A Comparative Analysis of Green IT Policies in Educational Institutions and Government Organizations: Toward a Harmonized Sustainability
Keywords:
Green IT, Sustainable ICT, Public Sector Sustainability, Higher Education, Environmental Policy, ICT Governance, Digital Sustainability, Green Computing, Policy Framework, Government Organizations, UniversitiesAbstract
The rapid expansion of information and communication technologies (ICT) in public sector institutions and higher education has significantly increased energy consumption, electronic waste, and carbon emissions. In response, Green Information Technology (Green IT) has emerged as a strategic approach to minimize the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure while maintaining operational efficiency and service quality. Although many governments and universities have introduced sustainability policies, the maturity, coherence, and effectiveness of Green IT policies vary widely across sectors. This study presents a comparative analysis of Green IT policies in educational institutions and government organizations with the objective of identifying strengths, gaps, and best practices that can inform the development of a harmonized and scalable policy framework. Using a qualitative research design, this study integrates document analysis of official ICT, sustainability, and environmental policy documents with semi-structured interviews conducted with IT managers and sustainability officers from selected universities and government departments. Policy mapping techniques are applied to categorize and compare policy elements across the two sectors, while benchmarking analysis is used to evaluate policy maturity, implementation mechanisms, and performance measurement approaches.
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