Nine months after the launch of the Eco-Patents Commons, three global business heavyweights have recently entered the arena. On Monday, GreenBiz reported that Xerox, DuPont, and Bosch all pledged to free eco-patents to the public domain, joining the ranks of Sony, Pitney-Bowes, Nokia, and spearhead IBM.
IBM made a respectable but surprising move when it sold off its PC hardware business in 2004 to focus on higher margin services such as consulting. In July, the information technology company even added corporate social responsibility (CSR) to its consulting services lineup. Yet, for a company that is endeavoring to help its clients understand and respond to their consumers' concerns about the impacts of their activities on the environment and society, some might argue that IBM still has much to learn itself.
You might think updating hardware would be the best option for reducing energy consumption when it comes to computers, but software can play a large part as well. At IBM's PULSE 08 conference, the company said it was pushing IT clients to adopt their energy-saving software. IBM's Tivoli software, a systems management tool, is reported to manage power better and by extension lower carbon emissions and lower costs for the client. IBM's WebSphere software is also reported to lower energy costs by using virtual applications.
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