Foremost among the ICT solutions developed by Telefónica as part of its drive to promote energy saving and efficiency are the following services: energy efficient buildings (Inmótica), internet-connected home, telepresence and climate-related disaster early warning and detection systems.
In 2008, Telefónica launched various initiatives aimed at providing customers with energy-efficient solutions, including, for example, its telepresence service, the internet-connected home (a solution designed to facilitate teleworking), its energy efficient buildings service (Inmótica), and tools designed to prevent and monitor climate-related disasters.
- Energy-efficient buildings
Telefónica's energy efficient buildings service (INMOTICA) is an ICT solution that enables companies operating from dispersed sites to manage energy parameters centrally and thus generate potential energy savings equal to between 20% and 30% of their annual consumption.
The company has equipped various financial institutions in Spain with its internet-connected home solution, which allows employees to work from their homes. Telefónica provides a secure, remote access platform that allows employees to work whenever and wherever they need to.
In providing this type of service, Telefónica is opening up a new growth area for ICT solutions designed to help combat climate change.
As part of its telepresence service, in 2008 Telefónica rolled out 14 telepresence rooms in offices in three regions: Spain, Latin America and Europe. This new service will benefit offices located in the cities of Lima, Madrid, Mexico City, Bogota, Sao Paulo and Munich, inter alia.
The aims of this initiative were to optimise time management, reduce international travel costs and eliminate the CO2 emissions associated with the journeys participants would otherwise have to make to attend meetings in person.
The roll-out of this initative also helps promotes a culture of international cooperation between Telefónica employees and provides a tangible model to support sales of the telepresence service to other companies.
- Prevention of climate-related disasaters
In 2008 Telefónica Ecuador concluded an agreement with the International Research Center on El Niño (CIIFEN), the National Meteorology and Hydrology Institute (INAMHI) and Message Plus de Ecuador to develop a mobile climate alerts IT system that will alert residents of rural areas to the proximity of potential climate-related disasters.
Mobile users based in the coastal region of Ecuador who sign up to the service will receive SMS alerts generated by INAMHI free of charge. In this way, it is hoped that the effects of disasters attributable to the El Niño phenomenon, which causes considerable human and economic loss, can be greatly reduced.
