Digital Acceleration of Sustainability Transition: The Paradox of Push Impacts

• DOI: 10.3390/su10082816
• Publication Date: 2018-08-09T07:33:48Z
• Authors: Jack H. Townsend; Vlad C. Coroama
• Keywords: Sharing Economy; Circular Economy; Resource Efficiency; Consumption; Material efficiency

Sustainability requires ongoing reform of resource production and consumption to reduce environmental harms. The main way that Information Communication Technology (ICT) can address these impacts is through digital optimization. Spreng found optimization an industrial process either increases energy use or accelerates consumption. It was assumed reducing progresses sustainability, whilst accelerating meet market demand consumerist generally detrimental sustainability. In this paper, we argue there are two important cases in which economic processes actually has essential role enabling sustainability by ICT: (1) when the drives adoption environmentally beneficial product such as a solar panel, often referred “cleantech”, (2) being increased specific Circular Economy, recycling, maintenance/refurbishment, sharing/reuse e.g., car-sharing, ride-sharing tool-sharing Sharing Economy. opportunities for ICT4S thus threefold: not just saving resources with efficiency, but also pushing cleantech, circulation resources.