Singapore Data Centres: Sustainability E-Challenge 2020

Supporting collaborative thought before, during, and after an event.

Creating a conducive environment for insight and creativity is the key to successfully discovering ideas as a group.

CONNECTING COMPLETELY ONLINE

The inaugural Singapore Data Centres Sustainability e-Challenge took place in an entirely digital sphere, from start to end. To kick it off, we designed the key visual motif for the overall event. The emailer of the Sustainability Challenge was used to inform individuals of the event and how to register. Conducted by ENGIE, SGTech, Singapore Management University (SMU), and sponsored by Facebook, the goal was to inspire other leaders to discuss solutions toward data centre sustainability .

VISUALISING IDEATION

Participants were separated into three discussion groups to brainstorm ways to reduce the carbon footprint of SDCs: Greener Operations and Best Practices; Smarter Data Centres; and Sustainable Design and Build. Each breakout discussion was tagged with a graphic recorder who illustrated the key insights into a visual summary in real time, organising valuable ideas into coherent summaries.

Virtual whiteboards were used during the event to facilitate the discussions, as participants were able to collaborate directly on the boards with tools such as post-its and editable templates. The visual motifs we illustrated were used to frame the boards, providing a coherent visual identity for the event.

Virtual whiteboards used by the organisers to facilitate conversations with the participants
PRESENTING IDEAS WITH GRAPHIC RECORDING

When regrouping for the closing, our completed graphic recordings were shared on the whiteboard, allowing reflection on the ideas contributed over the course of the event. Both the organisers and participants recognised the value in our graphic recordings and were quick to see how they could be used for future purposes!

Gavin Chua’s LinkedIn sharing of our graphicrecordings
“The perfect way to conclude the entire session and will look great in the kit we share! I could see from the video faces that everyone’s eyes lit up when they saw the preview...”

— PARTICIPANT

Take a look some of our summaries below!

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DOCUMENTING KEY POINTS WITH POST-EVENT SUMMARY REPORTS

After the virtual discussions, the significant points were consolidated and organised into comprehensive post-event summaries that are also animated! The illustrated infographics are tangible documentations of the discussions, and serve as a reference for future steps towards sustainable data centres. Our infographic for SGTech even accompanied an article on its approach to address data centres’ energy needs, enriching the reader’s experience.