Cloud computing and a more sustainable future for the digital world.
At a time of increasingly frequent extreme weather events, high electricity costs, and uncertain global supply chains, sustainability and energy-efficiency should be at the heart of any digital transformation strategy. Cloud has the potential to support a more sustainable digital economy, but organisations should see it as the foundation for sustainable best practice and not a panacea.
Cloud has become a key driver of the UK’s digital economy, giving businesses of all sizes and sectors access to computing resources that are flexible and scalable on-demand. Applications, platforms, data storage and infrastructure can all be delivered as a service, allowing for more flexible and efficient use of resources and potentially a reduction in energy use and carbon footprint.  Â
The paradox of sustainable digital transformation Â
Boosting productivity is essential if we want a more prosperous society and rising living standards, and the tech sector – including cloud computing – is a key enabler of any credible growth strategy. Digital transformation is not a luxury but an imperative for UK businesses and public sector organisations.
There’s also no getting around it, digital transformation is dependent on electricity. As with all industries that underpin economic growth, productive activity is reliant on energy, and IEA research predicts global energy demand from data centres could double from 2022 to 2026. As more businesses benefit from digital transformation, that inevitably shifts some of their carbon footprint and energy use to the tech sector.
However, we know that technology tends to become more energy efficient as it matures. Total energy use from the tech sector has risen over time as digital adoption increased, but performance per watt also improved. From 1946 to 2009 computations per joule of energy doubled every 18 months. Recent research shows that although the growth in energy efficiency has slowed, it continues to grow exponentially, doubling every 2.2 years from 2008 to 2023.
Digital products and services have also been key to efficiency gains in other industries, from manufacturing to transport, and are seen as an important enabler for the green transition across the entire economy. Â
This trajectory shows that efficiency gains are possible even as demand grows. Cloud can be a key enabler for the next phase of this energy-efficiency journey.
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