IBM has introduced the first consulting service designed to help government organizations analyze energy and water use, assess waste management, evaluate overall environmental impact and develop improvement strategies.
The IBM Public Sector Energy and Environment Diagnostic can help governments better understand their overall performance on environmental issues, identify improvements that can increase energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact including greenhouse gas emissions, and help ensure public institutions meet their own rising environmental standards.
IBM developed the diagnostic to help U.S. federal agencies comply with current requirements for broad improvements in efficiency and economy for all environmental, energy and transportation management operations. However, it can be adapted to any future requirements for U.S. government agencies or for use with any other federal, state or municipal government in any country.
"Citizens everywhere are demanding that governments improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact, and public officials at every level are responding by raising standards for how they operate," said Eric Riddleberger, IBM's business strategy consulting global leader, who heads up the company's corporate social responsibility consulting efforts. "Using a comprehensive approach that employs new, smart processes and tools to assess current performance and develop improvements can help public agencies meet those standards while maintaining proper levels of public service."
The IBM Public Sector Energy and Environment Diagnostic offering uses a proprietary Heat Map tool to provide an initial analysis. Based on IBM's Component Business Model approach, the tool breaks organizations down into logical segments – finance, operations, procurement, etc. – and then provides an analysis as to how well they are performing in terms of efficiency, cost and environmental impact.
Areas for potential environmental improvement are color coded – red for "most critical," yellow for "moderately critical," and green for "performing within guidelines" – to help government institutions prioritize where to make changes. From there, IBM can assist government agencies in developing a comprehensive strategy for prioritizing and implementing those changes, accounting for the cost and benefit of each solution.
Specific areas addressed in the diagnostic are:
· Environmental management systems – identifying leadership, establishing targets, tracking performance and communicating with stakeholders;
· Energy and greenhouse gases – addressing efficiency and use of renewable sources;
· Water management – reducing consumption and improving quality;
· Waste and disposal – waste prevention, recycling, environmentally responsible disposal, and reducing the use of potentially toxic and hazardous chemicals;
· Facilities and equipment – sustainable practices in motor fleets and renovation and construction operations;
· Workforce programs – establishing workforce sustainability programs, training, benefits, and awards for environmental sustainability leadership.
The Public Sector Energy and Environment Diagnostic joins a growing portfolio of consulting offerings from IBM designed to help clients address CSR issues throughout their operations, including: the CSR Assessment and Benchmarking Utility, the Carbon Tradeoff Modeler, Green Sigma, Environmental Product Lifecycle Management, the Supply Chain Network Optimization Workbench (or SNOW), and Strategic Carbon Management.
The public sector diagnostic is designed to be used together with many of these other offerings. For example, after completing an analysis and identifying areas for improvement with the public sector diagnostic, clients can use Green Sigma(TM), which applies Lean Six Sigma principles to measuring and monitoring energy and water usage throughout a organization's operations, and the Carbon Trade-off Modeler, which helps evaluate and balance carbon dioxide emissions and energy usage with other key factors throughout a supply chain -- cost, service and quality.
These offerings use "smart" approaches, such as advanced business processes and monitoring dashboards, which allow clients to collect and analyze large amounts of data to make better decisions.
To learn more about IBM's strategy and change offerings, visit http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/bcs_strategyplanning.html?re=gbs_fe_leftnav.