Sept. 26, 2007 IBM's Big Green initiative has taken home the first-ever Green IT Initiative of the Year award at this year's CNET Networks U.K. Business Technology Awards. The judges awarded IBM the prize in hopes the company will use its position to promote green technology in the IT industry, ZDNet reports.

"New to this year's awards, The Green IT Initiative of the Year proved to be an extremely emotive category for the judges. By recognizing the progress made by IBM so far in this area, it's hoped that the organisation will use its influence to drive through the tough changes that must be made across the whole industry," said BBC world affairs editor John Simpson. "Only through co-operation will we move beyond the realms of mere 'greenwash' to rebuilding the industry to truly embrace sustainability in all its forms."

"As one of the stalwarts of the IT industry, IBM has the scale and muscle to be able to effect real change when it comes to green issues such as sustainability, lowering carbon emissions, and the other facets of the green agenda," Simpson added.

Other award winners included Cisco's TelePresence virtual meeting software (Enterprise Hardware Product of the Year) and Colin Cobain of Tesco (CIO of the Year). Hear Cobain discuss green IT, offshoring, and retail technology here.

A complete list of winners is available online.