Monday, April 20, 2009

Talking on radio about using broadband to save the planet

At 4:20pm today (local time) I will be talking to Grant Cameron on ABC Radio Adelaide 891 Drive about using broadband to save the planet. This is to promote my talk to the Joint IT SM and IT Architecture Special Interest Groups of the Australian Computer Society and itSMF Australia on "Solving Climate Change with IT Service Management". The particular issue I wanted to talk to the radio audience about is how widespread availability of broadband, such as from the federal National Broadband Network proposal, could be used to reduce carbon emissions. An obvious way to do this is to substitute video conference for travel. Also such dematerialisation can include substituting online services for physical goods, such as replacing paper document delivery with online services. A less obvious example is to make public transport more attractive. One good example is that Adelaide now has Google's trip planner for public transport as well as car and foot travel. This makes it easier to work out how to get somewhere, particularly for those who are not used to public transport. Another option would be to install WiFi on Adelaide's O-Bahn Busway and Glenelg Tram (as is envisaged for the e Cambridgeshire Guided Busway) so that people could do useful work or entertain themselves on longer trips.

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