another country.”

Intel, the world’s leading microprocessors manufacturer, also has environmental issues at the top of its agenda. In 2008, the company’s energy savings amounted to the equivalent of taking more than 185,000 cars off the road, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Intel uses power-efficient servers and shares eco-friendly innovations with other companies, says Khalifa.

“As the country becomes more and more of an [ICT] hub, market players cannot afford not to take on an energy efficiency strategy,” says Intel’s Khalifa.

Late last year, Nile University signed an agreement to join the Intel-sponsored Middle East Energy Efficiency Research Center, becoming the latest school to join the fold.

The center is looking to forge more partnerships with universities from across the region to conduct research and promote energy efficiency.

“As green ICT is now taking center stage in the industry in Egypt, we are confident that close public-private collaboration will result in great strides in this arena,” says Khalifa.

For Khalifa, being green is not just a matter of social responsibility, but also an economic opportunity. “It also makes business sense to be energy-efficient. Intel is committed to investing in green power to not only reduce its own carbon footprint, but to spur the market and make renewable energy economically feasible and reasonable for individuals and corporations to employ,” he says.

Environmentalism and green thinking still have a long way to go in Egypt and raising awareness is what most industry experts agree will be the toughest challenge.

“We have to always put the environment into our consideration and in the way we think about things,” says Bayoumi. “It is no longer a luxury, but if we protect it well, we will all live in prosperity.”

Buy flat-panel LCD monitors when possible instead of conventional cathode ray tube monitors. LCD monitors provide up to 70% power savings and have a lifespan up to twice as long.

Purchase laptop computers rather than desktop computers. Laptops use one-fifth the energy of desktops.

Turn on the power of peripheral devices such as printers, scanners and speakers only when you need to use them.

Set the brightness of your monitor to about 70% and do not use screensavers. (This will save up to 40% of power consumption).

Switch from a paper-based to an electronic workflow — creating, editing, viewing and delivering documents in digital rather than printed form.

Send documents as email attachments rather than as faxes.

Use teleconferencing, video-conferencing and area-wide learning platforms to reduce travelling.

Set network printers and copiers to decrease their idle time and provide more cost-effective use of equipment.

Donate old computers that still work to non-profit organizations or others in need. bt