Information technology meets energy efficiency: a fruitful combination

Panel: Panel 6. Dynamics of consumption

Authors:
Peter T. du Pont, Danish Energy Management A/S
Henrik Rytter Jensen, Danish Energy Management A/S
Frantz Longhi, Danish Energy Management A/S

Abstract

The paper describes the authors’ experience designing and implementing web sites, information and communication (ICT) systems, and collaborative project web sites regionally within Asia and within capacity-building projects in energy efficiency in both Thailand and Malaysia. We make a crucial distinction between information and knowledge -- information being the data in the form of documents, facts and figures, while knowledge is information when it is turned into a useful context and understood by the parties who have a need for the information.

Regionally within Asia, we have participated in development of two leading web sites in the area of energy-efficiency standards (www.clasponline.org and www.apec-esis.org), and we discuss the process of establishing and attempting making these information resources sustainable. Within Thailand and Malaysia, we are involved in long-term capacity-building projects within national energy-efficiency organizations. We describe our experiences establishing internal project web sites for collaboration among staff and consultants; as well as external web sites and knowledge management systems that assist the partners to communicate, share information with, and promote their programs to their respective target audiences.