Abstract

There has been considerable discussion and argument in recent times about the issues surrounding global warming. Whether or not one accepts all the arguments on each side of the debate, I have never met anyone who argued it was a bad thing to reduce our carbon footprint, or as one person put it, "to tread more lightly on the planet".

This talk looks at the the question of sustainable IT from the vendor
perspective, and more specifically discusses what opportunities exist
for a more eco-responsible deployment of IT, both inside and outside
the data centre. There is a widespread belief that eco-responsible
computing is an expensive venture, so we will also look at the
mythology behind this assumption, and the savings that indeed can be made.

Bio

As Sun Microsystems' leading technology evangelist in Australia and New Zealand, Angus MacDonald is a thought provoking speaker. The Chief Technology Officer is not afraid to make bold predictions, and proffers the good and the not-so-good in his engaging discussions about the future of the IT industry.

With more than 25 years of IT experience, MacDonald has ridden the many waves of the industry and is confident that some of the most exciting and turbulent times are yet to come. Sun, he believes, will be at the forefront of these changes and is geared to offer guidance to customers, partners and government bodies to ensure they capitalise on the changes to their advantage.

While MacDonald believes that the hottest IT prediction of the coming year is "that most hot IT predictions this year will be wrong", he has
tracked industry trends and argues that key business drivers for IT include:

• Driving down cost
• Simplifying infrastructure
• Being prepared for a situation where everything and everyone is connected
• The ability to service the rapidly growing demands of youth for more technology.

In addition to his 'evangelical' role, MacDonald consults to Sun customers and partners about the application and implementation of
enterprise-wide architectures. He also acts in an advisory capacity to key government departments, providing guidance on the future of the IT industry and what technologies should be encouraged in particular markets.

MacDonald's exceptional understanding of technological trends and industry direction has steered him through an impressive and diverse IT
career including roles at CSR, Prime Computers, Perkin Elmer, ICL, Neology and Fujitsu. For the last ten years however, MacDonald has been with Sun, having previously held the position of National System Engineer Manager, Sun Microsystems Australia and New Zealand.

Throughout his career, he has worked with numerous systems and applications, and he is one of few people in Australia with experience
in UNIX® on mainframes.

MacDonald has also undertaken work with intellectually disabled people to assist them develop computer literacy skills.