Is the Digital Future Sustainable?

TY - UNPB

T1 - Is the Digital Future Sustainable?

AU - Seppälä, Timo

AU - Mattila, Juri

AU - Rajala, Risto

PY - 2019/6/12

Y1 - 2019/6/12

N2 - It is predicted that in 2030, the energy consumption of the ICT sector will be 21% of the world’s energy consumption, but will resources be enough to carry out all the digital technology development trends at the same time? Trends, such as the transition to the ecommerce, the transition of mobile services to the fifth-generation network, video streaming, online gaming and the rise of electric cars, all increase the need for both storage and computing capacity and energy as well. More broadly, the geographical location of digital resources and infrastructures has implications to country’s security of supply, for example in systems of systems development of smart traffic. The ecological effects of digitalization should also be explored through the lens of digital ecology and sustainability.

AB - It is predicted that in 2030, the energy consumption of the ICT sector will be 21% of the world’s energy consumption, but will resources be enough to carry out all the digital technology development trends at the same time? Trends, such as the transition to the ecommerce, the transition of mobile services to the fifth-generation network, video streaming, online gaming and the rise of electric cars, all increase the need for both storage and computing capacity and energy as well. More broadly, the geographical location of digital resources and infrastructures has implications to country’s security of supply, for example in systems of systems development of smart traffic. The ecological effects of digitalization should also be explored through the lens of digital ecology and sustainability.

KW - ICT

KW - Energy efficiency

KW - Computing capacityy

KW - Security of supply

KW - Emissions trading

M3 - Working paper

T3 - ETLA Brief

BT - Is the Digital Future Sustainable?

PB - ETLA - The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy

ER -