IGF Workshop #52: ICTs and an Environmentally Sustainable Internet: Another Challenge of Connecting the Next Billion Internet Users
Organizers:
The Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC);
The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA)
Keidanren
Introductions: WITSA – Anders Halvorsen, Director of Public Policy
Moderator: Mr. Jeff Lande, Senior Vice President, Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)
OECD -- Graham Vickery, Head, Information Economy Group
Cisco -- Robert Pepper, Vice President, Global Technology Policy
IISD -- Heather Creech, Director of Global Connectivity, The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
Oracle -- Joseph Alhadeff, Vice President for Global Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer
Summary: The workshop featured a lively discussion on the challenges of connecting the next one billion users to the Internet and how this can be done in an environmentally sustainable way. Audience participation was diverse, ranging from questions focused on business-government cooperation, e-waste and developing countries, and SME’s awareness of energy consumption and efficiency.
WITSA’s pointed out:
1) Why technology matters: The rapid implementation and uptake of new energy-efficient technologies can produce much greater energy savings than policy measures. The early implementation of low carbon technologies will play a critical role, so we must identify those technologies as quickly as possible to accelerate their development and support their adoption.
2) What the ICT sector needs to do: We need a more systematic approach to monitoring and measuring the energy demand of our own products and services; improved environmental performance within our own supply chain by sharing best practice; and identify those technologies for tackling climate change.
The GIIC noted some of its findings that are liked to the workshop discussion that:
- ICTs’ contribution to monitoring, measuring and addressing climate change;
- ICTs’ role as an “enabler” for behavioral and economic changes in other industries
which can reduce carbon demand;
- ICT industry’s efforts to reduce its own electrical power demand through innovation and cooperation;
- The ICT sector will be called upon to help other sectors as they seek climate change, and
- The ICT sector will need to share and collaborate to find solutions that meet the needs of those rapidly growing economies in a manner that is respectful of resources and technology's contribution to the climate change.
Heather Creech demonstrated that our global economic and social lifestyle already is well beyond the point of sustainability. She identified three challenges to the ICT sector:
1) the direct ICT effects (reducing greenhouse gas emissions, consumption of energy and materials, and generation of waste);
2) the indirect ICT effects, developing products and services that enable other sectors to work towards sustainability; and
3) the systemic ICT effects, enabling the long-term changes in economic and social organization that will be needed to solve the “ecological credit crunch” and get the world out of “ecological debt”.
Ms. Creech urged the ICT sector to review critical issues through a sustainable development lens; embrace a full lifecycle approach to ICTs, support open network architectures and global connectivity, and recognize the importance of good governance processes for the management of the Internet.
Mr. Graham Vickery looked at various fields of application of wireless sensor networks for a significant impact on the environment (e.g. smart buildings, logistics and transportation, environmental monitoring, security and surveillance, health care, animal tracking and precision agriculture, and smart grids & energy control systems). There appears to be limited interaction between these areas and ICT, and he sought ICT experts to help shed light on the potential implications of these applications on the environment.
The OECD has studied 75 different green ICT initiatives from 40 different industry associations and 35 governments, measuring the direct impacts of ICTs. It also studied initiatives using ICT as an enabler, and the positive effects IT may have on the environment. The most common focus of these studies was on global warming and energy use. However, many other potentially important areas had not been closely examined. A more thorough study of all areas that have a potentially significant impact on the environment as well as on the economy.
Mr. Robert Pepper elaborated on projects which had a positive impact on the environment. A 40 percent reduction in power usage of networks can be obtained through smart save modes; offering huge incentives for businesses. CISCO is currently running several pilot projects using connectivity to improve efficiencies, including in transportation (Amsterdam), smart offices, travel assistants and road pricing systems (Seoul), and smart bus transportation (San Francisco). He advocated the development of a smart electrical grid, using ICT for efficient delivery and monitoring of electricity. Other areas include improved space utilization management; using space more efficiently saves energy, space and materials.
Joseph Alhadeff emphasized that the impact of ICT on the environment needs to be looked at holistically, including its broader transformation of the economy and impact on the ecosystem as a whole. ICT can play an important role in reducing the carbon footprint in many industry sectors, such as making coal burning plants burn cleaner, etc. Regulators needed to be careful with green ICT objectives. Noble, while misguided regulations (e.g. flat energy consumption taxes) could stifle innovation and have the opposite effect vis-à-vis energy reduction goals. The entire ecosystem must be considered, including the benefits that ICT brings to that ecosystem.