What I Wish I Knew When I Started with Green IT

This presentation, titled "What I Wish I Knew When I Started with Green IT," by Ludi AKUE, explores the implementation of Green IT within a tech environment, offering insights and lessons learned from practical experience.

Key Points:

• Greenhouse gas emissions from the tech sector are significant, rivaling the airline industry. By 2030, these emissions are estimated to triple, largely due to AI growth.
• The importance of achieving net-zero global emissions by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, as per the Paris Agreement.

Main Lessons Learned:

1. Begin with an Assessment: Understanding Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Scopes (1, 2, and 3) is crucial for starting Green IT initiatives.
2. Embrace Flexibility and Transparency: Transitioning to cloud-based solutions enhances control and transparency, essential for managing emissions.
3. Simplify Architectural Complexity: Transitioning from microservices to modular monolith architectures can reduce technical debt and aid in Green IT implementation.
4. Optimize Frontend Operations: Reducing webpage weight and optimizing frontend performance can significantly cut emissions.
5. Data Transparency and Accountability: Establishing accountability within organizations to address sustainability challenges comprehensively.
6. Regulatory and Governance Frameworks: Instituting robust governance related to sustainability at all organizational levels is critical, especially with the growing influence of AI.
7. Iterative Process and Education: Continuous learning and unlearning are necessary, alongside promoting accountability and transparency among tech leaders and staff.

Conclusion:

To successfully implement Green IT, it is crucial to build frameworks for evaluation, measure impacts accurately, and foster a culture of change to support sustainability mandates. Strategic adaptation in technology management, through these practices, is a step towards mitigating the increasing tech-sector emissions and fulfilling global climate targets.

This is the end of the AI-generated content.

The path to sustainable technology involves complex technical and organizational decisions that aren't immediately obvious from industry best practices. This talk shares seven key lessons drawn from implementing Green IT at scale in a scaleup environment and in a public bank institution. I'll examine architectural impacts through a microservices to modular monolith migration and explore how FinOps practices align with energy efficiency. 

Using actual implementation metrics and case studies, I'll discuss practical approaches to measurement challenges, effective change management strategies, and the critical role of full-stack optimization. I'll also address the emerging challenges of AI energy consumption in production and evaluate current approaches being tested in the industry. Tech leaders will leave with actionable frameworks for evaluating Green IT initiatives and implementing effective measurements.