Environmental considerations in ICT infrastructure decision making

Traditionally, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure decisions are made based on technical, organisational and economic grounds. Although new developments in the area of the impact of human activities on the planet have brought environmental concerns to the attention of ICT decision makers, it is not known to what extent environmental issues are taken into account at the time of making an ICT infrastructure decision. This paper addresses this issue through a survey and interviews of ICT managers and decision makers. The findings indicate that although ICT managers demonstrate an increasing awareness of the impact on and role of ICT in eco-sustainability, environmental factors play a limited role in their actual decision making process. As such economic and technological factors are still dominant in influencing infrastructure decisions. Within the bounds of the methodological limitations, the study contributes empirical evidence to the emerging Green ICT literature which is dominated by conceptual and theoretical works. It identifies areas for future research.