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Sustainability
May 10, 2024

Launch of itag Sustainability Forum

Author: Jo Mullins
Date published: May 10, 2024

Thanks to all who attended the Launch event of the itag Sustainability Forum as part of the AtlanTec Festival.  We were delighted to have such an engaged audience, where experiences were discussed for the purpose of shared learning.

The itag Sustainability Forum is dedicated to promoting and advancing discussions on sustainability and environmental impact for the tech industry along the AtlanTec Gateway. This forum brings together experts, leaders, and professionals from various member companies to explore innovative solutions and strategies for a more sustainable future.

Thanks to our expert speakers Niall McDonnell and Niall Murphy from Cisco, who discussed Sustainable Software, and the importance of accurately measuring carbon emissions and the unintended consequences of improvements that are made.

Are improvements in efficiency offsite by a reduction in cost which in turn increases our consumption?

Jim Briscoe discussed his experience in Avaya and how employees were motivated to take action after a visit from 2nd level students who shared their knowledge and made suggestions.

They carried out a gas conversion project which involved changing the heating system to reduce the carbon footprint.  Avaya established employees’ groups to continuously learn for each other, motivate and investigate new initiatives.

Kate Feeney from Fidelity Investments discussed how the employees group IMPACT have established their mission to inspire positive environmental action.  This is carried out within Fidelity Investments as well as worthy community-based project such as Community Garden, Grow at School Programme, Laptop donations and volunteering for clean up days.

Our final speaker was Robin Giller from Intel Shannon.  Robin gave a very interesting talk on Technology as a Catalyst for Sustainability.  He explained the Scope 1,2 and 3 is a way to categorise the different kinds of carbon emissions a company creates in its own operations and in its wider value chain.  Robin gave examples of Intel’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions via manufacturing and supply chain partnerships, designing sustainability into their products, software and services.

Thanks to Francis Yates from Avaya, our MC for the event, who did a fantastic job. The audience questions during the panel discussion were, really engaging, and the questions continued during the networking event that followed.

A special thanks to Paul Lyons, Laughlin Moore and Colm Brady from Metlife for providing the wonderful venue and refreshments for the event.

We look forward to seeing you all at future itag Sustainability Forum events, check out itag’s Calendar for all upcoming events.