In my day job, I come across a number of opportunities for folks in the IT community to compete for some form of recognition or another. Here are a couple of candidates that merit a look – or perhaps an entry. Good luck!

For enterprises – the Uptime Institute Server Roundup:

The Uptime Institute Server Roundup was introduced last year to encourage the removal and recycling of obsolete IT equipment in an effort to decrease data center energy use.

Last year’s first place winner, AOL, rounded up close to 10,000 servers and saved its organization over $5 million. Decommissioning a single 1U rack server can result in a savings of $500 per year in energy costs, an additional $500 in operating system licenses, and $1,500 in hardware maintenance costs.

The Roundup is designed to engage the IT community to get serious about asset utilization and energy efficiency, and we look forward to your participation this year. Winners will receive genuine rodeo belt buckles and a presentation slot at Uptime Institute Symposium.

The 2012 Server Roundup Contest is open from Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2012. Deadline for submission of materials is Feb. 1, 2013

Review the details of this year's Roundup and what you need to enter here: blog.uptimeinstitute.com/2012/08/second-...undup-contest-rules/

Please email Matt Stansberry, Uptime Institute Director of Content and Publications with any questions: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For communities - ICF's 2013 Intelligent Community of the Year Awards - One Month Left for Nominations

The awards program salutes the accomplishments of communities in developing inclusive prosperity on a foundation of information and communications technology. Communities large and small, urban and rural, in developing and industrialized nations are invited to apply for an international award that does not use population as a factor. Deadline for nominations is September 21, 2012. More info available here: www.intelligentcommunity.org/index.php?s...&category=Events

To support your favourite developer – vote in the MintChip Developer Challenge

The Royal Canadian Mint is pleased to invite members of the public to cast their votes for the Popular Choice Award as part of the judging of submissions received by the MintChip™ Developer Challenge. The judging period and public voting continues until September 12, with winners to be announced on September 24 and more than $50,000 worth of prizes to be awarded later in the fall.

“The Mint is extremely pleased with the enthusiasm and creativity shown by the developer community for the MintChip™ Challenge,” said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. “All 500 of the developer kits were distributed within the first four days of the Challenge and we have now received many interesting and innovative ideas for possible uses of the MintChip™ digital currency technology.”

The MintChip™ digital currency employs innovative technology, for which the Mint has prototypes and eight patents pending in all major world markets, and could be the digital equivalent of the coins Canadians use every day to carry out financial transactions with retailers and with each other. It uses a secure chip to hold electronic value and a secure protocol to transfer electronic value from one chip to another.

The MintChip™ Developer Challenge began on April 4 when developers from across North America were invited to test the technology as part of the continuing research and development of MintChip™ and to determine its applicability to the current marketplace. The results of the Developer Challenge, which is being conducted on behalf of the Mint by ChallengePost, will form part of the Mint’s ongoing evaluation of possible next steps in the development of the MintChip™ technology.

All of the submissions can be seen in the Application Gallery at MintChipChallenge.com. In order to vote for the Popular Choice Award, members of the public who have not already done so will need to create a free account with ChallengePost. Full details of the Developer Challenge are available at www.MintChipChallenge.com.

I think this kind of recognition is really important - it helps connect IT professionals (and their employers - and their resumes!) to the objectives of the business community as a whole.

It's funny - I saw an IT commentator this morning asking "whatever happened to GreenIT?" and noting that only 40% of data centre strategies are shaped by sustainability concerns. The Uptime contest reminds us that in some very important circles, these concerns matter - and not to rant, but isn't 40% of data centre operations a large total population? And, are there still people who don't realize that "greenIT" extends - meaningfully, and in some cases, majoritively - outside the data centre?

Anyway [/rant], I've seen the Uptime awards and presentations, and they are a big deal for all concerned - for the winners, and for the participants who contribute to a really meaningful outcome. If you have a chance to participate, you should - it's a great way to learn, to be recognized, to connect with a leadership community - and to save a whole lot of money while reducing GHG emissions!