Memset founder turns eco warrier, ICT can make a difference

Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom – 1 June 2010, Kate Craig-Wood, award-winning entrepreneur of cloud computing provider, Memset, has been appointed to chair Intellect's Climate Change Group. The group is working to highlight and drive forwards the positive role that technology can play in combating climate change and bringing about a truly create a low-carbon future society.

As passionate about the environment as she is about technology, Craig-Wood has a long track record in delivering innovative, energy-efficient solutions to customers. She has also been reappointed to Intellect's main board for another 3-year term which provides a very useful link between activity and governance.

Craig-Wood said: "The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) target is to reduce global CO2 emissions by 50 per cent within the next 40 years – and by 80 per cent for industralised countries. To achieve this huge reduction large-scale transformational changes are needed in the way that we live and work. That’s where ICT comes into play. Without the intelligent application of information and communication technologies, especially in areas like transport reduction, smart grid and intelligent buildings, a low-carbon future will remain a distant dream."

Also acting as BCS's (the chartered institute for IT) external communications officer for the Data Centre Specialist Group, Craig-Wood is working hard to bring the groups together to achieve similar results.

Her first job is to continue to negotiate with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in  setting up a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) for data centres as an alternative to the government's Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). She believes the CRC both ineffective when applied to data centres and detrimental to the economy as it is likely to result in offshoring of the data centre industry.  A CRC can be fashioned which will ensure significant energy efficiency improvements are achieved without damaging the data centre industry, which is the backbone of our information economy.

For further information on the group, please visit:

http://www.intellectuk.org/content/view/5558/47/

-ends-