The City of Austin Information Technology organization and the Chief Information Officer have placed a focus on green computing this year. The City has placed a great level of importance on ensuring that all of the City’s practices are sustainable as well. This includes looking at our computing and IT infrastructure.
Just this past year there has been an increased emphasis places on ensuring that the amount the City prints is reduced and what paper we do use, is done in more environmentally friendly manner. On June 26 last year, the City Council approved a program to replace all desktop printers, faxes, scanners and standalone copiers/printers with multifunction devices. This project supports the Sustainable Printer and Paper Policy Administrative Bulletin signed by the City Manager. The goals of this program are to reduce the number of printers and the amount of paper used. The combined result of this program will save energy, natural resources, and money.
The City Manager recently issued a goal to reduce commuting during peak hours by City employees by 20 percent. Options to meet this goal include: alternative schedules; riding public transit; riding a bike to work; or teleworking either all day or during peak times. CTM has done significant work to make tools available to telework. The Communication and Technology Management Department has invested in the tools and infrastructure to ensure that City employees can be productive when not at their normal work location.
We continue to maintain some of our best managed programs that help reduce our impact on the environment. We are also exploring ways that lessen that impact on a day to day basis. We would encourage you to share with us the ways you or your business are helping keep your IT green and share with us the ways you think the City could improve.
To find out more about the City’s sustainability efforts as a whole, visit: http://www.austintexas.gov/department/sustainability/programs