E-competences for Sustainability Information Systems (original) (raw)
Related papers
E-Competences for Organisational Sustainability Information Systems
Strategic Information Technology Governance and Organizational Politics in Modern Business, 2015
The present patterns of economic development are deemed to be ‘unsustainable'. It is believed that the concept of sustainability, assisted by the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) through organisational sustainability information systems (OSIS), is a ‘cure' for current extraordinary environmental changes. However, the effective use of these systems requires an ICT competent (e-competent) workforce. E-competences, a combination of ICT-related knowledge, skills and attitudes are discussed in a number of studies but the European e-Competence Framework 3.0 is the only known framework that includes a single sustainability related e-competence. This study, however, reveals that, although the E-eCF3.0 sustainability e-competence is relevant, it is not sufficient for the effective use of OSIS as it transpired that the users should also possess other e-competences if these systems are to be exploited effectively.
The role of ICT in Sustainable and Responsible Development: E-skilling
2012
Skilling unquestionably plays the most practical role in creating innovations which will be financially, socially and economically sustainable in developing countries (DCs). And because we now live in an economic age dependent on knowledge and driven by the rapid and global advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), skilling in ICT is even more important. Key to participating in the knowledge-based economy is the ability to creatively and productively apply whatever ICT is within reach; to be eskilled. While ICT has become an important national strategy in all DCs, eskilling has not. The emphasis has primarily been on education to produce more ICT and science graduates. The irony in DCs is that more ICT graduates do not necessarily result in greater productive participation in the knowledge-based economy. The result is often unemployed ICT graduates or the increased braindrain of ICT and science graduates to developed countries. E-skilling is clearly a new strategic problem in DCs. The productivity paradox points to the unique need for DCs to re-think e-skilling so as to create financially, socially and economically sustainable local innovations driven by ICT. While many articles appear on how DCs may participate in the knowledge-based economy, very few offer practical suggestions that are locally relevant in DC contexts. Developing a DC e-skills agenda is clearly of interest. In this paper, we draw on early efforts being undertaken in South Africa to present progressive perspectives on eskilling in DCs based on four important provisions; a national budget for eskills development, an environment that fosters creativity and innovation, a collaborative platform that recognizes the collectivist nature of DCs, and a national support structure that in inclined to e-skills brain-circulation
Position Statement: Sustainable Information and Information Systems (SIIS)
IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2011
In this position statement we provide our understanding of the relation between the IS field and the notion of sustainability, and present our focus through a characterization of the "sustainability research" construct. By doing so, we hope to contribute to the discourse on a clarification of the construct itself in our research community.
Understanding Sustainability: An Exploration of the IS Literature
Government all over the world are increasingly realizing that implementing and sustaining their electronic service delivery is the way forward to achieve efficiency savings and to satisfy and engage demanding constituents. Once an electronic service delivery has been developed and the infrastructure is in place, they are almost infinitely scalable with minimal effort, and will reduce variable costs of electronic service provisioning and service use. As this trend continues, academics, IT professionals and decision makers need a deeper understanding of electronic service initiatives sustainability. Yet, analysis of IS academic literature reveals that electronic service initiatives sustainability, has received little in depth attention. This paper investigates the current state of electronic service initiatives sustainability research in IS lit¬erature. The authors present a detailed review of literature from main IS journals. The paper concludes with a tentative operational definitio...
Education Sciences, 2021
Digital technologies play a key role in the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda. However, their contribution to this goal depends on the digital culture of society. In this context, future teachers’ knowledge of e-sustainability is of paramount importance, as the responsible and sustainable behaviour of future generations largely depends on their skills in this area. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the existence of possible differences in digital competences in sustainability among trainee teachers. The study involved the participation of 348 students in the 2nd year of their Bachelor’s Degrees in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the University of Alicante (Alicante, Spain), who filled out a questionnaire on this topic. The SPSS v. 25 statistical programme, with which a comparative analysis was carried out, was used to process the data. On the basis of the results, the students of the Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education generally presented a higher level of e-su...
The Sustainability Imperative in Information Systems Research
This paper reports on a panel discussion at the Pre-ICIS 2015 Workshop on Green Information Systems on the current state and future perspectives of SIGGreen—the special interest group of the Association of Information Systems on green information systems—as well as of green information systems (IS) research in general. Over the past years, IS scholars have made important contributions advancing our knowledge about how information systems can contribute to solving problems associated with the degradation of the natural environment. However, it would appear that green IS is viewed by many as just another research topic in IS field, and not a very important one at that. This is questionable as sustainability is too important to be relegated as a footnote in the greater scheme of things. While an awareness of information systems' potential to increase the effectiveness of decision making, to enhance business productivity, and to contribute to the bottom line has been in our discipline's DNA for more than five decades, this is clearly not the case where the potential of information systems to contribute to society's goal of achieving a sustainable environment is concerned. We suggest that the IS community should embrace sustainability as a core research imperative and integrate sustainability-related dimensions to research in theory and method, rigor and relevance, and in choosing areas to research. We provide some actionable recommendations on how we as IS researchers and, indeed, how the IS discipline could help society and business interests make the transition to a sustainable world.
ICT for eco-sustainability: an assessment of the capability of the Australian ICT sector
2010
Executive summary As eco-sustainability issues become increasingly important to most, if not all, Australian organisations, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is expected to provide solutions that reduce material consumption (dematerialise), emissions (decarbonise), and energy use and waste production (demobilise) in both the ICT infrastructure and the business processes and practices of industries. The term 'Green ICT' represents this eco- sustainability enabling role of the ICT industry. The School of Business Information Technology and Logistics, RMIT University in collaboration with the Australian Information Industries Association (AIIA) surveyed all members and affiliates of the AIIA at the beginning of 2010 to understand Australian ICT firms' capability to enhance the eco-sustainability of other industries. Based on data collected from 133 ICT firms, this report constitutes the first comprehensive study that exclusively focuses on the Aust...
Sustainability – a new dimension in information systems evaluation
This paper received Outstanding Paper Award 2010, Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce sustainability as a new dimension of information systems (IS) evaluation. Customers, policymakers and business partners increasingly require the monitoring and reporting of the organisational impact on sustainability. However, traditional IS evaluation approaches are not able to capture the impact of information technology (IT)/IS on sustainability, especially in relation to social and environmental dimensions, so the authors want to stimulate discussion and research related to this area. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is conceptual. However, it is based on the results of an existing related research project focussed on supply chain evaluation. Findings – In order to stimulate discussion and research, the authors propose a framework that was originally developed to evaluate supply chain practices, in which IS often play a major role. The framework is built on three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – which are divided further into three sub-dimensions. It can be used as a starting point to develop a framework for sustainability-oriented IS evaluation. Research limitations/implications – The framework was originally developed for supply chain evaluation; however, it has generic features that can be adjusted or modified in order to be applied to a whole range of IT/IS initiatives Practical implications – Sustainability and its new dimensions create new challenges for information systems evaluation. Companies require frameworks and tools that can help them to measure and evaluate the impact of IS on sustainability. The researcher's role is to answer such needs and focus on this emerging research topic; this paper aims to stimulate such research. Originality/value – Sustainability is a new dimension in IT/IS evaluation. Current approaches do not include all sustainability dimensions (environmental aspects are excluded, evaluation of the social impact is limited). This paper is based on the paper submitted by the authors for the European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems EMCIS 2008, 25-26 May, Al Bostan Rotana, Dubai (ISVN 978-1-902316-58-1). For more details about EMCIS, please visit www.emcis.org Emerald: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1817308
2021
Is ICT a solution to sustainability problems or is it just a greater environmental problem? Throughout their lifecycle, ICT products and services are associated with significant levels of energy consumption and carbon emissions. On the contrary, despite being one of the main contributors to global carbon emissions, the ICT sector has a crucial role to play in boosting productivity and sustainability in many sectors—education, transport, agriculture, business, buildings, health, power, and manufacturing. To improve their efficiency and mitigate carbon emissions from ICT products, producers and end-users of such ICT products should therefore, employ measures that enhance their sustainability. Such measures identified in this article include the use of sustainable manufacturing processes, sustainable procurement/purchasing of ICT products, proper ICT product use, reuse, recycle, and proper disposal of ICT devices that are out of use. In data centres, such measures include virtualisatio...
WP e Government and sustainability April 2013
The term "Greenwashing" is used to refer to communications put out by companies on their progress in terms of sustainable development, without any real action being taken to back up the claims. Greenwashing is a contraction of the words green and brainwashing.