Green ICT

Motivation

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a dual role in Europe's pursuit of sustainability. On the one hand, it acts as a catalyst for societal modernization, optimizing processes in sectors like transport, healthcare, and building management, thus potentially reducing carbon footprints. On the other hand, the sector itself is a significant energy consumer, with, for example, data centers alone accounting for 2-3% of global energy usage. In line with the European Green Deal of 2019, which sets an ambitious target for Europe to become carbon neutral by 2050, a balanced approach is required. This involves developing an efficient, optimized ICT infrastructure with minimal environmental impact, while simultaneously leveraging these technologies to further sustainability in all societal sectors. This delicate equilibrium between ICT growth and environmental preservation is at the core of Europe's sustainable future.

Representing close to 200 members across Europe, Informatics Europe is gathering efforts for sustainability in informatics and through informatics. The Green ICT Working Group had its first meeting at ECSS 2023 in Edinburgh with the goal of setting the action agenda to bring together all levels of researchers, public policymakers, and industry representatives across and beyond Europe to discuss sustainability with the main theme “Green ICT and ICT for Green”. Interested in contributing to this working group? Please register here or contact us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Goal: Developing and understanding efficient, optimized ICT infrastructure with minimal environmental impact, while simultaneously leveraging these technologies to further sustainability in all societal sectors.

Vision: Delicate equilibrium between ICT growth and environmental preservation is at the core of Europe's sustainable future.

Double Perspective: Green ICT and ICT for Green.

Pillars: Energy accountability, Human-centered, Interdisciplinarity, Measuring, Policies, Sustainable design, Tooling

• submission of a COST Action proposal;
• set up of a LEAP study at the European level;
• working on a white paper on Green ICT metrics and best practices .

Next planned WG meeting: 15 January 2025, in Amsterdam.

• Working Group
• Outcomes

• Current members:

  • Marco Aiello, University of Stuttgart, Germany (Chair)
  • Vasilios Andrikopoulos, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
  • Gabriele Gianini, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
  • Mikkel Baun Kjaergaard, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
  • Nicolas Bique, SVIA SSIE SSII Schweiz - Verein für Informatik in der Ausbildung, Switzerland
  • Rafael Capilla, Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain
  • Lidia Fuentes, Universidad de Málaga, Spain
  • Kawsar Haghshenas, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
  • Brian Keegan, TU Dublin, Ireland
  • Monica Landoni, Universita della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland
  • Ciarán O'Leary, TU Dublin, Ireland 
  • Andrea Emilio Rizzoli, IDSIA USI-SUPSI, Switzerland
  • Lucía Serrano-Luján, Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain
  • Alicia Takaoka, NTNU, Norway
  • Mahyar Tourchi Moghaddam, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
  • Monica Vitali, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
  • Sebastian Werner, TU Berlin, Germany

  Past Chairs:

  • Marina Jirotka, University of Oxford, UK (Sustainability Working Group, 2022)
• • October 2024 - Green ICT and ICT for Green Workshop held in Malta on 29 October 2024, as part of the ECSS 2024. Workshop description and slides can be found here. 
  • October 2023 - Green ICT and ICT for Green Workshop held in Edinburgh on 25 October 2023, as part of the ECSS 2023. Workshop description and slides can be found here.