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'Sustainability will become an integral part of tenders' - Dell exec

There are huge opportunities to win by implementing sustainability into business processes, says vendor's corporate sustainability director

IT firms need to start making sustainability a key part of their bid when going for public sector contracts, according to Louise Koch, Dell's corporate sustainability director for EMEA.

Speaking at the launch of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA) sustainable industry guide, Koch (pictured) told attendees that sustainability is becoming a key feature with public sector organisations and to win, IT firms need to start including it in their solutions.

She warned resellers that they cannot "cut and paste [their] tender from five years ago and expect it to still be relevant", as sustainability moves closer to the forefront of people's minds.

"One recommendation for public - and corporate - procurement is to really make sure that you work together to define the relevant criteria," she said.

"The good news is that there are guidelines out there; we have the EU public procurement guidelines across sectors, and the Responsible Business Alliance just this week published best practice in transparency in supply chains and procurement.

"We [at Dell] also put together our own guidelines for customers who want to understand where to begin when they want to have responsible, sustainable IT which is aligned with international frameworks."

The launch event was held at the Natural Science Museum in London and was attended by execs from HPE, Atos, Capgemini and N2S.

There is very little consistency across Europe on how to apply sustainability criteria in public procurement processes and the UK still has "a lot more to do", according to Koch, who added that there is significant demand for IT from the public sector.

"One of the areas where we believe there is a huge opportunity and a gap as well is within public procurement of IT," she said.

"We believe that the market forces should also be a driver for sustainability - healthy competition is sometimes good.

"The total European procurement budget across products and services is €1.8tn, and out of that approximately €45bn on IT on an annual basis - that is a huge demand. We see across Europe that there's still not a very consistent application of sustainability criteria in public procurement."

She added that the launch of the Industry Guide should not be taken as a box-ticking exercise by IT firms, but as a start to implementing sustainable practices and having those conversations with clients.

"The mission is not complete, it is just starting," she declared.

"Let's not forget that technology has the power to solve a lot of the challenges facing humanity today, we also have the opportunity to unfold the huge potential of technology to create a more sustainable future with equal opportunities for all."