Sustainability impacts of the digital transformation

6 August 2012

The SYMPACT project considers a number of questions on the environmental impact of the digital transformation. To tackle these questions the project will develop a new modelling framework which combine systems modelling, environmental life cycle analysis, scenario development and qualitative representation of uncertainty.

Mike Yearworth

The SYMPACT project by Mike Yearworth of the Systems Centre, considers a number of questions on the environmental impact of the digital transformation:

What is the environmental impact of both print and online media?
How will changes in technology alter this impact over time?
How is digital technology changing customer behaviour now, and how might this happen in the future?
What new business models do technological advances open up, and how will they affect the environmental impact?
How will environmental factors, such as carbon pricing, act as business and behavioural drivers within this system?
Beyond energy and climate, what other sustainability implications might this transformation have?

To tackle these questions the project will develop a new modelling framework which combine systems modelling, environmental life cycle analysis, scenario development and qualitative representation of uncertainty.

View the poster. (PDF, 609kB)