Technically greening the world

The worst flooding in 69 years should serve as a wake-up call for the government, organisations and even the public at large to place more importance on long-term development of greener information and communications innovation, says an energy think tank.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation

An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report entitled "Towards Green ICT Strategies: Assessing Policies and Programmes on ICT and the Environment" found 87% of business efforts for green information research incorporate the use of energy-saving ICT products.

For the government sector, 75% of the efforts involve incorporating green ICT products and 25% on greening via information research.

Important role in reducing regional CO2 emissions

"Thailand can play an important role in reducing regional CO2 emissions, particularly setting ICT policies in agriculture, health care and construction to make those sectors reduce their carbon footprint," said Masaki Kajiyama, the president of Fujitsu Systems Business, a Japan-based IT provider.

"Farmers will no longer need to invest in any equipment. With only a mobile phone, they can receive and display the results of plant growth analysis."

For instance, an orange planter can input data on the growing behaviour of a specific tree through a smartphone, during a database will store the details along with mapping based on sensor data covering soil quality and weather conditions.

The recent controversy over the Uncle SMS case has raised a new concern among mobile users as the international mobile equipment identity number was used as solid evidence to convict the owner of a phone.