Eng. Maged George, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs and Eng. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications signed yesterday cooperation protocol between their ministries on (Green Information Technology ), alongside opening ceremonies of the 14th session of annual ( Cairo Conference for Information Technology and Communications) held at Cairo Center for International Conferences in Nasr City.

Minister of Environment clarified that this protocol aims to promote green information and communication technology through implementing pilot projects in the field of safe disposal of electronic waste, applying principles of Green Building in designs of the new Smart Village project planned to be established in Maadi residence and prepare its environmental impact assessment study , implementing awareness programs about principles of green technology for workers of telecommunications sector and information systems. This protocol will be considered the core for expansion in the establishment of similar projects financed by private sector.

George stressed on the importance of encouraging companies working in the field of information and communication technology to allocate budgets for the application of green technology principles to develop this industry to become environmentally friendly, increase their competitiveness and reduce their negative impacts. Since the positive impacts of information and communication technology in environmental field is one of the main tools to achieve sound environmental management and environment preservation, by reducing amount of used paper through generalizing electronic communications and reduction of printing. It will also contribute to support environmental scientific research through providing hardware, advanced appliances and information systems required to monitor and analyze environmental problems.


He added that application of green technology principles will achieve many economic and environmental benefits for agencies working in this field; such as, reduce carbon emissions emitting from this industry as considered one of the leading causes of global warming and climate change, provide a mechanism to ensure sound management of hazardous electronic waste, encourage investment in projects for the safe disposal of these wastes. Most manufacturers of computers have developed plans to restore expired devices, dispose them safely without affecting the environment and take necessary measures to reduce use of hazardous substances, such as lead and mercury, in manufacturing process.