The Zen of Green Software: Finding Balance in the Sustainable Growth Journey

As businesses continue to evolve their operations to meet consumer demands and remain profitable, reliance on the IT sector will only grow. Today, it’s estimated that this sector contributes around 3% of global CO2 emissions, on par with the aviation industry. Expansion of a customer base and a drive for increased revenue is on an upward trajectory. This often translates into increased demand for energy needed to power data centers roughly doubling every four years, and even in a best-case scenario, the ICT industry is likely to account for 8% of total electricity demand by 2030–a 15-fold increase from 2010. Achieving a balance between growth and efficiency can be a formidable task. Software engineers can play a critical role at the nexus of both, enacting small changes to daily tech operations and software development which will add up to a big impact. This is where Green Software as practice and mindset intersects with business strategy to achieve measurable results across an organization.

In this talk, we’ll discuss open source software tools and methodologies for balancing carbon with growth across your IT organization. You’ll walk away with actionable approaches to greening your IT organization in your daily work.


Speaker

Lisa McNally

Head of Cleantech & Sustainability @Thoughtworks

Lisa McNally is Head of Sustainability and Cleantech at Thoughtworks — a global software consultancy. She guides clients in embedding sustainability and green computing into their digital transformation journey. As a client-facing strategist, Lisa specializes in translating climate policy into action. For the last 20 years, she has helped clients implement energy-aware solutions in the transportation, utility, and open-source technology sectors. Lisa has dedicated her career to designing and implementing programs that promote the sustainable use of critical resources to improve the quality of everyday life. Lisa holds a MSc in Environmental Management from the University of Oxford, and a BA in Anthropology and BS in Environmental Policy from UC Berkeley.

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Speaker

Marco Valtas

Technical Lead for Cleantech and Sustainability @Thoughtworks

Marco accumulated more than two decades of software development experience and is still surprised with how much there’s still to learn—starting with Bioinformatics research on the Human Cancer Genome Project in Brazil to twelve years at Thoughtworks as a software development consultant. Marco occupied different roles such as Practice Lead for Continuous Delivery, Technical Lead, Technical Principal, member of the Technology Advisory Board, and now Technical Lead for Cleantech North America.

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Date

Thursday Dec 1 / 10:10AM PST ( 50 minutes )

Topics

Green Tech Green Software Sustainability Open Source Software Tools

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