It’s not every day that we experience the true force of nature, but today we are experiencing the consequences of a major volcanic eruption on Iceland. The cloud of talcum like particles started to drift across the UK on Thursday. Airports were closed down like a stack of dominos due to the problems that the volcanic dust can reap on flying aircraft. By late afternoon, the whole airspace above the UK and Ireland was shut down, an unprecedented step in the history of aviation. This now has spread to the north of Europe. The net result not one plane in the skies above the UK and most of northern Europe with many tourists and business travellers stranded across the globe, not mention the thousands of internal flyers faced with the confusion. Where we live in the depths of rural Wales, every 10 minutes we normally see up to 7 vapour jet trails in the skies above us, today the skies are clear. I truly sympathise for those whose holidays have been destroyed by this natural disaster. But let’s think the big picture for a moment, some of the positives we must learn from these natural situations.
Business travel is critical for many organisations and brings economic benefits buts it also adds significantly to Greenhouse Gas emissions. A recent project report suggested that 20% of business air travel is not necessary and that video conferencing was an effective means of communications (Project Icarus, Cranfield University February 2009). So if international businesses invested in video conferencing, not only could we reduce by 20% greenhouse gases but think of the money savings to be made by not travelling but the additional staff time available to the company. This also applies to most other businesses and their business travel. So come on businesses, review your staff travel plans and invest in your ITC. At Future Directions we can help you with these and bring in associates to advise on your ITC needs now and for the future.Chris Gledhill
