IT services provider HCL Technologies has called on businesses to resist the temptation to cut back on environmentally-friendly technologies during the economic crisis.
The keynote speech at Unstructure 2008, HCL’s forth annual global customer event, was delivered by former US Vice President turned green campaigner Al Gore. He pleaded with businesses not to turn their backs on environmental issues as the recession begins to bite.
“In the future, our children will look back on the first years of this century and either say, ‘What were you thinking? Why didn’t you act?’, or, ‘How did you find the courage to rise up and solve the problem?’ I hope they say the latter. We have everything we need to solve this problem except political will but political will is a renewable resource,” he said.
Rajeev Sawhney, HCL EMEA MD, told CBR that using the likes of Al Gore will help spread the company’s green message: “He is a pioneer in this field and he really captured the attention of the audience. Most importantly, he helped generate plenty of debate at the event.”
The event was held in Orlando, Florida and Gore, who was in Japan at the time, delivered his keynote via a video link to the 500 delegates. “It shows his dedication to the event, it was passed midnight when he gave his speech,” said Sawhney.
Sawhney echoed Gore’s call for business to embrace green technologies despite the economic difficulties. “Companies really need to tighten belts, but that can be closely linked to the green agenda,” he said. “Going green can help make systems more efficient, which can reduce costs. Cutting down on waste can also reduce costs.”
HCL has already taken steps to reduce any potential impact the recession would have on its business. Sawhney said: “We’ve taken precautions to tighten our belt. We’ve dropped certain events from our calendar and have reduced travel costs.”
As part of the company’s Go Green! initiative, Unstructure 2008 was paper-free and carbon-neutral. HCL has committed to planting 650 oak trees spread across 2.8 acres of land in the Western Himalayas to help sustain the natural habitat of the oak silk worm. Each guest at the event was given a hand-crafted silk scarf made from open-ended cocoons abandoned by the worm.
The event was also very interactive, said Sawhney. “There were no PowerPoint presentations at all. We didn’t want people to be bound down by one way speeches. It was an ideal opportunity to for people to discuss the current economic climate and how best to deal with it.”
