Tech tonic for '09

When Barack Obama takes his seat behind the Oval Office's historic Resolute desk, the economic crisis clearly will be his top priority. But as the tech-savvy politician surely knows, he'll only get so far without strong IT-related legislation and action.

"When you look at the economic anxieties we're facing, we definitely are going to need new growth opportunities. We can take the lead on creating 'green' jobs, as well as renewing our commitment to cutting-edge research, and information technology is a critical part of this strategy," says Bruce Mehlman, co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance, a coalition of business and nonprofit organizations.

From the get-go, Obama must set an agenda that encourages and rewards green IT initiatives, signals the maturity and security of cloud computing while easing privacy concerns, and significantly increases investments in R&D to combat cybercrime and discover next-generation Internet tools. Such an agenda should ensure IT's endorsement of his plans.

Green means go

President-elect Obama has vowed to invest $150 billion over the next 10 years to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and promote alternative energy sources. He has earmarked the money in part for clean-energy research and a new venture fund aimed at moving viable projects to commercial markets. According to his campaign technology policy, he hopes this cash influx, as well as industry innovation, will improve energy efficiency 50% by 2030.

The government and IT sector will need to dig deep to achieve this, says Betsy Mullins, vice president for government and political affairs at TechNet, a bipartisan political network of senior executives. "It's generally assumed that energy efficiency gets you 40% of the way to meeting greenhouse goals. To achieve that kind of efficiency, you're going to need IT's input on everything from ensuring that company computers go into a deeper sleep mode, to virtualization, to completely reconfiguring data centers." (Read more on IT energy efficiency in "Data-center power: The cost reality.)

Green IT already has proved it makes economic output more eco-friendly by a factor of 10 to 1, according to a 2008 study from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. With data centers being among the largest consumers of energy in the United States, IT executives at major enterprises will have to be brought to the table to identify, test and deploy cutting-edge alternative energy and power-reduction technologies.

Government organizations could provide fertile testing grounds for a number of green IT initiatives, Mullins says. "If the government becomes an early adopter of alternative fuels and energy-saving technology, then it'll drive down the cost for the private sector and signal this is something to be comfortable with." (Read about three emerging technologies that could help ease the data-center problem in the future.)

Obama also should focus on longer-term energy tax credits that enable companies to plan for intensive and potentially costly projects, such as solar-powered buildings for their data centers. "If you ensure that the energy tax credits extend out eight years, companies can make these types of IT budget plans confidently," Mullins says.