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This year's winner, the Halden Centre of Expertise, operates at the interface between energy and IT. The Halden-cluster has been instrumental in creating the first power exchange in the world, as well as the world's first operational system for emissions trading. These are IT-based systems developed in order to optimize the utilization of resources on the planet. The finalists we had picked out were all impressive candidates in their own aspects of Green IT. This candidate, however, represents the forward-looking skills that will help set the framework for a low carbon economy that we need in the future, said Benedicte Fasmer Waaler, juror from ICT-Norway. |
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Mr. Knut H. Johansen, Head of the Halden Centre of Expertise Steering Committee, receives The Rosing Prize for Green IT from the Norwegian Minister of Government Administration and Reform, Mrs. Heidi Grande Røys (Photo: Casper Brekke, Grønli Group) |
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Mr. Knut H. Johansen, CEO of Navita Systems and Head of the Halden Centre of Expertise Steering Committee, received the prize on behalf of 50 companies and institutions, cooperating with main focus on the international energy and climate market. “This is a big encouragement for the high-tech business environment in and around Halden,” Johansen said in a comment to receiving the award. “Norway has for many years been in the forefront of trading emission quotas as a tool in the ongoing climate battle. Through the Halden Centre of Expertise, Norway now has a unique opportunity to develop leading international expertise in the fields of environmentally friendly energy and commodities trading.”
The Halden Centre of Expertise is an industrial cluster with partners as for instance NASDAQ OMX/Nord Pool, Navita Systems, Tieto, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Statkraft, Fortum Markets, Østfold Energi, PointCarbon, Hydro Energy, DnBNOR Markets, Montel, SAAB, Norske Skog, Nexans and more. The Institute for Energy Technology, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, The University College of Østfold and the regional R&D institution Østfoldforskning are all active partners in research and higher education projects initiated by the Halden Centre of Expertise. The Halden cluster is financially backed by Innovation Norway, The Research Council of Norway and SIVA through the ARENA project “Energy and Emissions Trading”.
The Rosing Awards are presented each year by the Norwegian Computer Society to honour the best in Norwegian IT. The Society’s Creativity Award was presented for the first time in 1991, and in 1993 this award was named after the Norwegian data pioneer Fredrik Rosing Bull. As early as in 1921, he created the first hole card systems based on patents that later became the basis for the Bull IT-company. The prize ceremony is regarded as the Norwegian IT industry’s answer to the Oscar Ceremony. The price is high ranked and enjoys great recognition in the Norwegian IT-community.
The Rosing Award for Green IT was first awarded in 2008. It was initiated by the Minister of Government Administration and Reform, Mrs. Heidi Grande Røys, in 2007 when she advocated the idea of creating a separate “environmentally-friendly” IT-prize. Traditionally the thought has been that environment conservation is in contrast to economic growth. Green IT challenges this idea. With proper implementation and use of smart IT solutions economic growth can go hand in hand with reduction of environmentally harmful emissions. While different technological R&D organizations compete to promote alternative environmentally-friendly alternatives, IT is already helping to make large scale energy savings possible – regardless of energy source. IT is thus presented as a quick problem solver with a central framework for solving today’s environmental challenges. IT is also an important player in the interface between academia, industry and government agencies engaged in promoting practical initiatives in order to create a more sustainable environment.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Knut H.Johansen, CEO Navita Systems AS,
knut.johansen@navita.com, mobile: +47 90981318
Mr. Dieter Hirdes, CEO Oslofjord Innovation - Inkubator Halden AS,
dieter.hirdes@haldencoe.com, mobile: +47 90550268
For more information about the Norwegian Computer Society: Norwegian Computer Society
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