DESC Fact Sheet

The Digital Solutions Energy Campaign (DESC) brings together information and communication technology companies and associations, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders who recognize the vital role that ICT plays in improving our environment and driving long-term economic growth.  The campaign, launched in 2008, is now hosted by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).

As the transformation to a digital economy has proceeded, the use of information and communications technology has grown dramatically.  A large majority of Americans are online via wireless and wireline broadband, for instance, and the vast majority of businesses intensively use information and communications technologies every day.  The economy’s reliance on ICT has caused a spotlight to be turned onto energy use by the entire sector, with calls for increased energy efficiency in the sector.  At the same time there is growing recognition of how the net positive impact of these technologies on sustainable economic growth.  Consider the following:

• Across the economy, ICT-enabled systems and ideas are helping to spur innovation, drive down energy consumption and reduce CO2 emissions. A few examples:
  • Mobility: The proliferation of smartphones and laptops have revolutionized how we work, making it easier to telecommute and thus reducing the need for unnecessary travel and energy use.
  • GPS Navigation: A recent study found that U.S. drivers who use traffic-enabled GPS navigation systems save four days of driving per year, which lowers their CO2 emissions by 21 percent (NAVTEQ).
  • Homes and Buildings: Energy efficiency retrofits are transforming how homes and buildings are powered, heated and cooled. One example – New York’s iconic Empire State Building – recently underwent a retrofitting process that resulted in annual energy savings of $4.4 million. This is just one of many examples of cities and communities taking the initiative.

• Lowering emissions is not a new concept for the ICT industry.  Take a look at our history: The energy efficiency of computer systems increased 2,857,000 percent between 1978 and 2008, compared to steel manufacturing (167 percent), passenger airlines (121 percent) and automobiles (40 percent).

• Data centers across the country are seeing rapid improvements in efficiency: The use of “virtualization” – in which multiple operating systems can be run from remote computers – has become more widespread.  1.2 million servers have been virtualized, saving 8.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year. (Source: Gartner Data Center Conference)
  
  

Looking Ahead

• A 2008 Boston Consulting Group report reported found that smart technologies have the potential to reduce U.S. CO₂ emissions by as much as 22 percent by 2020 through the concerted application of broadband and ICT in four areas:  Smart Power Grids, Smart Roads, Smart Buildings and Travel Substitution.  A 22 percent reduction would mean $240 billion in cost savings or a reduction of 36 percent in imported oil.  Globally, smart technologies can reduce CO₂ by as much as 15 percent. 

• Yuji Inoue, CEO of the Telecommunications Technology Committee of Japan, estimates that Japan could achieve 90 percent of its Kyoto targets reducing carbon emissions through the application of ICT alone.

DESC is committed to driving energy efficient, innovative and environmentally-responsible technologies, ideas and processes across every sector of our nation’s economy.