Sustainable IT
From Wiki for Sustainable IT
Sustainable IT, also called responsible digital, is a continuous improvement approach aimed at reducing the environmental, social and economic footprint of information and communication technologies.
Scope
Sustainable IT is broader than its environmental component alone. It covers four complementary areas:
- Green IT
- reducing the footprint of the information system itself
- IT for Green
- using digital technology to address environmental problems
- Human for IT
- making digital technology usable by everyone, including people with disabilities
- IT for Human
- using digital technology to reduce the social impact of other activities
Reducing sustainable IT to Green IT alone is the most common confusion.
Why it matters
Digital technology is not immaterial. Manufacturing equipment accounts for most of its impact, well ahead of electricity consumed in use. The main lever is therefore not optimising consumption but extending the useful life of devices.
