SCIENCE

Global Initiative Plans To Demonstrate First Invention in First Quarter 2011 

The GreenTouch Consortium, a global research initiative leading the charge to improve energy efficiency in information and communications technology (ICT) networks by a factor of 1,000 within five years, recently conducted its second members meeting here. More than 100 attendees from four continents came together for three days to advance GreenTouch research projects that were initiated by the consortium following its launch earlier this year.

The two-day members’ portion of the event consisted of intense working sessions among the members where the latest research results were exchanged, new ideas were presented and new projects were defined, while the one-day open forum session featured more than a dozen speakers representing industry, academia and government entities. This latest meeting was another important milestone for GreenTouch, and evidence that it is making significant progress on the path towards meeting its ambitious objectives.

“Just six months after our first meeting, we already have 15 research projects under way and GreenTouch momentum continues to build,” said Gee Rittenhouse, GreenTouch Consortium Chairman and Vice President of Research at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs. “We now have members from Europe, Asia, Australia and North America collaborating to support the meteoric growth of voice and data network usage with even greater gains in network energy efficiency.”

Though GreenTouch is not yet releasing details, Rittenhouse also said the Consortium plans a demonstration of its first invention in the first quarter of 2011.

The GreenTouch Consortium was announced in January 2010 and incorporated as a non-profit foundation in the Netherlands in May. GreenTouch membership has more than doubled since the members meeting held this past June in London. The Consortium currently is governed by a nine-member Executive Board, with work driven by eight committees and working groups.