At IT departments, in coordination with the ESG policies of the entire Hitachi Group, we are actively engaging in solutions to problems related to the environmental impact reduction.
In addition, we are accelerating the reallocation of IT resources, the training of human resources, and the securing of diverse human resources, promoting the globalization of IT human resources.
Hitachi has established “Hitachi Carbon Neutral 2030,” which aims to reduce CO2 emissions to virtually zero by FY 2030. At IT departments, we are continuing and expanding the promotion of “IT operations with low environmental impact” to contribute to company-wide CO2 reduction activities. We also conducted educational activities aimed at fostering environmental awareness among employees.
To achieve the company's environmental goals, our IT departments are focusing on reducing the CO2 emissions from IT itself. Specifically, we are continuing and expanding our efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by reviewing the use and operation of IT devices, with the targets of the reviews being [1] data centers and servers and [2] user devices (PCs, monitors, and smartphones).
[1] Our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of data centers and servers include working on lifting and shifting to the cloud in conjunction with public cloud vendors, as well as promoting energy conservation and the use of renewable energy at Hitachi Group data centers. We have continued to improve the efficiency and reduce the power consumption of servers in our in-house data centers, resulting in a reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 65% (compared to FY 2010) in FY 2023.
In addition, as part of our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of user devices (PCs, monitors, and smartphones) [2], we are encouraging users to switch to newer, more eco-friendly device models. To facilitate the switch, newer models of PCs and monitors that come with the right to offset CO2 emissions over the entire product lifecycle will be provided as an IT service within Hitachi. As for smartphones, encouraging the switch from older models to newer 5G-compatible models will lead to the use of carriers’ 5G equipment and base stations, which run on renewable energy, thereby contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions.
We will expand these efforts across the entire Hitachi Group to further increase their effectiveness.
We will investigate the IT devices used by BUs#1 and Hitachi Group companies and provide solutions that support the switch to eco-friendly IT services. This will accelerate efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the Hitachi Group as a whole.
To foster environmental awareness, the Corporate IT department also holds awareness-raising events for all employees [3]. For example, we use case studies highlighting actions in the office that negatively impact the environment and hold workplace discussions on eco-friendly actions we can take in our everyday lives. Through these events, we foster environmental awareness among our employees and motivate them to take environmental action.
