Building Sustainable Information Systems

​Information Systems (IS) as a discipline draws on diverse areas including, technology, organisational theory, management and social science. The field is recognized as very broad and encompassing many themes and areas. However, the development of artefacts, or information systems development (ISD), in the broadest sense, is a central concern of the discipline. Significantly, ISD impacts on the organisational and societal contexts through the use of the artefacts constructed by the development. Today, that impact also needs to be evaluated in terms of its effects on the environment. Sustainable, or "green," IT is a catch-all term used to describe the development, manufacture, management, use and disposal of ICT in a way that minimizes damage to the environment. As a result, the term has many different meanings, depending on the role assumed in the life span of the ICT artefact. The theme of the proposed work is to critically examine the whole range of issues around ISD from the perspective of sustainability. Sustainable IT is an emerging theme in academic research and industry practice in response to an individual concern for the environment and the embryonic regulatory environments being enacted globally to address the environmental impact of ICT. In this work we intend to bring together in one volume the diverse research around the development of sustainable IS.

Information Systems for Sustainable Development provides a survey on approaches to information systems supporting sustainable development in the private or public sector. It also documents and encourages the first steps of environmental information processing towards this more comprehensive goal.

The issues of sustainability and corporate social responsibility have become vital discussions in many industries within the public and private sectors. In the business realm, incorporating practices that serve the overall community and ecological wellbeing can also allow businesses to flourish economically and socially. Green Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source for the latest research findings on the challenges and benefits of implementing sustainability into the core functions of contemporary enterprises, focusing on how green approaches improve operations. Highlighting a range of topics such as corporate sustainability, green enterprises, and circular economy, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for business executives, business and marketing professionals, business managers, academicians, and researchers actively involved in the business industry.

Information technology is a powerful tool for meeting environmental objectives and promoting sustainable development. This collection of papers by leaders in industry, government, and academia explores how information technology can improve environmental performance by individual firms, collaborations among firms, and collaborations among firms, government agencies, and academia. Information systems can also be used by nonprofit organizations and the government to inform the public about broad environmental issues and environmental conditions in their neighborhoods. Several papers address the challenges to information management posed by the explosive increase in information and knowledge about environmental issues and potential solutions, including determining what information is environmentally relevant and how it can be used in decision making. In addition, case studies are described and show how industry is using information systems to ensure sustainable development and meet environmental standards. The book also includes examples from the public sector showing how governments use information knowledge systems to disseminate “best practices” beyond big firms to small businesses, and from the world of the Internet showing how knowledge is shared among environmental advocates and the general public.

We are living in the era of "Big Data" and the computing power required to deal with "Big Data" both in terms of its energy consumption and technical complexity is one of the key areas of research and development. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that centralized computing infrastructures (data centres) currently use 7 giga watts of electricity during peak loads. This translates into about 61 billion kilowatt hours of electricity used. By the EPA’s estimates, power-hungry data centres consume the annual output of 15 average-sized power plants. One of the top constraints to increasing computing power, besides the ability to cool, is simply delivering enough power to a given physical space. Green Information Technology: A Sustainable Approach offers in a single volume a broad collection of practical techniques and methodologies for designing, building and implementing a green technology strategy in any large enterprise environment, which up until now has been scattered in difficult-to-find scholarly resources. Included here is the latest information on emerging technologies and their environmental impact, how to effectively measure sustainability, discussions on sustainable hardware and software design, as well as how to use big data and cloud computing to drive efficiencies and establish a framework for sustainability in the information technology infrastructure. Written by recognized experts in both academia and industry, Green Information Technology: A Sustainable Approach is a must-have guide for researchers, computer architects, computer engineers and IT professionals with an interest in greater efficiency with less environmental impact. Introduces the concept of using green procurement and supply chain programs in the IT infrastructure. Discusses how to use big data to drive efficiencies and establish a framework for sustainability in the information technology infrastructure. Explains how cloud computing can be used to consolidate corporate IT environments using large-scale shared infrastructure reducing the overall environmental impact and unlocking new efficiencies. Provides specific use cases for Green IT such as data center energy efficiency and cloud computing sustainability and risk.

Sustainable Construction Technologies: Life-Cycle Assessment provides practitioners with a tool to help them select technologies that are financially advantageous even though they have a higher initial cost. Chapters provide an overview of LCA and how it can be used in conjunction with other indicators to manage construction. Topics covered include indoor environment quality, energy efficiency, transport, water reuse, materials, land use and ecology, and more. The book presents a valuable tool for construction professionals and researchers that want to apply sustainable construction techniques to their projects. Practitioners will find the international case studies and discussions of worldwide regulation and standards particularly useful. Provides a framework for analyzing sustainable construction technologies and economic viability Introduces key credit criteria for different sustainable construction technologies Covers the most relevant construction areas Includes technologies that can be employed during the process of construction, or to the product of the construction process, i.e. buildings Analyzes international rating systems and provides supporting case studies

ICT Innovations for Sustainability is an investigation of how information and communication technology can contribute to sustainable development. It presents clear definitions of sustainability, suggesting conceptual frameworks for the positive and negative effects of ICT on sustainable development. It reviews methods of assessing the direct and indirect impact of ICT systems on energy and materials demand, and examines the results of such assessments. In addition, it investigates ICT-based approaches to supporting sustainable patterns of production and consumption, analyzing them at various levels of abstraction – from end-user devices, Internet infrastructure, user behavior, and social practices to macro-economic indicators. Combining approaches from Computer Science, Information Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, Economics, and Environmental Sciences, the book presents a new, holistic perspective on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S). It is an indispensable resource for anyone working in the area of ICT for Energy Efficiency, Life Cycle Assessment of ICT, Green IT, Green Information Systems, Environmental Informatics, Energy Informatics, Sustainable HCI, or Computational Sustainability.

During the last three decades, information and communication technologies have fundamentally changed the way we work, live and communicate. The ubiquity of internet services, which become increasingly interactive and complex, together with enhanced connectivity, facilitated by innovative mobile devices, induces an ever-rising demand for computing, storage and data transmission capacities. Today, information systems (IS) constitute the backbone of the globalized economy and are indispensable for modern business and production processes. At the same time, environmental sustainability has evolved as the most pressing societal challenge of the 21st century, in particular due to the looming threats of climate change. By virtue of their global influence and reach, business companies significantly contribute to the creation of environmental problems, but owing to their organizational knowledge, capabilities and resources, they also have the capacity and ability to play a key role in shaping the path towards a more sustainable development. The companies leading the way have noticed that corporate sustainability is not necessarily a burden that negatively impacts their bottom line. If strategically managed, environmental product and process innovations can decrease operational costs, enhance corporate reputation, and differentiate from competitors. With regard to environmental sustainability, IS play a contradictory role: on the one hand, the manufacturing, operation and disposal of information technology (IT) infrastructure are responsible for serious environmental impacts: from the mining of conflict minerals to carbon dioxide emissions that equal those of the airline industry to enormous amounts of toxic e-waste. On the other hand, IS are perceived as key enablers of a "green" economy: environmental management systems and the reengineering of business processes can substantially reduce the environmental impacts of business organizations, while technological innovations provide opportunities to decrease the ecological footprint of end-user products and services. Many organizations have started to implement first environmental measures to decrease IT energy consumption and to reduce operational costs, mostly in an unstructured and uncoordinated manner though. Although Green IS practices feature a considerable potential to increase corporate environmentalism while creating promising business opportunities, the adoption of enterprise-wide cross-functional initiatives aimed at implementing Green IS has been rather slow. Economic uncertainties regarding the long-term effects of Green IS adoption and the lack of appropriate management frameworks have been identified as main inhibitors of an encompassing implementation of Green IS initiatives throughout the enterprise. In this context, this thesis addresses relevant research gaps, contributes to theory development in the evolving Green IS research discipline, develops practice-oriented management frameworks, and emphasizes the importance of following a strategic approach to leverage the competitive potential of Green IS. This cumulative thesis comprises an introduction that includes a literature review and a pre-study, four theory-based conceptual research articles, and two empirical studies, one of them building on qualitative, exploratory case study research whereas the other relies on quantitative data which has been analyzed with structural equation modeling. This thesis targets four specific research goals to advance theory-building in Green IS research and to promote the adoption of Green IS in practice. First, this thesis clarifies and defines the central terms and key concepts Green IT, Green IS, Green IS strategy, and Green IS practices drawing on a transdisciplinary research approach. Second, the most important challenges and inhibitors of Green IS adoption are identified and characterized. In particular, the lack of management frameworks, which encourage a holistic implementation that follows a strategic rationale, the complexity of strategic Green IS alignment, the multi-dimensional performance impacts of cross-functional initiatives and, above all, the uncertainty relating to the business case of Green IS practices, are identified as the most pressing challenges. Third, current actions of business firms to address these challenges are examined. Building on exploratory case study research, distinctive Green IS strategies are identified in managerial practice. Most notably, the empirical insights from quantitative survey research suggest a positive relationship between Green IS adoption and firm competitiveness, thus decreasing the economic uncertainty which inhibits the implementation of far-reaching environmental initiatives. Fourth, practice-oriented management frameworks are developed. The fine-grained Green IS strategy concept advises the formulation of strategies addressing the corporate, competitive, and functional management level. The proposed typology of four Green IS strategies illustrates distinct strategic options, from which executives can choose under consideration of their competitive targets and the firm-specific context. To allow for consistency of Green IS strategies, the presented alignment framework facilitates coherence with economic and environmental corporate goals. Furthermore, the actors, roles and responsibilities relevant to the alignment process are described. In addition, a management framework for the holistic adoption of Green IS, which specifies decisive management areas and distinguishes between three degrees of environmental impacts, is presented along with a comprehensive catalogue of Green IS implementation measures. As a consequence, this research offers both empirical insights and conceptual models to advance the adoption of Green IS initiatives, thus meeting the challenges of climate change and turning corporate sustainability into a business opportunity. Informationssysteme (IS) zeigen in Bezug auf ökologische Nachhaltigkeit gegensätzliche Eigenschaften. Einerseits verursachen die Herstellung, der Betrieb sowie die Entsorgung von Informationstechnologie (IT) – Infrastrukturen schwerwiegende negative Umweltauswirkungen: Vom Abbau von Konfliktmineralien über Kohlendioxidemissionen bis hin zu beträchtlichen Mengen giftigen Elektroschrotts. Andererseits werden IS als Schlüsseltechnologien für eine nachhaltige Wirtschaft gesehen. Umweltmanagementsysteme und die Umgestaltung von Geschäftsprozessen können den ökologischen Fußabdruck von Organisationen bedeutend verringern. Zudem eröffnen technologische Innovationen neuartige Möglichkeiten, die Umweltauswirkungen von Produkten und Dienstleistungen über den gesamten Lebenszyklus hinweg zu senken. Zahlreiche Organisationen haben damit begonnen, einzelne Green-IT-Maßnahmen zu implementieren um den Energieverbrauch und operative Kosten zu senken. Allerdings verfolgen die meisten Unternehmen hierbei keinen strukturierten oder strategischen Ansatz. Obwohl Green-IS-Initiativen beachtliche Potentiale zur Verbesserung der ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit von Organisationen bieten und gleichzeitig vielversprechende wirtschaftliche Chancen eröffnen, schreitet die Umsetzung von bereichsübergreifenden Green-IS-Maßnahmen in Unternehmen nur langsam voran. Ökonomische Unsicherheiten in Bezug auf die Rentabilität derartiger Maßnahmen sowie der Mangel an adäquaten Management-Frameworks werden in diesem Zusammenhang als zentrale Hinderungsgründe für eine strategische und ganzheitliche Umsetzung von Green-IS-Initiativen identifiziert. Diese Dissertation adressiert diese Hinderungsgründe, schafft Schlüsselkonzepte für den neuen Green-IS-Forschungszweig, entwickelt praxisorientierte Management-Frameworks und hebt die Bedeutung eines strategischen Ansatzes bei der Implementierung von Green IS hervor. Diese Forschungsarbeit offeriert empirische Einblicke wie auch konzeptionelle Modelle um die Umsetzung ganzheitlicher Green-IS-Initiativen in Organisationen voranzutreiben. Unternehmen haben somit die Chance, den Herausforderungen des Klimawandels verantwortungsvoll zu begegnen und gleichzeitig durch eine nachhaltige Unternehmensführung Wettbewerbsvorteile zu generieren.