Lead Research Organisation: Lancaster University
Department Name: Computing & Communications
- Overview
- Organisations
- People
- Publications
- Outcomes
Abstract
Fundingdetails
Digital technologies have a transformative impact in the economy and wider society. New innovations in Information Communication Technology (ICT) such as the next generation '5G' internet, automation and robotics, and big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have the potential to make a profound societal impact and the pace of development is staggering. The same technologies can though have a negative impact on society, including significantly increasing the carbon emissions related to ICT and thus creating damaging impacts on our environment. Managing this duality between ICT's benefits and risks must be at the heart of future ICT design and innovation - ensuring ICT can continue to bring value to our society and the economy, while keeping ICT innovations from exceeding planetary boundaries. However, there is currently scarce consideration of systemic impacts within ICT innovation, and design processes today lack the information and tools required to embed environmental sustainability into ICT.
This project, PARIS-DE, will ensure that the carbon emissions associated with the ICT sector are aligned with the Paris agreement: limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To do this, the PARIS-DE project will develop a digital sustainability framework that systemically considers ICT's impacts and ensures Paris-compliant design through two key concepts: i) an evidence base around carbon emissions in the digital economy, and ii) a responsible innovation approach that targets environmental sustainability, yet maintains key aspects of ICT design that enable societal thriving. Using a range of disciplinary perspectives including computer science, human-centred design, philosophy and ethics and environmental economics, PARIS-DE will develop digital tools that support ICT development within planetary boundaries, and will create, demonstrate and evaluate the digital sustainability framework through three case studies: 1) big data and AI, 2) autonomous systems, and 3) video streaming. These case studies, taken as representative of the digital economy, will allow for an evaluation of different underlying technologies that threaten rising emissions. The case studies will also involve working closely with key stakeholders in ICT innovation (e.g. designers and developers in the ICT sector), ensuring the framework is comprehensive and effective. PARIS-DE will ultimately allow the ICT sector to innovate technology more sustainably and in-line with climate change mitigation targets.
Organisations
- Lancaster University (Lead Research Organisation)
- IBM Research - Thomas J. Watson Research Center (Project Partner)
- Defra Bristol (Project Partner)
- HORIZON Digital Economy Research (Project Partner)
- British Broadcasting Corporation (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- BT Group (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
People | ORCID iD |
| Gordon Blair (Principal Investigator) | |
| Bran Knowles (Co-Investigator) | |
| Marina Denise Anne Jirotka (Co-Investigator) | |
| Steven Sorrell (Co-Investigator) | |
| Federica Lucivero (Co-Investigator) | |
| Gabrielle Samuel (Co-Investigator) |  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8111-2730 |
| Kelly Widdicks (Researcher Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Title Publication Date Published
10 25 50
Freitag C (2021) The real climate and transformative impact of ICT: A critique of estimates, trends, and regulations. in Patterns (New York, N.Y.)
Housley W (2023) The SAGE Handbook of Digital Society
Knowles B (2022) Our house is on fire The climate emergency and computing's responsibility. in Communications of the ACM
Knowles B (2021) ACM TechBrief: Computing and Climate Change
Salvini P (2023) Human involvement in autonomous decision-making systems. Lessons learned from three case studies in aviation, social care and road vehicles in Frontiers in Political Science
Samuel G (2024) Carbon Accounting in the Digital Industry: The Need to Move towards Decision Making in Uncertainty in Sustainability
Samuel G (2022) The Environmental Sustainability of Digital Technologies: Stakeholder Practices and Perspectives in Sustainability
Ten Holter C (2022) Built in, not bolted on: responsible innovation in UK Centres for Doctoral Training - the new normal? in The Learning Organization
Widdicks K (2023) Systems thinking and efficiency under emissions constraints: Addressing rebound effects in digital innovation and policy. in Patterns (New York, N.Y.)
Zhao J (2023) Navigating the labyrinth of RI through a practical application - A case study in a cross-disciplinary research project in Journal of Responsible Technology
| Description | Contribution to ITU consultation on the environment and the Internet (ITU Council Working Group on International Internet-related Public Policy Issues: CWG-Internet) |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.itu.int/en/council/cwg-internet/Pages/consultation-oct2021.aspx |
| Description | Evidence provided for Parliamentary POST Note on Energy Consumption of ICT |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | http://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0677/ |
| Description | Input into UK Government, DCMS call for evidence around 'The Future of Compute Review' |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/futire-of-compute-review/ |
| Description | Invited participation in European Green Digital Coalition |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-green-digital-coalition |
| Description | Invited presentation to European Commission (Commissioner Breton's senior staff) |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Response to consultation (Chips Act) |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/public-policy/europetpc-chips-act-comments-09may22.pdf |
| Description | |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | A lightning talk on ???? was presented by Dr. Gabby Samuel to 90 Oxford school students. This was part of the Oxford Schools 'Our World' Symposium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | A talk on ??? was presented by Drs Kelly Widdicks and Marcia Smith as part of the WaterAid Green IT week. This led to further engagement with WaterAid. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Kelly Widdicks presented a talk on ???? as part of UKRI's Engineering Net Zero Festival held in Glasgow in June 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Climate Impacts of ICT (to BDUK) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A talk was presented by Dr. Kelly Widdicks on the Climate Impacts of ICT to Building Digital UK (BDUK). BDUK are responsible for the roll out of gigabit-capable broadband and the expansion of 4G mobile coverage in hard-to-reach areas of the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Climate Impacts of ICT (to DCMS) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A talk was presented by Dr. Kelly Widdicks to the the UK Government Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the Climate Impacts of ICT. This led to further interactions with DCMS and to funding to investigate ICT carbon emissions in more depth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Computer Science and the Environment (CS Distinguished Lecture Series, St Andrews) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Blair gave a series of 3 lectures on Computer Science and the Environment as part of the Computer Science Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of St Andrews, 14th March, 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/cs-distinguished-lecture-series-computer-science-and-the-envi... |
| Description | Estimating CO2 Emissions of AI-IoT-basedSystems (in Sustainable AI-IoT Series) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk was presented by Prof. Blair onEstimating CO2 Emissions of AI-IoT-basedSystems as part of a series of talks organised bu Eco Surge on in Sustainable AI-IoT Series. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.ecosurge.org/copy-of-projects-1 |
| Description | Evidence Meeting: All Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence: Climate change and Sustainable AI |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The APPG AI discussed issues surround Artificial Intelligence (AI), Climate Change and Sustainability. Use cases for AI have increased massively in recent years, and the potential good of AI has been applied to tackling some major issues facing the world today - notably, questions encompassing Climate Change and Sustainability. I made particular intervention contributions related to how rebound effects of ICT could be addressed in policy making in the UK governance context. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.biginnovationcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/APPG-AI-Parliamentary-Brief_Climate-C... |
| Description | IoT and Sustainability: A Tale of Two Cities (PETRAS Event) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Gordon Blair gave a talk on IoT and Sustainability: A Tale of Two Cities - a PETRAS Community Development Event (PETRAS is a National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Newsletter article of Marina Jirotka in the University Bulletin and article on University website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Marina Jirotka featured in a bio article / interview. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/oxford-people/Marina-Jirotka |
| Description | Panorama episode: Is the Cloud Damaging the Planet |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Members of Paris-DE were subject specialists feeding into the research for this programme, working closely with the producer, and Prof. Blair (PI for Paris-DE appeared in the programme). The programme was broadcast on 6th Feb 2023 was also picked up by BBC News at various points during the day and Prof. Blair also conducted an interview on the topic on BBC Radio 5. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hzb3 |
| Description | Podcast: Digital Detox - rethinking data centre design |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A podcast was made by Hoare Lea as part of their Exploration series, involving Dr. Kelly Widdicks and Prof. Adrian Friday on the topic of Digital Detox - rethinking data centre design and this is available on their website for their customers and visitors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://hoarelea.com/2022/02/01/podcast-digital-detox-rethinking-data-centre-design/ |
| Description | Press release based on Patterns (2021) paper: The real climate and transformative impact of ICT |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | A press release was made by Lancaster University and this was taken up by many media outlets including: The Independent Phys.org The Times Online The Telegraph Innovators Magazine IET Engineering and Technology Science:Business Wired |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/emissions-from-computing-and-ict-could-be-worse-than-previously-tho... |
| Description | Project Poster Presentation - Amazon Web Services (AWS) Conference 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A poster presentation of the PARIS-DE project at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) conference organised at the University of Oxford. The activity included showcasing the project, explaining key messages and objectives to a diverse audience, engaging in conversations about the carbon footprint of ICT, and openly exploring narratives and views from the industry on this matter. As a result, some people were on board, and we exchanged contacts to explore future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | TalkTalk's Making Sense of Sutainability for SMEs panel. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Kelly Widdicks took part in a panel organised by TalkTalk on Making Sense of Sustainability for SMEs, June 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | UNFCCC COP27 Side Events - Research Dialogues: What can Research do for Policy and Practice? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The aims of the side event on the climate research, policy, and practice interface was to share experiences between different organisations about their practices, especially how they build and nurture trust and good science-policy practice and the type of evidence/interface policymakers should think about when informing their decisions about climate actions. When discussing decarbonisation strategies, I was able to reflect upon the fact that current IPCC models do not include environmental impacts of ICT and more research should be supported in this area. Similarly, in decarbonisation models, ICT is not often considered as a key industry that needs to be addressed, both in terms of reducing the emissions of ICT as well as using ICT to advance decarbonisation strategies and policies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Workshop on rebounds in ICT carbon emissions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A workshop was held on 1st April 2022 on Rebound Effects and Digital Technology. This workshop brought together 19 leading experts on rebounds related to technology. A consensus was developed around the importance of systems thinking in understanding carbon emissions and also on the need for constraints to minimise rebounds. This led to a shared publication on the findings: Systems thinking and efficiency under emissions constraints: Addressing rebound effects in digital innovation and policy, published in Patterns in early 2023 (see separate Research Fish entry). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.cell.com/patterns/pdf/S2666-3899(23)00002-8.pdf |
