Internet Good For The Environment, Study Says

Compiled ByDeborah Austin Best-performing industrial companies can save as much as 56% on environmental costs through strategic Internet use, shows a new study by Boston-based BTI Consulting Group. The study, "E-Strategies for Environmental Management: Opportunities for Performance 2001," shows that a typical large company spends $80 million on environmental costs -- 63.7% of which is information management cost. Such costs are incurred in four places: duplicative processes supporting environmental information management; independent non-standardized information systems now in use; diversity and complexity of environmental information sources; and rework due to lack of quality control. In fact environmental managers spend 66% of their time gathering, analyzing, storing, or sharing information. Key recommendations for capturing Internet savings benefits include: develop an end state vision before investing; understand who the real users are and get them into the process; start slow but be strategic; be prepared to change the vision; and remember, business leads over technology.