IBM And Prince Charles Host Green Tech Garden Party

HRH The Prince Of Wales may not be the first name that springs to mind when it comes to cutting-edge green technology.

Famous for his traditional views on architecture, Prince Charles is often presented as someone with his head in the 19th rather than the 21st Century. But the news this week that the future King is teaming up with IBM to host a nine day sustainability summit in September may help him come across as techy rather than tweedy in the future.

Start initiative

IBM is leading the business-to-business elements of a summit based around the Start initiative, supported by the Prince, which aims to promote sustainable living.

Kicking off on 8 September, the IBM Summit at Start at Lancaster House will be a series of one-day events focusing on issues such as the smarter supply chains, transport, skills, energy and transport. The business-focused summit will coincide with a twelve day “Garden Party To Make A Difference” which will be held in the gardens of Clarence House, Lancaster House and Malborough House. IBM also states that it will be working with the Prince’s Mayday Network, set up in 2007, to focus businesses on climate change.

Speaking in Manchester in February at the launch of the Start initiative, Prince Charles said that sustainable technology could actually create a better society. “Far too few talk about the potential for a sustainable future to be better and more rewarding—both for us and for Nature—than the lives we lead now. This potential needs to be communicated across the country and, indeed, across the world,” he said.

Stephen Leonard, IBM CEO UK & Ireland said the Start summit would help to encourage business cooperation on climate change. “As we begin the decade of smart, the business imperative for sustainability action is strong, whether from regulatory, stakeholder, or simply cost efficiency pressures,” he said. “IBM will convene the thought leaders and subject matter experts to discuss ‘what’ business can do and ‘how’ we can do it together.”

The Prince and sustainable IT

But despite the aim of cooperation, the event has attracted some criticism for not involving green campaigners. Other partners include BT and EDF Energy.

The Prince has actually voiced his support for energy efficient technology in the past. Speaking at a business conference in 2008, the Prince praised recruitment company Reed for its use of thin clients, ZDNet UK reported at the time. “Many of the case studies we received highlight the business benefits of developing and incorporating a low carbon strategy — not least the real, tangible, bottom-line savings that would delight the heart of even the frostiest finance director,” he said. “The recruitment company, Reed, for instance, has reduced its PC power use by 80 percent by replacing 4,500 PCs and 400 laptops with ‘thin-client terminals’. The mind boggles! I have never heard of that one before.”

The Royal household also have some history in the field of sustainable approaches to IT. The “Official Website Of the British Monarchy” explains how the family have been donating their old technology to IT charity Computer Aid since 2005. The charity specialises in refurbishing used PCs from UK organisations for use in Africa and South America.

“The partnership between the Royal Household and Computer Aid International has existed since 2005. Since that time, the Household has donated over 1,700 pieces of computer equipment, including 700 computers and 640 monitors,” the site states. “It’s the Palace’s contribution to make best use of computers once we’ve finished with them, rather than them going to waste.”