Community IT Innovators. Established 1993. Serving social mission organizations with integrated technology services you can trust.

Dave Deal and I recently returned from the Groundwork Group 2009 Nonprofit IT Conference: Sustainability through Technology. The theme that nonprofits need to think strategically about technology and have a CIO role came up in several ways. There was one panel discussion in particular, presented by Groundwork Group, that addressed how IT has helped small, medium, and large nonprofits build capacity or become more efficient.  Some of the take-aways from this panel discussion include:

• Technology can really make a difference
• Nonprofits have very limited time, resources, and money, so it is imperative to streamline operations and use technology to deliver services as efficiently as possible
• Capacity planning requires technology planning
• Get technology experts on your Board
• Get an IT plan
• Create an IT Task Force Committee focused around projects
• Do a better job of sourcing computer hardware
• Pay more attention to the security of sensitive information
• Financial audit costs can increase if there is a lack of standardization
• Document everything
• The farther behind you get the more it’s going to cost

It’s also worth mentioning that the morning keynote given by Mike Brevard, Enterprise Solutions Director, Microsoft Heartland District was about how organizations can reduce IT costs by refining the organizations business processes.

A recent article from CIO Insight, “Increasing IT Capability While Cutting Costs,” described research findings from Jeanne G. Harris, Allan E. Alter and Michael K. Nieves. According to the authors:

“Reducing IT costs while improving IT capabilities may appear to be a paradox. But by focusing on fixed IT costs and following a strategy of sustained cost reduction, organizations can invest in new capabilities and innovation and prepare for future growth, even as they tighten their belts.”

Funny thing is, nonprofits have been doing more with less for years! Guess we should be glad that the rest of the IT world is finally having the same conversation we’ve been having with our clients for over 16 years.

The Washington Business Journal has announced Community IT Innovators as one of the finalists for the Washington Business Journal Green Business Awards. The award winners will be announced at the Green Business Summit on Oct. 13, 2009. We were nominated for our focus on reducing energy usage. CITI realized a 21% reduction its carbon emissions within 1 year of taking action on some key activities which included implementing server virtualization, desktop power management, and employee participation.

At the Green Business Summit there will be companies from all over the Greater Washington area that are working to incorporate environmentally sustainable practices into their businesses and community work.  There will also be a trade show showcasing sustainable products, services, and practices as well as breakout sessions featuring experts from all aspects of green business.

The Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SBNOW) hosted a Certifiably Green event on July 20th where Community IT Innovators along with the recently certified Washington Gas Holdings and AARP presented case studies on our green certification experiences.  The presentations were shared with 40 participating companies and organizations interested in learning more about the green certification program offered through SBNOW.  CITI’s case study described how the company obtained impact through reducing its energy consumption.  We realized a 21% reduction in our carbon emissions within 1 year of taking action on some key activities which included implementing server virtualization, desktop power management, and employee participation.

SBNOW has now completed the pilot phase of its green certification program and has successfully certified several businesses and organizations, including the offices of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID).  The certification program “was developed to help office-based and retail businesses move further on the path to sustainability, and to recognize them for their efforts as well as provide third-party validation that they are doing what they claim to be doing.”   A complete list of names and star ratings achieved by these green leaders will be announced at SBNOW’s public launch celebration in early September.  Companies and organizations that have made the commitment to be certified will also be recognized and included in SBNOW’s media promotion, establishing or building their reputation as environmental leaders in the community.

Organizations interested in pursuing green certification can contact SBNOW.  The organization is offering  a special price to the first 50 companies/organizations that sign up.  For more information see the SBNOW website, or contact Wendy Walter, the Executive Director of SBNOW at  greenguide@sbnow.org, tel: 707-888-1385.

There was a large, organized conversation called an “Unconference” in Washington, DC recently. The purpose? To get innovative-thinking people from business, nonprofit and public sectors talking seriously and collaborating on ideas, policy direction and practical solutions on a variety of good business practices for an environmentally sustainable future … all this based in a hope that such conversations may lead to action of sizable leaps. The Environmental Defense Fund and Ashoka co-hosted the event on June 11 at Google’s offices. Quick note:  an Unconference has no agenda when you show up – the participants create the topics (a facilitator gets you going), host the sessions and drive the direction of the conference.

Here are a few highlights:

• Smart grid: Have you heard of this? Also called the “energy internet”. The idea is that your home or organization’s electricity use could be at your fingertips, in real-time, which would enable us all to see information and that will help us make different choices about our energy use. Right now even the utility company has to send someone to read the meter. But what if you could see the results of the meter anytime of day, via the internet in as close to real-time as possible? Here is a demo of a power meter Google is developing.

• Green certifications: We want and understand the need for a 3^rd party credible certification, and  there are many certification programs developing. What are common standards? How do you know which one to go for? Conversation on this topic popped-up several times during the event.

• What is the purpose of business?: Does business exist only to only make a profit? Or does it have a greater mission, one that is concerned about how it can contribute to the social fabric of our communities and environment? This topic came up in more than one session. For Community IT Innovators we are a voice for the latter, that business exists for a greater social mission and is responsible for considering the environment in its operations, with profit-making as a means to support its greater mission … it’s this greater mission that drives what we each do every day.

• Innovation is asymmetric: How are problems solved? Oftentimes it’s the people on the periphery, not the actual persons trying to solve the problem – it’s when the problem solvers reach out to their nearest colleagues, who have some insight into the topic, who can really help bring about the solutions. And people recognize each other as innovators, not just for the their innovations (no matter what field or specialty one may have). In this way, innovators across disciplines can help each other.

• Green metrics — benchmarks and standards: The details of what businesses, nonprofits and the public sector are measuring, and on what standards we base these on, really varies. From one company to another in the same sector (even competitors) are not reporting the same metrics. Green metrics are being tracked – this is a good thing – there was a sense in multiple conversations that for the benefit of the public and other key stakeholders, we need to move towards having some standards for green metrics.

Our hope it that these and other important topics will be carried further along by innovative thinkers in the Boston, Austin and San Jose ‘Green Innovation for Business Unconferences’. We will be awaiting further communication from the Unconference hosts about next steps, possibly involving working groups, that can get to working on actionable steps.

Notes from the Washington, DC  Green Innovation for Business Unconference are available here if you wish to peruse them.

Happy Earth Day! Community IT Innovators has always been a green company, and we’ve recently extended our commitment to being a triple bottom line, sustainable business.

As an IT company, we’ve been saving clients (and ourselves) money and energy with green IT innovations, such as virtualization and desktop power management.  We’ve also been invited to several green IT speaking engagements, including a green tech event this week hosted by SBNOW.

Our commitment to being green extends beyond our service offerings to the way we operate our company.   Here are a just a few of our sustainability practices:

• Signs are posted above taps and light switches reminding employees to conserve energy and water.
• Recycling centers provide convenient places for recycling small electronics, cardboard, paper, plastic, and cans.
• A bike loan program makes it easy for employees to purchase a bike for a carbon-free commute to work.
• Our cleaning products and soaps are all-natural and safe for the environment.
• The thermostat is programmed at 68° in the winter and 75° in the summer to conserve energy.

The Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SBNOW) is hosting an event on “Green Tech/Clean Tech” featuring panels on renewable energy and green technology.  CITI Systems Engineer Nate Solloway will be part of the panel on clean technology, speaking on green IT practices.

Nate has been a leading innovator on CITI’s green technology services. CITI offers green IT assessments to help you reduce both the energy use and financial cost of your network infrastructure.

The SBNOW event takes place on Thursday, April 23rd from 6 to 9 pm. Register here to learn more about how sustainable technology is saving the planet and saving organizations money.

Community IT Innovators will be donating 10 hours of strategy consulting to PowerMundo, the winning team in the William James Foundation’s Socially Responsible Business Plan competition. On Friday, March 20, the William James Foundation hosted a finalist competition and awards ceremony, where the top three finalists competed. The final three teams each selected from a pool of prizes in order of finish.  We are happy to be one of the top choices of the top finisher, and one of more than 20 socially responsible businesses helping the foundation grow the next generation of social entrepreneurs.  We are excited to work with PowerMundo to provide technology and online strategy consulting to help them reach more communities.

PowerMundo grabbed the crowd’s attention and impressed the judges with their business plan to market and distribute affordable, sustainable gadgets to bring solar-powered light, radio communications, and other modern conveniences to poor communities in Peru, with the products distributed and sold by members of the communities they serve.  The business will make available clean technologies to replace kerosene lamps and indoor cooking fires, improving the quality of life for people in developing areas and reducing pollution. They will work with micro-finance institutions to create economic opportunities for individuals interested in selling the goods. Michael Callahan, principal, did a great job of telling their story, personalizing their business idea with the story of Maria, a vendor in a community in Peru where they tested their business plan, and showing a variety of the solar-powered lights and other tools that they make available.

Two other finalists, Black Oak Venture Capitalists, who plan to conserve agricultural land as a financial investment opportunity, and First Earth, who plan to support indigenous communities and sustainable agriculture, presented their plans as well. Seeing the finalists, panel discussions on social entrepreneurship, and talking with other socially responsible business leaders made for an inspiring and enjoyable occasion.

Last year, CITI undertook the task of gathering statistics on our sustainability.  One surprisingly easy measure to obtain is our Carbon Footprint, a measure of how much Carbon Dioxide is emitted by our activities. This World Resource Institute guide, available as a free download, is a great resource with step by step instructions on what to measure, and how to gather the information you need.  It’s designed for small to medium, non-manufacturing office organizations – like many non-profits and service based businesses. Key things to consider:

• Get buy-in from the top of your organization. The impetus for our green measurements came from the top, and it made it a breeze to work with the rest of the organization to get the necessary staff input.

• The more people who care, the better. A high response rate on surveys used to gather statistics, such as commuting time and modes, means better data for your final report.

• What are you using the measurements for? So far, our purpose has been simply internal reporting. We’d like to share our results, but believe they will make more sense with at least a couple years of measurements, as well as comparable organizations’ data, for comparison.

While carbon footprint is a good baseline measurement, it’s only a means to the end of operating in a low-impact manner.