The progress of green computing is in danger of becoming a classic technological chicken and egg.

After two years of bold intentions from vendors and IT managers alike, now that hard cash needs to be put on the table there seems to be an outbreak of finger pointing.

According to research by The Corporate IT Forum, suppliers say they are not seeing sufficient buyer demand to develop green products. IT leaders are saying that market pressures are not yet strong enough to make the business case to their boardroom to invest in environmentally-friendly technology. And everyone is saying that government incentives have little bite.

There is no doubt that the IT community buys into the principle of green computing and understands why it has become a serious consideration.

But only a few large early adopters are making real progress ­ and typically these are organisations with a wider green policy that is part of their overall corporate marketing strategy, such as HSBC and Marks & Spencer.

Most IT projects labelled as green are, in fact, cost-cutting programmes to reduce energy spend ­certainly a worthwhile reason to progress, but the green badge is often tagged on afterwards.

A common theme from the IT leaders that Computing talks to is the lack of best practice and benchmarking to judge the impact of the problem.

Vendors that push their green credentials are often just repackaging existing products that their marketing team have realised can be promoted as environmentally friendly.

There is little independent best practice on how to implement an effective green IT strategy. And even if you do, how can you measure its success without published benchmarks to compare with leaders in the field?

We are reaching a critical juncture in the greening of technology. IT managers need to build on the progress they have made in highlighting the problem ­ but they also need active support from suppliers, business leaders and government departments to make the progress we all want to achieve.

The rise of consumer technology and its impact on business has become a growing theme for IT managers.

The increasingly tech-savvy population has different expectations of the way it relates to companies and government, as employees, customers and citizens.

This represents a historic turnaround.

In the past, new technologies have confounded consumers, and adoption of the latest innovations has slowed or sometimes died as potential users retreat from perceived complexity or just simple techno-fear.

But now, consumer demand is starting to push ahead of the ability of the IT community to deliver the technology people want.

Smartcards are such an obvious way to improve the passenger experience on public transport. London’s Oyster card has already shown how it can make travel cheaper and more convenient, and offer the potential for new services, such as the combined travel and payment card launched by Barclaycard last year.

But for once, an important technology is being rolled out before the companies that support it are ready.

The first national smartcard-based transport scheme, to allow senior citizens free bus travel anywhere in the country, will be unable to exploit its advanced features because hardly any bus operators support it.

Is this a sign of things to come? As we all turn to new technology in our everyday lives ­ for communication, entertainment, education and more ­ the national appetite for IT seems only to be expanding. Through products such as mobile phones, iPods and Nintendo’s Wii, technology has become a fashion item for all ages.

This presents huge challenges ­ and opportunities ­ for everyone working in IT.

Imagine if user resistance to new projects turned into an enthusiastic demand for more. How soon before companies will steal a march on their rivals by beating them to the use of a new technology to create greater customer loyalty and profit?

 IT managers in every organisation need to respond to the changing reality of a consumer-led technology revolution.

It would be easy to be cynical and suggest the government engaged in a bit of press control with the timing of the publication of Sir James Crosby’s report on UK identity management last week.

On the afternoon that home secretary Jacqui Smith announced the latest changes to ID cards, the Treasury-commissioned Crosby study was also quietly released after months of delays ­ – Computing was leaked details of its contents as long ago as last August – ­ see www.computing.co.uk/2197249.

Smith said she was “indebted” to Crosby, but ignored most of his recommendations ­ – not least the widely publicised suggestion that ID cards should be free.

But a detailed look at the Crosby report ­ – which was initiated by Gordon Brown when he was chancellor – ­ reveals a more coherent, workable, and less costly alternative to the increasingly ham-fisted and ever-changing plans for ID cards.

The former HBOS chief executive recommends a system delivered by the private sector through trusted institutions such as banks. The government has co-opted at least part of this, in that companies will be asked to bid to provide biometric enrolment services, but the national identity register remains a Whitehall resource.

Under Crosby, you choose which trusted organisation looks after your biometrics. Far less Big Brother.

His proposal is for a consumer-led process that offers citizens who are increasingly worried about identity theft a secure way to prove who they are, with a commercial incentive for the banks. And of course, public services can piggyback the scheme. Compared to the government’s attempts, it appears to make much more sense.

There is no doubt that in future we will need some form of standardised electronic personal identity management system to safeguard our details and our online ­ – and physical ­ – transactions.

But the government’s lacklustre attempts to sell ID cards to a sceptical public are doing more to threaten this goal than to promote it. The expertise of the private sector needs to be given more weight in the identity management debate.