Dell attacks Apple's credentials

Dell has attacked Apple over its green credentials, which it claims leaves the creator of the iPhone wanting, according to Scotland on Sunday.

The bust-up involving the two global firms signals just how much the environment and "clean tech" investments will dominate business and commerce in the coming year, according to experts.

A Gartner survey places the development of green policies in the top three of executives' revenue-raising priorities for 2009. Gartner research analyst Rakesh Kumar said such issues are fast becoming a requirement as the economic downturn calls for more efficiency on energy use at work.

IT executives who responded to Computerworld's annual Forecast survey showed a reluctance to embrace green IT initiatives, says Computerworld.

Nearly half (42%) said their IT departments have no plans to launch projects in the next 12 months to reduce energy consumption or carbon emissions, and nearly three-quarters reported no plans to create committees to oversee energy-saving initiatives.

Yet experts say organisations that ignore green computing now are going to have to catch up if they want to stay competitive. "The green issue is not going to go away. There's too much at stake," says Rakesh Kumar, an analyst at Gartner.

The Philippines' Commission on ICT (CICT) is pushing for the implementation of green computing initiatives to significantly reduce power costs and help address the global climate-change problem, states Business Mirror.

CICT commissioner undersecretary Angelo Timoteo Diaz de Rivera said his agency will issue a circular on initiatives involving the environmentally responsible use of computers and related resources to government agencies next year.

De Rivera particularly cited the use of liquid-crystal display monitors rather than cathode-ray tube monitors, the use of notebook computers rather than desktop computers, and utilising central processing units and energy-intensive peripherals such as laser printers according to need.