Peter's work is one of four finalists in the Green IT Award section of the Government Computing (GC) Awards. The awards recognise the best in public sector ICT.

Success as county council energy saving green scheme claims top award

The technical wizardry called Patch-up and Power Down was developed in-house by county council computer experts.

It scans over 7,500 computers and automatically switches off any left on overnight. This not only saves the county council around £40,000 a year in energy bills but is also helping combat climate change.

It has been scooped the Green IT section at the Government Computing (GC) Awards during a ceremony in London yesterday.

IT expert Peter Kear designed the programme. He said: “I am absolutely delighted that the county council has won this award. I didn’t develop the programme though for recognition. I did it because I really like my job and wanted to help make a difference. I realised the potential waste caused by staff forgetting to switch off their PC’s when they leave work and adapted existing software to do that. This cost the county council nothing and we think it’s unique. It’s not only saving the authority in energy bills but is also helping us reduce our carbon footprint which is one of this authority’s key targets.”

Staffordshire County Council leader Cllr John Taylor said: “I’d like to congratulate Peter and the IT team for their succes, especially this year because the awards’ organisers say they’ve had a record number of entrants. Being shortlisted shows Staffordshire County Council’s commitment to not only to IT but to environmental sustainability too. I hope that tonight we scoop the prestigious award.”

Since developing the programme the county council has had massive interest from other leading authorities and private sector companies across the country interested in adopting the technology.

This programme could potentially be worth more millions to the UK economy.

For a full list of award winners click here.