Researchers at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) have contributed to a series of papers collated by the British Academy which explores the ways in which digital technologies, tools, and practices shape and are shaped by our society, and how policymakers can navigate the digital society in the coming decade.
The discussion papers form a range of expert perspectives across the SHAPE disciplines – Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy – all exploring, from different angles, the question: What are the possibilities of a good society?
The paper written by the four ECI researchers, titled ‘The Impacts of Digitalised Daily Life on Climate Change’, is one of 13 commissioned by the British Academy as part of its Digital Society policy programme.
The colleagues, ECI doctoral students Felippa Amanta, Poornima Kumar and Marcel Seger, along with Senior Researcher Emilie Vrain, are part of the ECI’s Energy research programme and their paper focuses on the environmental impact of digitalisation. It stems from their ongoing work in this area through the iDODDLE (Impacts of Digitalised Daily Life on Climate Change) project involving ‘living lab’ households of individuals and families.
Felippa Amanta said:
Digitalisation is reshaping production and consumption practices across society. There is uncertainty around its net energy demand and related greenhouse gas emissions, owing to its complex and varied indirect impacts.
Poornima Kumar added: “Our paper focuses on three indirect impacts of digitalisation: 1) efficiency; 2) rebound; and 3) substitution in the context of energy consumption associated with the use of digital innovations in daily life activities.”
Marcel Seger said: “Systemic conditions such as equitable access, trust, and control and agency interact with these domains of activity and determine the ultimate climate impacts of digitalisation in daily life. While digitalisation has the potential to be a game-changing tool in reducing energy consumption, in practice, this will require concerted efforts and policies to steer it in a desirable direction.”
Dr Vrain concluded:
We outline a research agenda that supports SHAPE research on the environmental implications of digital engagement, interdisciplinary research bridging SHAPE and STEM, further research on the indirect and systemic energy impacts of digitalisation, and the importance of factoring in digitalisation as a cross-cutting process within different activity domains.
We conclude with policy recommendations focused on enhancing the positive climate impacts of digitalisation in daily life.”
The other discussion papers include the possibilities of ‘good’ Generative AI in the cultural and creative industries, and a closer examination of what we mean by a ‘good digital society’.
Read the discussion papers collated by the British Academy and the introductory summary.