Sustainable Development: The Role of Information and Communication Technology

Information and Communication Technology has a significant footprint in global resource consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and waste, particularly considering the high growth rates. Yet, intelligent use of ICT can support other domains in mitigation (e.g. in reducing GHG emissions and resource consumption), monitoring of resources and environmental impacts and adaptation to unavoidable changes, for instance due to climate change. This paper gives an overview on activities to reduce the direct ICT footprint and on positive indirect effects in other domains. Finally, it briefly outlines the potential of ICT to support education, public awareness and policy-making.