You are here: silicon.com > Public Sector > News

Power down PCs to save millions, gov't told

NightWatchman on the prowl…

Tags: vista, emissions, savings, carbon

By Tim Ferguson

Published: 22 May 2008 15:44 BST

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is urging public sector workers to turn off their PCs overnight to slash carbon emissions and cost.

The OGC is the Treasury office responsible for driving efficiency in public sector spending and says switching PCs off during non-work hours could cut carbon emissions by 55,723 tonnes per year across the public sector.

Green IT from A-Z

Click here for all there is on Green IT, from Freecycle to virtualisation.

In addition, the practice could save up to £10.2m annually in power costs if all government departments took it up.

The campaign is being led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and includes a cross government deal to use a tech tool called NightWatchman from a company called 1E.

NightWatchman automatically shuts PCs down during non-working hours and can monitor daily PC power consumption and carbon emissions.

OGC CEO, Nigel Smith, said the campaign will play a "small but important part in meeting the government's sustainability targets".

Separately, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has opted to upgrade its 10,000 PCs to Windows Vista, which includes a PC hibernating feature.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

silicon.com Public Sector
Get the latest public sector news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the PS newsletter today!


  • Jobs
Delphi Developer

Barloworld Optimus provides supply chain management software and consulting services in the following areas: Network design and supply ...

Commercial Director/Financial Controller

You will be responsible for analysing contracts for risk and developing any corresponding risk management strategies and will also make a significant ...

Lead Relationship Managers

Each small team will be led by a Lead Relationship Manager or account team leader, and will manage a small number of Relationship Managers (RMs) to ...

silicon.com
Inbox: ID cards U-turn: The end is nigh?
"Great news and hopefully the beginning of the end for this crazy ID project"

Nick Heath
Next stop HMRC: How TfL CIO will shake up the taxman
Interview: Phil Pavitt, CIO Transport for London, on making IT boring

Gary Bettis
Public sector CIOs: It's your time to shine
Comment: Efficiency programme offers big challenges and opportunities

Gary Lynch
How e-coding can prevent NHS slip-ups
Barcodes to run in their blood

silicon.com
Inbox: Chip and PIN latest big IDea - and still no readers
"PIN numbers do not present much of a challenge to a determined crook"

Jo Best
From army officer to IT chief - CPS CIO David Jones
Profile: What IT and the military have in common

Agenda Setters 2008
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.




Quick Sitemap Links: