Roel Croes is a man with a mission. He is co-creator of the Green ICT Foundation and initiator of the ICT Innovation Platform. In addition to his participation in various ICT advisory committees for technological research, he also initiates ICT related (scientific) research projects concerned with ICT and sustainability.
Sustainable ICT is a collective term, he explains. “Firstly, it relates to ICT itself: by using energy-saving devices or innovative materials we can make the sector more sustainable. Next to this ‘scary’ demarcation, there is a wider one: You can also use ICT to realise sustainability in society. One such example includes ICT supported telecommuting.” The IIP Sustainable ICT would like to promote scientific research in both areas and find ways to apply it commercially in collaboration with other IIP’s, where possible.
Energy scavenging
“Things are starting to happen in the area of sustainable ICT, both at educational institutions and in the corporate world,” says Roel Croes. “Take the Smart Surroundings project, for instance. A sensor network monitors the condition of the coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Since you can’t change the batteries regularly, we had to find a way to use energy-efficient senders and receivers. Interesting research is being done on ‘energy scavenging’ within the Freeband context – mining energy from the surrounding environment, so that chips can create their own energy supply. Even the 60 GHz radio chip technology has a link to sustainability.” These developments originated from their own ICT angle without the explicit drive to be environmentally friendly. The difference with IIP Sustainable ICT is that it focuses explicitly on sustainability. “You could research how to combine extremely energy-efficient radio chips with other technologies to create a sustainable network. Where possible, we build on existing research and fill in the necessary gaps.”
Glass fibre from organic waste
When the plans for an ICT and sustainability IIP started taking shape in October last year, a core team was created in co-operation with ICTRegie. “It all went very quickly,” Croes remembers. “Within a week we had a team of six.” This team included a number of well-known Freeband names, such as Ignas Niemegeers, Fred Snijders and Ton Koonen. A workshop was organised and a vision document, which formed the foundation of the strategic research agenda, was published. Five themes have since been pinpointed. “The first is Sustainable Network Technology,” Croes explains. “We can achieve a lot with energy efficient sustainable materials. The development of polymer optical fibres (POF) from organic waste is a good example: POF has many benefits and bio-based POF has even more! Organisations involved include the TU/e, the WUR and the Dutch Polymer Institute. This project is also a good example of multidisciplinary co-operation (between chemists and ICT technologists). Such multidisciplinary co-operation is crucial for ground-breaking innovative research.”
Creating awareness
IIP Sustainable ICT’s second theme is ICT & Energy. Roel Croes: “This could include software to run power stations better, or embedded ICT so that heat power stations run more efficiently.” Data centres are an entirely different target group for the subject of energy. “Server parks use enormous amounts of energy. Which is why we’ve created a third theme, called Sustainable Data Centres.” Supporting the other themes is the fourth theme: Sustainable ICT & Communications. Roel Croes: “In the ICT sector we often forget that the outside world must know what we’re doing. Mind you, Freeband/IIPIC is doing pretty well where that’s concerned. There are so many great things happening in the Netherlands right now that you have to create awareness with the government and the public. Moreover, it is essential to communicate about important societal subjects such as sustainability. The fifth thematic area concerns research on what policies could promote sustainable ICT, such as CO2 budgets.
Not so strange anymore
A different team, consisting of scientists and people from the corporate world, covers each theme. Aside from the three technical universities and the WUR, companies like Philips,
TNO, HP, Cisco Systems, IBM, Cap Gemini, Atos Origin, Rabobank, KPN and SARA are involved with the IIP. “It’s good to see that sustainability is gaining such ‘explosive’ attention. The urgency is felt. The corporate world is responding to the trend and the research world is interested too. This was not the case five years ago: back then, the ‘green’ approach was still seen as a bit strange. All kinds of players are lining up to participate now. Unsustainable practices are simply no longer commercially viable.”
In two years’ time
What would Roel Croes like to have achieved in two years’ time. “A concrete prediction is a dangerous proposition, seeing the current speed of innovations. I hope that we’ll be able to tackle projects relevant to our strategic research agenda that will be scientifically challenging, responsible and clear. We’d like to do this in constructive collaboration with other IIP’s. It’s hard to say what will reap the most rewards. Mobile communications seems to offer a lot of opportunities, while wireless networks are not that energy efficient. However, the optimisation possibilities could be large. But, I also see great opportunities for renewable resources, such as bio-based plastics and Cradle to Cradle. With resources such as oil and copper becoming increasingly scarce and expensive, a lot will be achieved by using innovative materials.
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