3rd WAID - Workshop on the Assessment of Indirect Effects of Digitalisation 

Target audience

The target audience included ICT and sustainability researchers, staff from the sustainability divisions of ICT companies, and policymakers focused on assessments, but other participants from the ICT sector or academia were also welcome.

Workshop aims

In addition to the methodology discussion, and given the urgency of the climate crisis, the workshop reserved slots for ideation regarding ways to maximize positive indirect impacts and suppress negative indirect impacts of ICT.

An important part of the discussions also revolved around the ontological uncertainties related to the assessment of indirect effects (and the very wide system boundaries partially causing them), and the conflict between the inherent uncertainty behind any calculations considering them, and the need for meaningful policy recommendations.

To cater for specific and meaningful proposals, the discussion was directed towards specific aspects such as e.g., immediate steps or enhancement and use of methodologies.

Workshop history

Previous discussions (e.g., in a first workshop at ICT4S 2015, an expert workshop on methodologies in 2021, and the second workshop on assessing the indirect effects of ICT at ICT4S 2023) addressed the importance of methodologies to develop the understanding of this complex and multifaceted topic. The outcome of those discussions helped identify some key methodological concerns and approaches to address those. 

Although no consensus has been formed regarding these impacts, there is a great interest from industry, organisations and policymakers to better understand and refer to the impacts. This has led to the emergence of several initiatives focused on framing and assessing these impacts. Some of the most prominent ones over the last year include the initiativesthat were presented and discussed during the second workshop on assessing the indirect effects of ICT at ICT4S 2023:

• The development of an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard intended to provide a robust methodological framework for assessing how the use of ICT solutions impacts greenhouse gas emissions of other sectors (whether positively or negatively).

• The methodology development project of the European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC) aimed to provide practical guidance to practitioners.

• The World Business Council for Sustainable Development's (WBCSD) framework for claiming avoided emissions.

Earlier attempts in the same direction include e.g., the Mission Innovation Framework.

As a follow-up to the 2023 workshop, WAID 2024 was aiming to bring awareness regarding recent developments, as well as to discuss and provide feedback on new assessment methods and frameworks in joint discussions.