b'Partner News Winter 2021 33Corporateat all levels of the business to driveAll of this has to happen however withedge without compromising the effective change. We believe this can onlysenior organisational sponsors whoresponsible, ethical use of their data. be addressed using a holistic approachwill influence the route to responsible. While AI can drive insights from real-to restore trust in IT and to enable thecomputing(), including the prioritiesworld data, its important that the industry to become what we have calledthat need to be addressed. data is ethically collected, curated and responsible.computing() providers. connected eliminating any bias and Considering each responsible. increasing trustworthiness. responsible.As a consequence, the IT industry cancomputing() domain in turn: computing (Data Usage) proposes a enable our clients and consumers, in theirframework that provides an approach diverse industries, to inherit and buildData Centre - considers the impactcompanies can use to assess their data upon our foundation.As they determineon the environment of an advanced,usage behaviour through a collaborative the actions, they need to take to fulfillmodern data centre. Energy consumption,effort between business and IT.their objectives they are also slowlyCO2 emissions, water consumption but surely realising that sustainableand the use of toxic materials and rareSystems - IT companies must develop and ethical practices are not only goodmetals are special focus areas whensystems that everyone can trust, and in for the environment but paramount forevaluating the choice of a data centre. this context a system is an integrated business growth and recruitment.set of technologies to provide a service Infrastructure - through an ESGto human beings. It can be composed This is topic that IBM cares passionately(environment, social and governance)of hardware, data, code, models and about and has been declaring since theprism, this takes into account variousservices. These systems must protect early 70s through its annual Corporateaspects such as the durability ofa users information, privacy and avoid Social Responsibility report and ibm.orgmaterials, their recyclability, and thediscrimination and intensification of bias.organisation. Its also why, in 2020, IBMwaste they produce, as well as elements started an initiative called responsible. of standardisation and quantification. Impact - Technology can be a computing(), through its Academy oftransformational agent for good, Technology. It brought together its deepCode - to raise awareness of theaddressing topics such as poverty, technical experts in all fields from acrossresponsibility of developers in theinequality, climate change, environmental the world to consider how to approachcreation of sustainable code thatdegradation, peace and justice. However, and solve these issues in the industry.is economically viable and efficient,technology itself has environmental that is to say of quality, easilyand social impacts that need to be This effort started with the creationmaintainable without technical debt,understood as part of the overall of an open manifesto and resultedreliable, efficient even on a largeimpact of a project or programme. in a framework with six key domains.scale, and which takes into accountResponsible Impact is about using The framework is supported by anthe diversity of people, includingtechnology to change the world for engagement model, maturity assessmentsdisabilities and access to technology. a better future and aligns outcomes and a set of KPIs to measure progress.to one or more of the United Nations Each framework domain providesData Usage - as data volumes continueSustainable Development Goals.guidance on how an organisation canto grow exponentially, the time window understand and take action to becometo act on insights continues to shorten.At IBM, we believe its no longer a question a responsible.computing() provider.Enterprises must act more and moreof why you should do this as an organisation quickly to maintain their competitivebut when the industry is waking up to these Three of these domains, Data Centre,challenges and the investors, employees, Infrastructure and Code consider theconsumers or clients that use, fund or create physical technology aspects associatedthese services are looking more and more with running a computing infrastructurefor responsible.computing() providers. and the direct environmental impact. Choice of provider decisions are being The remaining domains, Data Usage,made today on these aspects and will Systems and Impact, examinebecome paramount in the future for important social topics includingsurvival. And although we have started societal impact, ethics (including ina journey, it is not only about us; it can AI), diversity, inclusion, privacy andonly be achieved working together with security, trust and transparency. others. We have therefore engaged from early beginnings with external, like-There are common themes across eachminded organisations and individuals.of these such as sustainability, climate impact and circular economy whichIf you are interested in more information may lead an organisation to considerand working alongside us, please more than one of these domainscontact andy_barnes@uk.ibm.comto achieve its immediate goals.'