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Effective procurement and sustainable tech

Blog
The YPO Team
03 Dec 2024

The post pandemic world continues to be shaped by digitalisation, whether this is the way we work, shop, or unwind. Similar to the emergence of digitalisation, there has also been an increased focus on sustainability, with the public sector being a frontrunner for this. Sustainability continues to develop and grow, and this is no different when it comes to I.T. We are seeing first hand a massive uptake in emergency service organisations looking to procure sustainable hardware and software. From an increase in data centres and cloud services such as storage and applications, to the utilisation of reconditioned laptops and recycled print cartridges.

In relation to data storage, organisations using their own data centres is an option, however there are more sustainable alternatives that YPO frameworks can support with, such as utilising ‘co-location’. Co-location facilities use green energy sources such as wind farm power, and solar panels to power themselves, as well as state of the art cooling technology to further reduce CO2 emissions. Another option is the usage of G-Clouds, an even more sustainable data storage option as it uses no physical site. One data centre supplier has recently switched to a more sustainable fuel option, using vegetable oil instead of traditional diesel to fuel its data centre generators.

Our available frameworks support with the design, build and maintenance of data centres. They also cover shared colocation facilities and cloud services, offering the best option for your organisation or a hybrid of all these options.

Another way organisations can improve green practise and sustainability is changing the way they purchase and use tech. Many emergency services organisations have already started to do this. For example, favouring to use reconditioned and repurposed tech such as laptops and PC’s. Cutting down the usage of equipment such as printers is also a growing trend. Pre-pandemic, organisations may have had 10, 15 or even 20 printers. However, now many favour just one or two. As well we have seen a recent uptake in the use of recycled print cartridges. The Tech company HP have taken this a step further. Due to natural disasters, the country of Haiti cannot drink tap water and is totally reliant on bottled water. This led to a major increase in the use of plastic waste. To help try and combat this, HP source all their plastic from wasted plastic bottles in Haiti. The plastic is used to make ink cartridges, which is then recycled back into building road surfaces in the country. This is combatting both the plastic waste issue and also contributing into the local economy and communities.

Underpinning all our framework options for IT, is our social value KPIs that are embedded in every procurement. The YPO procurement team have worked to enable SME’s to meet social value goals by facilitating things such as providing opportunities to work with schools holding career talks. One supplier ran a Dragons Den type
event with students to promote and encourage a knowledge and interest in I.T., as well as business acumen and initiative.

If sustainable IT practises is something your organisation is interested in but you’re not sure where to get started, YPO can support you with implementing a sustainable I.T. strategy, navigating you through your green transformation journey. Check out our range of framework services – Procurement Frameworks & Services | YPO Frameworks. Coming soon, our framework for Alpha G Cloud will enable you to procure cloud services in a compliant digital capacity. It is intended to help public sector organisations address “compliance challenges” in buying cloud services, while providing an alternative to the government-run G-Cloud buying vehicle.

To find out more click here.

Author

The YPO Team

YPO supplies products and services to a wide range of customers including schools, local authorities, charities, emergency services, public sector and other businesses such as nurseries and care homes. YPO are 100% publicly owned, by 13 local authorities, which means the profits made are returned to public sector customers, delivering even better value for money.