Sustainable Information Society

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Jewel Shepherd
5 years ago
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1 The role of ICT in advanced environmental research Ralf Isenmann University of Bremen (Germany) Institute for Project Management and Innovation (IPMI), and Research Center for Sustainability Studies (artec) Web: Slide 1

2 Agenda 1. Sustainability: From an environmental and development policy term to the goal for a long-term liveable future 2. Sustainability and information society: Two global trends 3. The Memorandum "" 4. Conclusions and outlook Slide 2

3 1 Sustainability: From an environmental and development policy term to the goal for a long-term liveable future Slide 3

4 Sustainable development has its roots in environmental and development policy. The term sustainable development first became popular through the so-called Brundtland report of the World Commission for Environment and Development in Stockholm in Brundtland report Basic understanding: Sustainability aims to create economic living conditions that enable (i) all the Earth s population to satisfy their needs today, without compromising the ability of (ii) future generations to satisfy theirs. Slide 4

5 Today, sustainability is the unifying aim for a long-term liveable future. Since sustainability was included in the United Nations action programme for the 21 st century (the so-called Agenda 21 ) at the conference for environment and development 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), it is regarded as - t h e globally applicable orientation and - t h e unifying aim for a long-term liveable future. Sustainability Slide 5

6 2 Sustainability and information society: Two global trends Slide 6

7 The relationship: information society-sustainability does not seem to be clear: Puzzle picture? Slide 7

8 Information society: Opportunities for sustainability a n d (!) danger to accelerate unsustainability. Opportunities for sustainability: ICT can provide unique opportunities for sustainability: - helping to dematerialise economic processes - reduce material and energy throughput. However: ICT do not automatically contribute to sustainability, though: Rapid progress and ubiquitous use create new problems for individuals, society and nature, e.g.: - Electronic waste, - high consumption of resources for PC manufacturing - energy consumption for running the internet. Slide 8

9 3 The Memorandum "Sustainable information society" Slide 9

10 The Memorandum aims to clarify the contribution ICT can make towards sustainability. Background: - Released by a working group of the German Society for Informatics in Initiated in 2000 by Michael Paetau/Lorenz M. Hilty - Proposed to combine research and policy making on sustainability a n d information society. Contents: - Opportunities a n d risks of ICT development are considered with respect to sustainability - Practical recommendations and good practice examples for selected domains Slide 10

11 Conceptual approach: Two-dimensional grid covering: (i) fundamental criteria for sustainability (columns) and (ii) different levels of ICT impacts (rows). Level of ICT impacts regarding to... Human compatibility Social compatibility Ecological compatibility Effects of ICT provision X X X Effects of ICT use X X X Systemic effects X X X Slide 11

Their personal dignity must be respected.

12 The columns cover three fundamental criteria for sustainability... Fundamental criteria for sustainability (dimension 1): - Human compatibility: Individuals should not suffer damages from development. Their personal dignity must be respected. - Social compatibility: Relationships of people with one another and the resulting society should not be infringed. Individual participation in our communities needs to be protected and supported. - Ecological compatibility: The natural environment must not be irreversibly damaged, and our life support systems must be protected. Slide 12

13 The rows classify three different levels of ICT impacts... Classification of ICT impacts (dimension 2): - Effects of ICT provision e.g., use of resources and energy in the manufacturing, use, and disposal of ICT hardware. - Effects of ICT use e.g., energy savings from process optimisation or commuter traffic reduction as a result of telecommunication. - Systemic effects e.g., rebound effects as a reaction to efficiency gains, changes of economic structures, institutions, and consequences for individual lifestyles. Slide 13

14 4 Conclusions and outlook Slide 14

15 Key findings (i) Status quo: ICT do bring about new opportunities and new problems: - Fears need to be taken seriously and accepted as indicators for risks, without giving in to pessimism and panic. - Opportunities that ICT offer merit exploitation. Need for research and action: We need to assess and manage opportunities a n d risks of ICT, but how? on what basis? (discourse, multi-stakeholder forums, experts vs. public participation?) Slide 15

16 Key findings (ii) Proposal: Developments towards a sustainable information society have to be based on three fundamental categories of criteria: - Human compatibility: individuals - Social compatibility: communities - Ecological compatibility: nature Further, three different levels of impacts need to be taken into account: - Effects of ICT provision - Effects of ICT use - Systemic effects Slide 16

17 Key findings (iii) ICT will play a key role in the development towards a sustainable information society. Only if both discourses, on information society and sustainability are systematically combined, a window of opportunity will be opened to approach a long-term liveable future. The challenge consists of winning the hearts and minds of ICT experts and decision makers for sustainability. Slide 17

18 Further reading Slide 18

19 Thank you for your attention! Any comments and suggestions are welcome... Slide 19

The work under the Environment under Review subprogramme focuses on strengthening the interface between science, policy and governance by bridging

The work under the Environment under Review subprogramme focuses on strengthening the interface between science, policy and governance by bridging the gap between the producers and users of environmental