Today the concepts of sustainability e unsustainability they are everywhere. This is because the economic system that governs and regulates the world today is showing its critical issues. Ultimately, it is a question of quantity and speed. We produce so much and too quickly, anything, anywhere in the world, without necessarily being prepared to do so with a positive impact over time.
This naturally also applies to digital and the web.
Technological innovation opens up enormous opportunities: but are we ready to seize them without compromising our society?
Here, based on data and examples, we will repaint the current picture of digital sustainability. We will analyze its aspects and reflect on the question by discovering what impact the tools and devices we use every day have and can have.
Content index
Let's start with energy efficiency
Consumption is everyone's raw nerves, you know. But it may seem illusively that the web or digital (except devices) are not interested in it. This is because sometimes they are seen as virtual, immaterial resources. Instead they have consumption, even significant ones, that we show you in relation to other sectors and based on data provided by authoritative sources.
Cloud services, the Social, chats, templates artificial intelligence and constant connectivity need energy. In fact, the data centers that manage much of the digital infrastructure represent among the1 and 1,5% of global energy consumption (Source: IEA).
This number is ridiculous compared to the transport andmanufacturing industry, which according to IEA reports represent 27% and 37% of global consumption. However, digital demand is rising and so consumption is expected to skyrocket.
In 2022, global data centers consumed approximately 460 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity and this figure could reach 1.000 TWh by 2026. An increase equivalent to the energy consumption of countries like Sweden or Germany. The growth rate of workloads managed by data centers is estimated between 20% and 40% per year.. In addition, the workloads related to theIA they could do increase energy consumption of data centers at a rate of 44,7% per annum until 2027 (sources: IEA, DCD e IDC).
What is being done about it?
To reduce this impact, many a big companies are adopting innovative strategies.
Among these, the following stand out:use of renewable energy to power data centers and theOptimization of cooling systems, such as liquid cooling, which can significantly reduce energy consumption compared to traditional air systems.
But what else is there? What other critical issues and possibilities are there?
Data Governance and Digital Sustainability
La managing this huge amount of data has become one of the most important challenges of our time. This is because their incorrect management risks having a deleterious social impact, with scenarios where biased profiling includes or excludes people from services. Individuals, whose personal data they were taken, bought, exchanged, sold without them being able to consult them or have any decision-making power.
This data, and all the other data that is generated every day, requires powerful infrastructure and sophisticated management systems.
However, these infrastructures, as we have just read, have a significant environmental cost, in terms of energy consumption and electronic waste production. It is therefore essential to develop data management policies that are both efficient and sustainable.
Circular economy and electronic devices
The circular economy comes to our aid because it offers a alternative paradigm to the linear model "take, produce, dispose". In the electronics industry, this means extending the useful life of devices through design for repairability and scalability, including upgradeability.
Efficient collection and recycling programs are essential in this framework to rrecover valuable materials and reduce the volume of electronic wasteWe say this on the basis of the recurring component crisis that have been there and that remain just around the corner.
Social impact of digital sustainability
On the other hand, even as consumption rises, digitalization has the potential to improve the lives of billions of people by providing access to essential services, promoting education and stimulating innovation.
However, the digital divide persists, with billions of people still excluded from the web and basic connectivity technologies. This imbalance can aggravate existing inequalities and limit development opportunities.
The United Nations Agenda 2030 includes projects related to improving this aspect… but what can we do as digital entrepreneurs?
Accessibility and inclusion are small steps towards digital sustainability
While large companies develop alternatives to power data centers and some promote and practice circular economy, anyone with a website can do something to make the web more sustainable. This, at least, from two points of view: that of accessibility and that of inclusion.
Designing digital products and services that can be used by people with different abilities is now becoming a trend. A trend encouraged by calls for tenders, incentives and which will soon be regulated. All the major players in the IT sector today they invest in assistive technologies and inclusive design, demonstrating that accessibility is not only an obligation but also an opportunity to create better products and increase your customer base.
This aspect does not have a directly positive environmental and energy impact. But it could favor the birth and implementation of enlightened business models: where efficiency refers not only to profit and performance ... but to how little negative impact there has been.
