Technical Innovation
Small scale and limited technical solutions have a part to play in delivering the changes that will enable the reduction in environmental footprint of institutional ICT. JISC's work in Greening ICT recognises this and has funded innovation projects that are explicitly aimed at technical solutions. One part of this strand of work has been to use the approach that JISC calls "Rapid Innovation".
One of the reasons for doing this was to engage the developer community in the sector with the Greening ICT agenda, and to this end the types of activity that were scoped and the kinds of project funded drew in part from the other rapid innovation activity that JISC funds.
The outcomes for this activity include:
- An informed developer community, with increased awareness of the requirements of the green ICT agenda;
- Enhanced capacity, knowledge and skills to enable positive and informed change in the sector (through piloting new technologies and approaches);
- New or enhanced services, infrastructure, standards or applications that may be used at departmental, institutional, regional or national levels.
With objectives that include:
- Increased understanding of the ways in which technical solutions can help drive the reduction of ICT environmental footprint;
- A Reduced carbon and environmental footprint for HE and FE across the United Kingdom.
Projects funded under the category of Technical Innovation include:
Project | Description |
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Powering Down Supercomputers
University of Oxford |
Many multi-user high performance computing clusters experience variations in demand over time. Such systems are generally large and consume significant quantities of power even when idle. This project aims to reduce power consumption by dynamically switching on/off compute nodes in clusters to reflect user demand. |
Planet Filestore
Cardiff University |
The aim of this project is to use storage more effectively by implementing a low energy dynamic file storage management system which will manage the migration of unstructured data based on required availability level. We intend to monitor storage capacity to reduce energy requirements, to produce a set of measurements that demonstrates the energy savings to be made versus migration policy and to undertake an economic assessment of the system. We will also disseminate project outcomes effectively and to publicise the benefits to the community. |
e-Reader Demonstrator
Edgehill University |
This project investigates and trials the potential for print substitution by using e-readers in institutional committee meetings that traditionally generate large volumes of paper. Functionality of the new generation e-reader devices offers great potential but has not yet been tested in this way. This project will determine if e-readers are ‘fit for purpose’ in that context and can be promoted for wider use. There are impacts upon core practices of the University as a workplace and the project requires changes to behaviours and working practices to realise the green and anticipated financial, social and individual benefits. |
Does 'thin client' mean 'energy efficiency'?
Leeds Metropolitan University |
The use of desktop PC-based (thick client) technology in supporting university IT applications is being challenged by the emergence of thin client systems, claiming to offer a more energy-efficient solution, by virtue of the distribution of workload and resource demands - especially energy. The aim of the ThinC Efficiency project is to test, through actual measurements, the hypothesis that thin client technology offers energy saving when compared to the more traditional “thick client” desktop PC plus central file and print server facilities. |
Greenview
De Montfort University |
Greenview aims to follow on and build on the successful DUALL project, funded by phase 1 of JISC's Greening ICT call. DUALL utilised a socio-technical solution to the design of a simple web based information-feedback tool that could report electrical consumption of ICT equipment back to users. Greenview aims to refine the ICT tool further into a more sophisticated smart phone application that connects staff and students in De Montfort to the energy consumption of their buildings. Objectives: - To design and launch a campus wide ICT tool connecting building users to the energy consumption of buildings and the ICT infrastructure;
- To help the extent building users impact the performance of the environment they are in;
- To understand the potential of augmented reality tools to engage individuals in behaviour change initiatives;
- To engage the creative and developer community at DMU in sustainability issues.
|
Power-down and Wake Systems (PAWS)
Aberystwyth University |
PAWS will build on initiatives by JISC, other universities, and a pilot project involving the power management of student workstation rooms at Aberystwyth University. Wider deployment will mean overcoming the challenges of a mixed ICT environment and differing user requirements. Although default power management settings will be applied, staff will have the means to use a web page to control the power management of their own PC. - To produce a working flexible solution for remote administrator management of public PCs and user management of staff PCs in open source code which can be deployed as a service at Aberystwyth University and also to deploy the solution in at least one service and one academic department at the university.
- Additionally, to deploy the solution at a minimum of one other H.E. institution in Wales.
- To produce open-source code which is deployable at other institutions, and complete solution documentation and evaluation documents.
|
Storage Calculator(StorC) Cardiff University |
This project will create a web-based modelling tool to allow IT managers, engineers and decision makers to calculate the energy and financial savings they could derive from introducing tiered storage technology, such as that demonstrated in the JISC-funded Planet Filestore project. The web-based modelling tool will be made available via the UK Access Management Federation, which will allow users to save their work and return to it at a later date. The tool will work on a number of platforms, including smart phones and other mobile devices. The dissemination deliverable will be significant, in order to ensure that the modelling tool meets institutional needs and is taken up widely across the community |
Kit-Catalogue
Loughborough University |
The Materials Research School at Loughborough University currently has an 'Equipment Database', an online catalogue of laboratory equipment, workshop machines and specialist tools. Accessible to any member of staff or student to search for an item to borrow, book out or hire for teaching or research use. This project will make significant enhancements to the system and provide the public views of the website (for other institutions or companies to use) as well as linked data for other web services to exploit. |
Measuring Data Centre Efficiency
Leeds Metropolitan University |
Through research we will then identify at least two candidate data centre energy consumption improvements and provide detailed and accurate data on the effect they have on power usage and the effect they have on the PUE. The outcome will be of great importance to the JISC community in providing reliable, accurate data relating to whether we should measure data centre power consumption in a detailed fashion, whether we should then measure power consumption fluctuations for individual technology changes - knowledge which is currently in short supply. |
Open to Change University of Oxford
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The Open to Change project will work with academic partners along with commercial and NGO stakeholders to design compelling representations of electricity meter data and to prototype ways to to use the Internet to present these to people to encourage them to reduce their energy consumption. |
U-CARE University of Strathclyde |
The U-CARE project will monitor and trend energy usage and occupancy levels in computer labs to reduce the overshoot of energy usage. Heating and lighting can them be implemented according to usage, reducing the amount of energy consumed and carbon emitted overall. |