SustainaBits: A framework and rating system for sustainable IT

Key challenges confronting the Information Technology (IT) industry today in defining and achieving its sustainability goals include identifying IT systems boundaries, developing sustainable operating standards and best practices, and most importantly, measuring and assessing performance against those best practices. In recent years, the trend towards sustainable methods and practices has infiltrated every part of our daily activities, but the IT industry still lacks a framework and rating system that is consistent and reliable. Without an industry accepted framework, the burden of defining sustainable practices lies with each individual IT organization or company, which has created inconsistencies and an inability for comparison and benchmarking between organizations. SustainaBits is a sustainability framework that incorporates a rating system developed by the authors for informing, recognizing, and guiding the IT sector towards a sustainable future. Ideas and strategies from industry leaders were synthesized to develop a detailed and thorough system that can be applied across the IT sector. The framework relies on collaboration between industry leaders, professional organizations, and universities to ensure that the global IT sector progresses towards its sustainability goals. The rating system is comprised of four main topic areas that encompass the holistic goals of: social responsibility, environmental preservation, economic security, and innovative recognition. Version 1.0 of SustainaBits incorporated environmental criteria exclusively. An industry leader in sustainable measures participated in the validation of SustainaBits (Ver. 1.0); the feedback of which was used to enhance the environmental criteria of the rating system. Version 2.0 was enhanced to address the benefits associated with societal, economic, and innovative contributions. The feedback from the SustainaBits version 2.0 validation effort applied to the industry leader is summarized in this paper.