Information and communications technologies and sustainability are two areas that seems quite unrelated. But it is not so and there is a growing interest in their interplay. As a very interdisciplinary and new area there is still not a consensus on a research field definition nor very defined boundaries between different parts of the research area. I was going to write a longer scientific papers on this, but I found more appropiate to publish it as a short scientific blog post hoping to get more interactive response.

I will present my view on the subject, dividing the current research into three areas, one of them (ICT4D) that is quite established, while the other two are a bit more blurred together. As presented in the graphic below I do believe that there are common ground between these three.

ICT4Development

ICT4D refers to the application of information and communication tools for social and economic development, usually focusing on developing countries. [1]
Some of the topics ICT4D works with:
•    Providing ICT infrastructure in low income countries.
•    Developing digital literacy and closing the digital divide (technological access gap).
•    E-learning, e-health, e-government, e-commerce for developing countries.
•    Increase awareness in social and ethical issues.
ICT4D can be seen as the study of the positive second grade impact of ICT in social and economical sustainability [2].
Interesting literature can be found in: [1, 3, 4]

Green IT
Green IT (or green computing) refers to the quantification and reduction of the ICT equipment environmental impact. It can be defined as the study of reducing the negative first grade impact of ICT in environmental sustainability [2]. Some of the topics included in Green IT are:
•    Virtualization of equipment
•    Materials recycling
•    Design for disassembly
•    Energy management
Interesting literature can be found in: [5 ,6]

ICT For Sustainability

With Information and Communication Technologies for Environmental Sustainability I refer to the research that studies the use of ICT in solving the environmental challenges of sustainability. It focuses on the possibilities, on the positive indirect impacts of ICT in environmental sustainability and the positive structural and behavioral effects [2]. It looks at ecological problems that undermine sustainability such as climate change, eutrophication, biodiversity loss, acidification, water scarcity, air and water pollution.

•  Optimization and savings using computers
•  System changes due to use ICT that reduce energy and material uses
•  Society and behavioral changes due to ICT use

Interesting literature can be found in: [2, 7,8,9,10]

Conclusions

I find it is important to clarify the vocabulary and have a common ground when speaking about a research area. The terms green IT and the work studying the use of ICT for reducing ecological challenges as global warming are usually mixed. Conferences and reports get ambiguous titles, and the different terms are usually part of the discussions. I would like to put my  small contribution and point out my views in the differences between those areas. The focus of green IT in reducing the impact of ICT hardware is in my opinion a needed condition if we are to use ICT as tools for sustainable change. But it is just a part in the broader study of the complex relationship between information technology and sustainability.

References

[1]    United Nations. 2007. GAID Series 1: Foundations of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development. Edited by Aliye P. Celik. New York.

[2]    Berkhout, F. Hertin J. 2004. De-materialising and re-materialising: digital technologies and the environment. On Futures 36 (2004) 903-920.

[3]    Development divides and digital bridges: why ICT is key for achieving the MDGs (Shoji Nishimoto and Radhika Lal, Commonwealth Finance Ministers Reference Report, 2005.)

[4]    The Case for Technology for Developing Regions. Eric Brewer, Michael Demmer, Bowei Du, Kevin Fall, Melissa Ho, Matthew Kam, Sergiu Nedevschi, Joyojeet Pal, Rabin Patra, and Sonesh Surana. IEEE Computer. Volume 38, Number 6, pp. 25-38, June 2005.

[5]    Haris, J. 2008. Green Computing and Green IT Best Practices on Regulations and Industry Initiatives, Virtualization, Power Management, Materials Recycling and Telecommuting.

[6]    Kuehr, R. Williams, E. (2004). Computers and the Environment – Understanding and Managing their Impacts. Kluwer Academic Publishers & United Nations University. Dordrecht/Boston/London.

[7]    Global e-Sustainability Initiative. (2002). Industry as a partner for sustainable development: Information and communications technology. United Kingdom 2002. ISBN: 92-807-2186-0

[8]    Hilty, L. Arnfalk, P. Erdmann, L. Goodman, J. (2004). The future impact of ICT on environmental sustainability. EU-US Seminar: New technology foresight, forecasting and assessment methods. Seville 13-14 May 2004.

[9]    Fuchs, C. (2006) The implications of new information and communication technologies for sustainability. Springer Science.

[10]    Alekson V. Et al. (2004) Making the net work: Sustainable Development in a Digital Society. Xeris,  ISBN: 9780954621605

OLPC, originally uploaded by It’s a mobile world.

I have loaned a olpc from marko.
I will post soon my thougts about it.