On July 3rd at VU, five organizations from the public and private sectors presented some of their pressing challenges regarding digital sustainability. This was followed by lively debates with the panel of experts attending the event. Valuable insights on research strategies have emerged, which we share in the summary below. The slides from the pitches are available here.

We welcome researchers, students, and organizations to join in addressing these challenges and propose their own projects. Interested? Contact us at disc@vu.nl.

Trustworthy Scrutiny of Cloud Infrastructures’ Footprint

David Kohnstamm from LeadCloud discussed the low quality and low transparency of the information available on the environmental impacts of cloud infrastructures. Exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims on sustainability performance can mislead customers about the technology they consume (i.e., greenwashing). To address this issue, we need to document the current practices of the industry with meta-reviews and white papers. We need to clarify what the industry standards are now and highlight the most pressing improvements for the future.

LeafCloud is a carbon-negative cloud provider that strategically locates its servers where heat is needed the most.

The Drama of (Not) Deleting Data

Leonieke Mevius from the Municipality of Amsterdam presented the dilemma surrounding data deletion. In doubt of its future utility, data is often archived. Yet, storing data has non-negligible environmental costs. Furthermore, the archived data may not be sufficiently documented to be reusable in the future. To address this issue, we need to study and define rationales and assessment processes for (not) deleting data. We need to account for the legal requirements and environmental costs, but also for the human factors surrounding the pressure and psychology of failing to retain essential data. Eventually, AI-assisted classification systems may be developed to better manage data reuse and deletion.

The Municipality of Amsterdam is at the forefront of digital infrastructure for public service and is subject to Dutch laws on archiving and open government.

Balancing the Digital & Physical Content of Libraries

Marco Martens from the National Library of the Netherlands discussed the need to optimize the mix of digital and physical content in a library’s offer. Each form of storage has its own environmental costs (including the travel costs of physical visits to the library), which needs to be assessed more precisely to balance the mix of digital and physical content with respect to content consumption in a library, considering the special needs of specific audiences for inclusivity. To address this, we need to account for the digital and physical infrastructures, and for potential partnerships with other content providers to avoid redundant storage of content (e.g., borrowing rather than duplicating).

The National Library of the Netherlands has an extensive collection of Dutch publications (e.g., literature, newspapers, magazines) including more than 2PB of data in the cloud.

Sustainable Manufacturing with a 360º Approach

Ilja Heitlager from Schuberg Philis discussed the complexity of sustainability issues in manufacturing, from supply chain optimization to the sourcing of materials and the social sustainability of human resources. IT systems can be designed to predict, optimize, and monitor sustainable manufacturing processes. To design such systems, multidisciplinary collaborations are needed to ensure a comprehensive overview of sustainability aspects.

Schuberg Philis is committed to providing mission-critical IT systems that accelerate sustainable value production.

The Right Metrics for the Right Aims

Jannie Minnema from VodafoneZiggo presented the challenges of obtaining reliable and valuable metrics for sustainability in the complex landscape of the phone and internet industry. It is crucial to avoid using misleading metrics that may create harmful incentives. To address this, we need to critically assess the metrics and KPIs that are currently applied, to build a new vision of the more relevant and actionable information we should use.

VodafoneZiggo handles large phone and internet networks, connecting more than 7 million households and more than 5 million devices.