Wiki for Sustainable IT - User contributions [en]

Sustainable IT Charter

2026-08-08T09:52:03Z

Guillaume GALLON: Liens interlangues

The '''Sustainable IT Charter''' is a public commitment offered by the [https://institutnr.org Institute for Sustainable IT] to organisations that want to place their digital practices on a sustainable footing.

It is available in several languages at [https://charter.isit-europe.org/charte-numerique-responsable/?lang=en_GB charter.isit-europe.org], free of charge, and open to companies, associations, small businesses and public bodies alike.

== The five commitments ==

The charter states each commitment in the first person plural, which binds the signing organisation rather than describing a general intention.

; Environment
: « We are committed to optimising digital tools to limit their impact and consumption. »
; Accessibility
: « We are committed to the development of digital services that are accessible to all, inclusive and sustainable. »
; Ethics
: « We are committed to ethical and responsible digital practices. »
; Resilience
: « We are committed towards a Sustainable IT, that is essential for the resilience of organisations. »
; Values
: « We are committed to fostering the emergence of new behaviours and values. »

== What it is for ==

The charter is an entry point. It requires neither prior measurement nor audit. It asks for an explicit, public commitment, from which verifiable actions then follow, and it presses the signatory to assess and improve itself continuously.

That order is deliberate. An organisation that starts with measurement often stops there. An organisation that commits first holds an internal mandate to act.

The text refers to performance and compliance indicators tied to corporate responsibility objectives, without prescribing a particular method.

== What it is not ==

It is neither a certification nor a label. Nothing is audited and no score is awarded. For a structured assessment the Institute runs a label scored out of 1000; for a measurement of the information system's footprint, the WeNR campaign.

Treating a charter as a label invites a fair charge of [[Greenwashing|greenwashing]]. Signing states a principle of action, not a result.

== A note on the English term ==

The French ''numérique responsable'' is rendered in English as '''sustainable IT''', not as « responsible IT ». The charter follows that usage, as does this wiki.

== See also ==

* [[Sustainable IT]] · [[Responsible AI Charter]] · [[Digital sobriety]] · [[Ecodesign]] · [[Digital accessibility]]

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[[es:Carta de TI Responsable]]
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[[nl:Duurzame IT Charter]]

Responsible AI Charter

2026-08-08T09:52:01Z

Guillaume GALLON: Correction des liens interlangues vers la charte IA

The '''Responsible AI Charter''' is a public commitment offered by the [https://institutnr.org Institute for Sustainable IT], devoted to the use of artificial intelligence. It extends the [[Sustainable IT Charter]] onto ground where decisions are taken quickly and their effects are hard to undo.

It is available in several languages at [https://charter.isit-europe.org/charte-ia/?lang=en_GB charter.isit-europe.org], free of charge, and open to any organisation.

Signatories undertake to deploy AI systems that are human-centred, trustworthy, inclusive, non-discriminatory and environmentally responsible, in line with applicable regulation including the [[AI Act]].

== The four commitments ==

; AI at the service of humanity
: develop AI that reinforces the central role of employees while enhancing their capabilities, and build it through social dialogue rather than around it.
; Inclusive and ethical AI
: respect equity, diversity and non-discrimination, with mechanisms that guard against bias in the data and requirements for [[Digital accessibility|accessibility]].
; Trustworthy AI
: give people transparent information about their interactions with AI systems, and keep human oversight over high-risk activities.
; Eco-responsible AI
: adopt frugal models with efficient use of resources, and limit the environmental footprint across the whole life cycle.

The first commitment is the one most often skipped. It places social dialogue before deployment, where most organisations place it after.

== Why a separate charter ==

Adoption ran ahead of governance. Tools arrive through teams rather than through management, which produces [[Shadow AI]]: undeclared use that exposes internal data to third parties who may train their models on it.

A charter lets an organisation state a position before practice hardens.

== Relation to the AI Act ==

The [[AI Act]] sets legal obligations by risk level. The charter operates earlier and more broadly: it covers uses the regulation does not classify as high risk but which still raise questions of sobriety, dependency and acceptability.

== What it is not ==

Neither a certification nor a label. Nothing is audited and no score is awarded. Signing states a principle of action, not a result.

== See also ==

* [[Responsible AI]] · [[Sustainable IT Charter]] · [[AI Act]] · [[Shadow AI]] · [[AI governance]] · [[Algorithmic bias]]

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Green IT

2026-08-08T09:51:59Z

Guillaume GALLON: Liens interlangues

'''Green IT''' is the practice of reducing the environmental footprint of the information system itself: equipment, [[Data centre|data centres]], networks and software.

It is the oldest identified strand of [[Sustainable IT|sustainable IT]], and the one organisations usually start with.

== Scope ==

* '''Equipment''': purchasing policy, useful life, repair, [[End of life|end of life]] ;
* '''Data centres''': energy efficiency, cooling, heat recovery, actual server utilisation ;
* '''Networks''': sizing and equipment lifespan ;
* '''Software''': [[Ecodesign|ecodesign]], decommissioning unused applications ;
* '''Data''': retention policy, deduplication, deletion.

== Where the effort pays ==

Organisations commonly begin with data centre efficiency, because it is measurable and under their control. The larger gains usually sit elsewhere.

Extending the useful life of the device fleet by one or two years typically outweighs any realistic improvement in [[Power Usage Effectiveness|PUE]], because it acts on [[Manufacturing|manufacturing]], which dominates the life cycle.

Decommissioning unused applications is the second underrated lever: it removes servers, storage, backups, licences and maintenance at once.

== What it does not cover ==

Green IT addresses the impact '''of''' digital technology. It says nothing about using digital technology for environmental ends ([[IT for Green]]), nor about accessibility, inclusion and working conditions, which fall under [[Human for IT]] and [[IT for Human]].

== See also ==

* [[Sustainable IT]] · [[IT for Green]] · [[Ecodesign]] · [[Digital sobriety]] · [[Carbon footprint]] · [[Data centre]] · [[End of life]]

[[Category:Concepts]]

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Dark pattern

2026-08-08T09:48:07Z

Guillaume GALLON: Creation: dark patterns / deceptive design

== Definition ==
A '''dark pattern''' — increasingly called '''deceptive design''' — is a deliberate design choice that leads users to do something that serves the service provider's interest rather than their own. Intent is central to the definition: this is not clumsy ergonomics, but manipulation designed as such.

The goals vary: making people spend more, keeping them on a service longer, or obtaining acceptance of terms or tracking they would have declined had the choice been presented plainly.

The term was popularised in 2010 by British user experience specialist Harry Brignull, who produced the first classification. Regulators and recent literature increasingly prefer "deceptive design" as a clearer, less loaded phrase.

== Typology ==
Classifications vary, but a stable core of families recurs.

=== Concealment ===
* '''Hidden costs''': service, handling or delivery fees revealed only at the final checkout step.
* '''Drip pricing''': the announced price becomes complete only after several screens.
* '''Sneak into basket''': an option, insurance or subscription pre-added that the user must remember to remove.

=== Manufactured urgency and scarcity ===
* Countdown timers that reset, "only 2 left" or "14 people are viewing this page" claims that cannot be verified.
* Exploitation of scarcity bias and fear of missing out (FOMO).

=== Misdirection and shaming ===
* '''Misdirection''': a visual hierarchy that promotes the option favouring the service and erases the other — a coloured button against a tiny grey link.
* '''Confirmshaming''': phrasing the decline option so as to induce guilt ("No thanks, I'd rather pay full price").
* '''Trick questions''': double negatives, checkboxes whose meaning flips from one line to the next.

=== Obstruction ===
* '''Roach motel''': subscribe in two clicks, cancel in eight steps, a phone call and a letter. This is the pattern most explicitly targeted by regulators.
* '''Nagging''': repeated prompts — notifications, modal windows — until consent is given.

=== Coercion and privacy ===
* '''Forced action''': mandatory account creation for a trivial task, permissions requested with no bearing on the feature.
* '''Privacy Zuckering''': design that leads users to share more personal data than intended, with protective settings buried and off by default.
* '''Preselection''': pre-ticked boxes standing in for consent.
* '''Disguised ads''': commercial content presented as editorial material or as an interface element.

== Mechanisms exploited ==
Dark patterns create no new behaviour; they exploit well documented cognitive biases.

* '''Scarcity bias and loss aversion''': the fear of losing an opportunity weighs more than the prospect of an equivalent gain.
* '''Anchoring''': a high price shown first makes the next one look reasonable.
* '''Cost of effort''': beyond a few steps users give up — precisely the calculation behind obstruction.
* '''Default effect''': the pre-set option is kept in the vast majority of cases, whatever it contains.
* '''Attentional load''': a dense, pressing interface degrades decision quality, which is the domain of the attention economy.

== Consent banners ==
Cookie banners are the most common observation ground: a prominent "Accept all" button against a refusal buried in a submenu, loaded wording, re-display on every visit. Since its 2022 decisions, the French data protection authority (CNIL) has applied a simple requirement: '''refusing must be as easy as accepting''', with a visible refusal button at the first level.

== Regulatory framework ==
* '''GDPR''': consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. A pre-ticked box, a costly refusal path or consent obtained through fatigue do not meet that bar.
* '''Digital Services Act (DSA)''', Article 25: interfaces that deceive, manipulate or otherwise impair users' ability to make free and informed decisions are prohibited. In December 2025 the European Commission issued its first DSA fine — €120 million against the platform X, in part for the deceptive design of its verification badge.
* '''Digital Markets Act (DMA)''': governs gatekeepers' interfaces, notably choice screens and cross-service consent.
* '''Consumer law''': depending on the case, dark patterns fall under misleading or aggressive commercial practices.

== Why it matters for sustainable IT ==
The topic is usually filed under ethics alone; it also bears directly on sobriety.

* '''Resource consumption.''' Artificially lengthened journeys, repeated prompts and engagement features multiply requests, heavy screens and time spent — hence the energy drawn by devices, networks and servers.
* '''Imposed usage time.''' Engagement mechanics extend usage without creating user value: the opposite of the useful / usable / used principle that underpins [[Ecodesign|ecodesign]] of digital services.
* '''Convergence with accessibility.''' A deceptive interface is first of all an unreadable one. People with disabilities, people uneasy with digital tools or with the language bear the consequences first, which ties the subject to [[Digital accessibility|digital accessibility]] and inclusion.
* '''Reference frameworks.''' [[ISO/IEC TS 20125]] and its French predecessor AFNOR SPEC 2201 explicitly call for discarding attention-capture features and design biases that mislead users or artificially extend their usage time. The [[GR491]] covers the subject in its strategy and UX/UI families.

== Designing without dark patterns ==
* '''Symmetry of choice.''' Accepting and refusing should take the same number of actions and receive the same visual treatment.
* '''Protective defaults.''' The pre-set option is the one that protects the user: no pre-ticked boxes, no data sharing by default.
* '''Desirable friction.''' Not all friction is bad: deliberately slowing an irreversible or costly action protects the user. Manipulative friction obstructs what the user wants; desirable friction helps them decide.
* '''Plain language.''' No double negatives, no loaded wording, full price shown as early as possible.
* '''Entry and exit symmetry.''' Cancelling, deleting an account or exporting data must be as accessible as signing up.
* '''Ethical review and user testing.''' Have journeys reviewed by people outside the project, with one question: would an informed user have made the same choice?

== See also ==
* [[Ecodesign]] · [[Digital sobriety]] · [[Digital accessibility]] · [[GR491]] · [[RGESN]] · [[ISO/IEC TS 20125]] · [[Sustainable IT]] · [[Algorithmic bias]]

=== External references ===
* [https://www.deceptive.design/ Deceptive Design, Harry Brignull]
* [https://designersethiques.org/fr/thematiques/design-persuasif/concevoir-sans-dark-patterns Designing without dark patterns, Designers Éthiques]
* [https://design.cnil.fr/ Data & Design, LINC — CNIL]

[[Category:Concepts]]

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GR491

2026-08-08T09:37:18Z

Guillaume GALLON: Ajout des liens vers ISO/IEC TS 20125 et AFNOR SPEC 2201

The '''GR491''' is the reference guide for the responsible design of digital services, published by the Institute for Sustainable IT (INR).

== Scope ==

Unlike the [[RGESN]], the GR491 is not limited to environmental [[Ecodesign|ecodesign]]. It also covers the social and ethical dimensions of [[Sustainable IT|sustainable IT]]: [[Digital accessibility|accessibility]], protection of personal data, and avoidance of deceptive interfaces.

Its name comes from the number of recommendations in its first version.

== Structure ==

Eight families follow the life cycle of a digital service: strategy, specifications, UX/UI, content, architecture, frontend, backend and hosting.

It contains '''61 recommendations''' broken down into '''516 criteria'''.

== Licence ==

The GR491 is published under the Etalab Open Licence v2.0, which permits reuse, distribution and adaptation. It is available online and maintained collaboratively.

== See also ==

* [[ISO/IEC TS 20125]] · [[RGESN]] · [[Ecodesign]] · [[Sustainable IT]] · [[Digital accessibility]]

[[Category:Frameworks and methods]]

RGESN

2026-08-08T09:37:18Z

Guillaume GALLON: Ajout des liens vers ISO/IEC TS 20125 et AFNOR SPEC 2201

The '''RGESN''' (''Référentiel général d'écoconception de services numériques'') is the French public reference framework listing [[Ecodesign|ecodesign]] good practices applicable to a digital service.

== Origin ==

It derives from the French REEN Act of 15 November 2021 on reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology. A first version was published in 2022. The version in force, '''2024''', was published in May 2024 by Arcep and Arcom, in coordination with ADEME.

== Structure ==

The 2024 version contains '''78 criteria''' across '''9 themes''': strategy, specifications, architecture, UX/UI, content, frontend, backend, hosting and algorithms.

Each criterion carries three attributes: implementation difficulty, priority, and applicability, since a criterion may not apply to a given service. Each comes with a practical sheet describing how to implement and verify it.

== Difference from the GR491 ==

The RGESN is a public framework, deliberately compact to remain usable, and stems from a legal obligation. The [[GR491]], published by the Institute for Sustainable IT, is broader and aims for completeness.

They are complementary: the RGESN serves as an assessment baseline, the GR491 as an implementation library.

== See also ==

* [[ISO/IEC TS 20125]] · [[GR491]] · [[Ecodesign]] · [[Sustainable IT]] · [[Digital sobriety]]

[[Category:Frameworks and methods]]
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Ecodesign

2026-08-08T09:37:18Z

Guillaume GALLON: Ajout des liens vers ISO/IEC TS 20125 et AFNOR SPEC 2201

'''Ecodesign''' of digital services consists of integrating environmental impact into design choices, from initial specification through to decommissioning.

== Why design decides ==

Most of a service's impact is fixed at design time. Once a service assumes a recent device, a fast connection and constant data exchange, no later optimisation recovers what those assumptions cost.

The most consequential decision is rarely technical. It is the decision about scope: which features exist at all.

== Main levers, in order of effect ==

# '''Reduce the functional scope''' to what is actually used. Measured usage almost always shows a long tail of features used by nobody.
# '''Preserve compatibility''' with older devices. A service that still works on a six-year-old phone delays its replacement, which is the largest environmental gain available to a software team.
# '''Limit data transferred and stored''': image formats and sizes, autoplay, prefetching, retention periods.
# '''Avoid constant network activity''', which drains batteries and keeps infrastructure busy.
# '''Measure''' before and after, rather than assuming.

== Common misconception ==

Ecodesign is frequently reduced to page weight. Weight matters, but the dominant effect of a heavy service is that it accelerates device replacement, not that it consumes bandwidth. The target is the device, not the network.

== Frameworks ==

The [[RGESN]] provides 78 criteria structured for assessment. The [[GR491]] provides a broader set of recommendations, including social and ethical aspects. Both can be used together.

== Relationship with accessibility ==

An ecodesigned service and an accessible service share most of their properties: structured content, no dependence on the latest browser, usable on modest hardware and poor connections. The two disciplines reinforce each other more often than they compete.

== See also ==

* [[ISO/IEC TS 20125]] · [[RGESN]] · [[GR491]] · [[Digital sobriety]] · [[Digital accessibility]] · [[Life cycle assessment]] · [[Sustainable IT]]

[[Category:Concepts]]
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ISO 20125

2026-08-08T09:31:27Z

Guillaume GALLON: Redirection vers ISO/IEC TS 20125

#REDIRECT [[ISO/IEC TS 20125]]

ISO/IEC TS 20125

2026-08-08T09:31:27Z

Guillaume GALLON: Création : ISO/IEC TS 20125, spécification technique internationale d'écoconception des services numériques

== Definition ==
'''ISO/IEC TS 20125''' is an international technical specification on the [[Ecodesign|ecodesign]] of digital services. Its full title is ''Information technology — Digital services ecodesign''; Part 1 is ''Ecopractices for life cycle stages''.

Published in '''February 2026''' by subcommittee '''ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 39''' "Sustainability, IT and data centres", this first edition runs to 62 pages. It sets out requirements and recommendations for requirements gathering, design, implementation, operation, maintenance and end of life of a digital service, in order to minimise adverse environmental impacts at every stage.

Beyond the practices themselves, the document aims to establish a common language and a shared understanding of digital services ecodesign internationally.

== Origin ==
ISO/IEC TS 20125-1 is the international outcome of work started in France. It builds on '''AFNOR SPEC 2201''', published in April 2022 by the French standardisation body AFNOR under the title ''Écoconception des services numériques'' (Ecodesign of digital services), drafted collaboratively by around thirty organisations.

After roughly three years of work within ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 39, that French specification became an international technical specification under the reference ISO/IEC TS 20125-1:2026.

== Content ==
=== Life cycle structure ===
The document is organised along the six life cycle stages of a digital service:

# Requirements gathering, definition and prioritisation
# Design
# Implementation
# Use and operation
# Maintenance
# Decommissioning

Each stage carries its own ecopractices. The first edition contains '''73 requirements''' and '''177 recommendations'''.

=== Dimensions covered ===
The specification addresses the '''technical''', '''organisational''' and '''functional''' dimensions that drive the environmental impact of a digital service: strategy, content, specifications, user experience and interface, architecture, frontend, backend and hosting.

Its focus is the environmental dimension of digital impacts. Hardware ecodesign is not its direct subject, but reducing hardware obsolescence induced by software and using computing resources sparingly are part of the practices it covers.

== Scope and status ==
A Technical Specification (TS) is a normative document published when the subject is still evolving or when full consensus on an International Standard has not yet been reached. It is a possible step towards a full ISO/IEC standard and is subject to periodic review.

The document targets public and private organisations alike: project teams, IT departments, designers, developers, hosting providers, buyers and digital service suppliers.

== Relation to other frameworks ==
* The [[RGESN]] (French general ecodesign framework for digital services) is the French regulatory reference; ISO/IEC TS 20125 is its voluntary international counterpart.
* The [[GR491]] provides complementary operational detail as responsible-design criteria.
* Impact assessment standards — ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, see [[Life cycle assessment]] — remain the methodological references for quantifying impacts, whereas ISO/IEC TS 20125 describes design practices.
* Generic ecodesign is covered by IEC 62430 and ISO 14006.

== Why it matters ==
Digital technology accounts for a significant share of global [[Carbon footprint|greenhouse gas emissions]]. Service design largely determines data volumes exchanged, infrastructure load and the pressure placed on user devices — and therefore how long those devices stay in use. By giving ecodesign a structured international framework, ISO/IEC TS 20125 lets organisations embed [[Digital sobriety|digital sobriety]] into project processes and contractual requirements.

== See also ==
* [[Ecodesign]] · [[RGESN]] · [[GR491]] · [[Digital sobriety]] · [[Life cycle assessment]] · [[Sustainable IT]] · [[End of life]] · [[Data centre]]

=== External references ===
* [https://www.iso.org/standard/86105.html ISO/IEC TS 20125-1:2026, ISO catalogue]
* [https://www.afnor.org/actualites/climat-et-decarbonation/guide-reference-ecoconcevoir-services-numeriques/ A reference guide for ecodesigning digital services, AFNOR]

[[Category:Frameworks and methods]]

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