How smart decisions reduce our ecological footprint

How can digital technologies be made more sustainable? Jan Bieser, Assistant Professor of Digitalisation and Sustainability at the Institute of Public Sector Transformation, is looking into this question. For example, he is investigating the ecological impact of digitalisation and developing concepts for environmentally friendly business models. In the podcast, he talks about this and how we can make our digital consumption more sustainable – an extract.

Societybyte: How does our digital consumption relate to our ecological footprint?

Prof Dr Jan Bieser: Digital technologies consume resources and energy, which is often underestimated. And many platforms, especially social media and streaming services, are designed to encourage us to spend as much time online as possible. However, this intensive use has ecological consequences, as the infrastructure in the background – such as data centres – requires considerable amounts of energy. As a result, digital consumption also leaves a noticeable ecological footprint. At the same time, digital platforms also have great potential to have a positive impact on the environment if we learn to use them consciously.

You talk about the need to rethink digital business models. What do you mean by that specifically?

The current business models of many platforms are designed to ensure that we spend as much time online as possible. The more we consume, the more data can be collected and monetised. We are currently working on a research project in which we are investigating whether alternative business models are conceivable that would change these incentives. The aim is to show companies how they can combine their economic success with environmentally friendly goals – without users necessarily having to consume more.

Would compensation for digital use, as is already possible in air travel, be a solution?

That could be a first step. You could imagine streaming services or other platforms offering subscriptions that allow users to offset the CO2 emissions of their digital usage, similar to what frequent flyers do when travelling by plane. Of course, this is not a perfect solution, but it could help to reduce the digital footprint and raise awareness of resource consumption. In the long term, however, there needs to be a fundamental change in the way digital services are designed and used.

Listen to the whole conversation in the podcast.

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Links to the topic

• About the Institute Public Sector Transformation
• Project “Real vs. digital (ReVerDi): Sustainability optimisation in national libraries”
• Sustainable digitalisation topic page
• Publication “The greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential of ICT: A critical review of telecommunication companies’ GHG enablement assessments”