Digital Decarbonisation and the race to Net Zero

We’re delighted to be working with Professors Tom Jackson and Ian Hodgkinson at Loughborough Business School who are conducting pioneering research into Digital Decarbonisation.

Most people aren’t aware or forget that digital technology consumes electricity. Vast quantities of electricity to keep huge data centres running – storing digital data generated by humans in every corner of the world. Every second of every day, of every week.

The data industry is predicted to account for more carbon emissions than the automotive, aviation and energy sectors combined.

Research has revealed that we will miss our global 2050 Net Zero targets if we don’t decarbonise our digital infrastructure and our behaviours.

Tom and Ian are already influencing global organisations such as OECD.AI, World Economic Forum, National Physical Laboratory (NPL), and the Open Data Institute (ODI) and are credited with coining the terms Digital Decarbonisation and Dark Data, which highlights the fact that 65% of data generated is never used and up to 15% is out of date!

“Tom and Ian are trailblazers in the field of Digital Decarbonisation, revolutionizing the way we understand and address the impact of AI on CO2 emissions.”

By influencing global policymakers, promoting digital best practices and creating new tools the team hope to help organisations to reduce the carbon footprint associated with data management and make a big contribution to the UN Race to Zero and a more eco-friendly digital ecosystem.

You can read more here.

It’s a brilliant example of the Business School’s brand Progress With Purpose.