Role of ICT in building Sustainable Development

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have a great potential to support sustainable development. Not only do they constitute an industry in their own right, but they act as a technological base for other sectors of the economy. ICTs are a key contributor to productivity growth especially in the service industry (particularly in retailing and financial services).

The link between the ICT and sustainable development is being addressed by extensive debates and research which recognize the existence of both significant opportunities and threats. ICT can either be viewed as a tool contributing to ‘a shift towards a sustainable development” or as “catalyst that can speed up current negative trends’ [2]. On the one hand, there is optimism that ‘new economy’ will bring a reduction in movement of goods. While on the other hand, there is fear that current unsustainable trends, such as digital divide, accelerated consumption and toxic waste, will be worsened.

The business community has the opportunity to contribute to sustainability, by making its supply-chains more energy and resource efficient through positively leveraging the best use of ICT. Civil society and people will be vital players in changing work practices in more sustainable ways through the necessary enabling technologies and regulatory frameworks. Governments can grasp the opportunity to modernize public service delivery while improving their processes and resource management.

If applied within this broad framework, the ICT may reduce environmental impact (mainly by improving transport and energy efficiency) while contributing to social inclusion. ICT facilitates the participation of citizens at all levels of social and economic activities. By providing the necessary tools for the elderly and unemployed to be included actively in the economy, ICT can foster social and territorial inclusion, help eradicate poverty, empower women, and help building sustainable communities, provided the current “digital” divides are addressed [1].

Existing business initiatives in the field of ICT and sustainability already result in major economic gains for companies implementing energy efficiency strategies. The market incentive in improving efficiency while minimizing waste of resources and is the major stimulus for businesses to initiate actions. With increasing energy prices, the reduction of energy and transport intensity is becoming necessary to maintain and improve profitability in the near future.

Appropriate use of ICT can therefore contribute in addressing the challenge of climate change. These technologies have the potential to contribute to higher energy efficiency by making offices, homes and transportation systems more ‘intelligent’. Moreover, ICT-based services and working methods, such as tele/videoconferences, can result in lowering carbon emissions from business activities.

References:

1. Eurostat (2005) The digital divide in Europe.
2. WWF (2002) Sustainability at the Speed of Light – Opportunities and Challenges for Tomorrow’s Society.

Recommendations

MDG, Global Issues

Set for the year 2015, the MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s [10]. This was done in response to the world's main development challenges and to the calls of civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and is aimed at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases. Poor countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their people through health care and education. In turn rich countries have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade.

“The MDGs are still achievable if we act now. This will require inclusive sound governance, increased public investment, economic growth, enhanced productive capacity, and the creation of decent work.” [13]

Recommendations for Millennium Development Goals

Firstly, developing countries should adopt development strategies bold enough to meet and align with the MDG targets for 2015. The MDG strategies should secure more public investments, domestic resource mobilization, and development assistance [5]. They should also provide a framework for strengthening governance, promoting human rights, and engaging civil society. Also the implementation of these strategies should be transparent, inclusive and work closely with various organizations. Secondly, high-income countries should increase official development assistance (ODA), particularly in low-income countries. Also debt relief should be more extensive and generous. High-income countries should also open their markets to developing country exports through the Doha trade round to help less developed countries raise export competitiveness through investments in critical trade-related infrastructure, including electricity, roads, and ports.

Donors should mobilize support for global scientific research and development to address special needs of the poor in areas of health, agriculture, natural resource and environmental management, energy, and climate.

The United Nations Secretary-General and the UN Development Group should strengthen the coordination of UN agencies, funds, and programs to support the MDGs, at headquarters and country level. The UN Country Teams should be strengthened and should work closely with the international financial institutions to support the Goals [4].

Sustainable Development

This is a socio-ecological process characterized by the fulfillment of human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely. The concept came into general usage following publication of the 1987 report of the Brundtland Commission, formally, the World Commission on Environment and Development [6]. Set up by the United Nations General Assembly, the Brundtland Commission coined what was to become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that “meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [11]. Today, the field of sustainable development can be conceptually broken into three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, social-political sustainability.

Recommendations for Sustainable Development

An immediate need is a clear commitment to sustainability that is ensuring that development provides local economic benefit, and that the costs do not preclude long term viability or future options [2]. It is necessary to develop sustainable infrastructure development policies and strategies, taking into account the eco-efficiency concept that includes all aspects of infrastructures and also seeks to merge and combine such systems, such as transportation and energy. A holistic approach is needed in infrastructure development, considering both consumption and production aspects, physical and non-physical aspects, different stages of infrastructure development, different levels of organizations, and role of different stakeholders.
Conventional Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not enough to reflect the long-term environmental impact of infrastructure development [2]. Thus, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which takes into account the long-term ecological impact of infrastructure, can be an important policy tool in promoting sustainable infrastructure.

New paradigm for rainwater management is required in order to maintain environmental sustainability and mitigate flooding and drought [3]. Agriculture and forestry are also important components of many countries’ culture and economy. As development is taking place, these activities need to be defined. Rainwater could be the main source of water supply with less energy input.

Sustainable development is not a detailed plan of action, a formula that we can all blindly follow. There is no one solution. Solutions will differ between places and times and depend on the mix of values and resources. Approaching decision-making from a sustainable development perspective requires undertaking a careful assessment of the strengths of your household, community, company or organization to determine priority actions.

Globalization, Collaborative and Social Networking Technologies

“The new art and science of wikinomics is based on four powerful new ideas: openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally” [8].

Openness/transparency is the openness of an organization with regard to sharing information about how it operates. Transparency is enhanced by using a process of two-way, responsive dialogue. While peering refers to what happens when masses of people and firms collaborate openly to drive innovation and growth in their industries. Sharing opens the corporate door to external stakeholders and embraces their interactions. Acting globally involves embracing globalization and ignoring "physical and geographical boundaries" at both the corporate and individual level. And mass collaboration in a business environment, can be seen as an extension of the outsourcing trend.

Recommendations for Globalization, Collaborative and Social Networking Technologies

Corporations should exercise openness before they are forced in a position to do so. Practicing openness may create opportunities to better understand and respond to the needs and concerns of stakeholders, as well as increase stakeholders’ understanding of the business. While considering or practicing this caution should be taken.

Peering should be employed in many strategic meeting/planning sessions. It is a great way to remove potential barriers and let ideas form in a more natural way through collaboration.

Although traditional wisdom holds that you protect your own, hold your cards close to the vest, and maintain company secrets. In sharing, all that goes out the door. Company should share information; it holds true that if everyone knows it is no longer a secret. You don’t have to trade strategic information however simple techniques can be traded and will in turn help the bottom dollar, profitability.

By utilizing the Internet and all it has to offer is the great tool to get in the global marketplace. Having a website does not mean your global, you have to participate. Global competition includes using the innovative thinking from talent in all corners of the world to create what the market demands.

Role of ICT in Building Sustainable Development

ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning [1].

While sustainable development refers to the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [12].
In bringing together these definitions and approaches for looking at the sustainability of ICTs it is important, as with all approaches to sustainability, to clarify what is being sustained, for how long, for whose benefit and at whose cost, over what area, and measured by what criteria [7].

ICTs have a great potential to support sustainable development. Not only do they constitute an industry in their own right, but they act as a technological base for other sectors of the economy. By increasingly pervading all layers of the economic and social fabric, ICT present a unique opportunity to deliver competitiveness while enhancing sustainability. ICTs are a key contributor to productivity growth especially in the service industry (and particularly in retailing and financial services).

Recommendations for ICT and Sustainable Development

Business communities have the opportunity to contribute to sustainability, by making its supply-chains more energy and resource efficient through positively leveraging the best use of ICT. Civil society and people will be vital players in changing work practices in more sustainable ways through the necessary enabling technologies and regulatory frameworks. Also Governments can grasp the opportunity to modernize public service delivery while improving their processes and resource management.

You’re Role

Our role is to take action, get involve. Offer your time and service to those in need. There are many documents produced by the UN on how to get involve [9]. We need to:

1. Produce differently by applying concepts of eco-efficiency and sustainable livelihoods
2. Consume differently, conserve on fuel, electricity and paper
3. Organize ourselves differently - increase public participation while reducing corruption and perverse subsidies

When taken together, these actions can help orient us on a path towards more sustainable development.

References

1. Ashley C. and Carney D. (1999) Sustainable livelihoods: Lessons from early experience, DFID: London
2. Brosnan, Deborah. M. Sustainable Ecosystems Institute “The Montserrat Volcano” http://www.sei.org/sustainable_development.html
3. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). “Sustainable Development” http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/sustainable/index.htm.
4. Millennium Development Goals. http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/
5. Millennium Development Goals. Strategies for the MDGs. http://www.undp.org/mdg/strategy.shtml
6. National Strategies for Sustainable Development. "World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development". NSSD.net.
7. Roling N.G. and Wagemakers M.A.E. (eds) (1998) Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
8. Tapscott, D and Williams, A. D. Wikinomics. How mass Collaboration Changes Everything: Portfolio, 2006
9. United Nations, “Taking affective action to achieve the, United Nations Millennium Development Goals, A Guide to MDG Action”
10. UNDP- MDG-based national Development Strategies. http://mdg-guide.undp.org/?page=what_is_mdg
11. United Nations Division for Sustainable Development. Documents: Sustainable Development Issues
12. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987 p. 43.
13. United Nations Under-Secretary General and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "Overview: Outlook and recommendations," Global Environment Outlook 2000, London: Earthscan, 1999. Also: http://grid.cr.usgs.gov/geo2000/ov-e/0012.htm