Humankind has undergone two industrial revolutions. One is what happened in England in the 19th century and the other is what we call the information revolution which exploded in the 20th century. What is to come in the 21st century As we witness digitalization, one possible answer would be the ubiquitous revolution. However, what is the good of digitalization and ubiquitous technology if we can't protect our own lives from global warming and other environmental threats It is about time to bring another revolution so that advanced science will be applied to detect any possible danger that threatens our lives. By all means, if we can truly create a digital society where any illness, climate change, or pollution can be prevented, wouldn't that be the most contemporary idea of Utopia that Sir Thomas More once portrayed The birth of twin revolutions, therefore, is about to be witnessed on the frontier of CeBIT 2009: Green IT and Webciety.

Green IT is the idea of using all information and technology-related assets better for the environment as a whole, which includes making them biodegradable or being able to last for a long time so that it doesn't need to be thrown away, or both at the same time. This process will eventually make our environment Green, the color of nature.

The motivation of the new movement is quite simple. If nature represents lifegiving and nurturing features embodying the form of the mother, so has information technology (IT) been especially nurturing in the last decade. Mother IT indeed has been creating more jobs than nature these days. IT contributed a lot to the development of the economy as well. In our life cycle, parents are stronger than children when they first give birth to a child. After a certain period of nurturing and supporting, however, the child grows stronger than its parents and starts supporting its aged, weak ancestors. It is the same with the generation of digitalization, which has been taking green nature for granted for quite a long time now. The payback time has come. It is time for the digital generation to gather everything we learned and gained so far and apply it to our real lives. Within the presence of a well-preserved Mother Nature, the idea of Webciety shall exist. In a web society, ubiquitous internet access will be available with or without wires. We can have thousands of online buddies in all seven continents, download any content we desire, and use portable devices to accompany our trips within and without the city or country. This constant connection to the internet will improve the quality of our lives as much as the industrial revolution once did for us. Everything, from banking to healthcare, will be taken care of by the World Wide Web.

At CeBIT 2009 this month the convergence era of Green IT and Webciety is a hot issue. If Webciety is our present, Green IT is our future. With the digital advance we already have today, it takes only a little spice and bit extra salt to synthesize everything together for a true Webciety. But as far as Green IT is concerned, we have mountains of work to do. Polar bears' lives are threatened in the North Pole and glaciers are melting down every minute. As we are destined be a digitalized information and communication society, we can use IT technology to prevent further global warming. Manufacturing nano-semiconductors is as important as developing eco-aid devices. A device that clears out the pollution in the air, a device that detects any contamination in the water, and a portable device that alerts us to polluting activities are only a few products of the possible green market.

According to a survey done by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the Korean IT industry was 17.5 million tons out of 631 million tons worldwide in 1998. The NIA estimated that the amount would increase to 21.1 million tons in the near future. The good news is that if we take actions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in twenty one information technology applications, we can lower the emissions to 54.2 tons which is less than 8.4% of total emissions.

To this end, measures should be taken in the direction of the digitalization of social infrastructure. Digitalization in the areas of production, service, transportation, communication, and conferences is essential. Digitalization makes it unnecessary for us to drive cars and trucks, and to consume heat and electricity for offices. We can also increase energy efficiency by controlling all systems online with computerized systems. On-line banking has saved a lot of people a lot of energy by allowing them to use bank services at home with their cars parked in their own parking lots. Since that is so effective, imagine how much energy we could save by using Internet conferences and video phones.

In winter, we can teach children at home through an online school. This will probably the best part of the Webciety in the future. Fewer engines will be ignited to give children rides to school. Embedded programs will control temperature with advanced sensor networks. If IT companies take initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide in their businesses, at least 10% of the total emissions will be reduced to give it a good start.

KT, a leading broadband network provider, is on the frontier in this sense. KT recently declared that it will attempt to reduce 10% of carbon dioxide emissions by holding more real time online conferences rather than making its employees waste extra time and energy attending offline conferences.

Before it is too late to be a good child, IT should change its ambitious path a little toward Mother Nature and walk with a driven spirit once more in the house of nature. Nothing made of gold lasts forever, but evergreen trees can in spite of seasonal changes. The trend of IT changes every year, and so does the theme of IT exhibitions, but the theme of Green IT is expected to remain as our daily homework for a long time.