Three years ago, my editorial colleague Anastasius Gavras wrote a viewpoint article in this magazine arguing that there is no such thing as Green ICT. What he meant was that the perspective on what ICT could do was at the time too narrow and limited to energy efficiency and CO2 reduction, which are no doubt important but only a part of the equation. The discussion at a recent Future Internet Week session in Budapest in May 2011 showed that his point is still valid to some extent, and we still need to work on getting a more comprehensive picture on what ICT could do for ensuring an environmental-friendly and sustainable economy and society.
Despite some controversial discussions in the editorial team whether the term Green ICT would be an appropriate title for this issue’s cover theme, we finally decided to stick to it. Although the term may have its limitations and ambiguities it is widely accepted, as it stands for all scenarios of information and communication technologies reducing their own ecological footprint or those in which ICTs help other sector become more sustainable in using scarce resources.
Two years ago, in issue 1-2009, we had already featured “ICT and Sustainability” as a cover theme. In this issue I interviewed ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré, who said the following important sentence: “ICTs are a relatively minor part of the problem, but a major part of the solution.” In this issue, we try to explore how and in which areas ICTs could became part off the solution in order to support a more sustainable economic development and a more sustainable way of life for the fast-growing number of people on this planet.
The cover theme includes an introduction by Eurescom mess@ge editor Peter Stollenmayer as well as articles by experts from industry and academia on how ICTs could make the energy sector and the water sector more sustainable. This is complemented by an interview with Israel Shamay from the Israeli EUREKA Chairmanship, who explains EUREKA’s recently launched Clean-Tech Action.
Another important topic in this issue is the European research programme for shaping the networks of the future. In April 2011, the first projects of the Future Internet Public-Private Partnership (FI-PPP) started, and on 3 May 2011 the programme was officially launched in Brussels. Eurescom mess@ge editor Uwe Herzog gives an overview on the goals and the status of the FI-PPP as well as on the projects running in the first phase.
This issue also features articles on further topics, including TV in Europe and Cyborgs. I hope you enjoy reading them. My editorial colleagues and myself would appreciate your comments and suggestions for future issues.

Milon Gupta
Editor-in-chief