The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) has created a virtual “clean-IT Forum”, in which the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany, founded under the umbrella of the eco Association, is also participating with its own contribution to a course. Sustainability experts from all over the world will present ideas and solutions for a more climate-friendly digitalisation with reduced energy consumption, and open the topic up for discussion. The forum starts on 31 March on the openHPI platform https://open.hpi.de/channels/clean-it-forum/. Participation in the course is free of charge.
With the help of the international platform for exchange, intended for research institutions, IT industry, politics and interest groups, HPI aims to raise awareness of the global energy footprint of IT systems. Among the scientists and experts who are already presenting their own solutions and ideas at the clean-IT Forum is Dr Béla Waldhauser, spokesperson for the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany. His 15-minute presentation explains the role of energy-efficient data centres for sustainable digitalisation and shows possible solutions for even more energy efficiency and sustainability in the area of digital infrastructures: “Digital infrastructures form the backbone of sustainable digitalisation. They are already making a significant contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of digital technologies and services,” says Waldhauser. “In order to implement the goals of the EU Green Deal, the positive impact of data centres and their driving function for the digital economy must be recognised, instead of them being penalised. In addition, consumers and producers will have to work together to make these goals a reality.”
Since 2012, the Hasso Plattner Institute has been offering free access to interactive educational programmes for IT beginners and experts on the platform https://open.hpi.de. In the meantime, more than 927,000 course enrollments have been registered on openHPI. More than 266,000 people from 180 countries are regular users of the platform. In the clean-IT Forum now launched, interactive exchange also takes place with the help of so-called Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs for short.
