What does it mean to be a green IT professional? The definition is definitely a moving target.
Wondering if you have what it takes to be considered a "Green IT" professional? Cisco has taken a stab at defining what sort of skills you might need to adapt your role as businesses look to information technology to help slash carbon dioxide emissions, energy costs and so on.
The white paper, called "Educating Tomorrow's Green IT Workforce, was produced under the auspices of the Cisco Networking Academy.
For one thing, it's pretty clear that all the major high-tech players are angling for a role when it comes to the smart grid and to projects that have anything to do with electric utilities. I just just scheduled a briefing for right after Labor Day with one of the biggest of the big, Hewlett-Packard, which has been relatively quiet so far compared to rival IBM. The fact that $11 billion has been dedicated to smart grid projects is pretty hard for someone in IT to ignore, especially if you're concerned about job security.
In its paper, Cisco points to a couple of programs that have already emerged at schools such as Collin County Community College, which has established the Convergence Technology Center. The center has a program focused on convergence applications with a green twist, centering on technologies such as teleconferencing, digital signage and radio frequency identification.
Where will networking techies find green in green? Here are four areas being pushed hard by Cisco:
- Green buildings and workplaces: So, think the convergence of IT networks with facilities communications technologies for energy monitoring and other utility applications.
- Telemedicine, distance learning and other applications that make the most of broadband.
- Network-enabled collaboration (yes, they really list it third, although you KNOW they wanted to list ti first)
- Green data centers and infrastructure, especially the management thereof.
Personally speaking, I think you'll see the most activity in the latter area for the near future. It's the thing existing technical sorts will be able to wrap their heads around most quickly. So, check out anything that lets you extend your existing skills into these areas to include power or energy management.