Environmental sustainability enabling information systems (original) (raw)
Information Systems for Sustainable Organizations
2016
Nowadays sustainability is a broad and complex concept, which should be applied to any significant economic activity. Sustainable development involves environmental, economic and social aspects of long-term local and global processes implying an overall progress. Various contradicting requests arise which organizations should resolve in their projects and the proper information support becomes a key factor for this. In the context of the above, the goal of this paper is to examine how information systems within the organization contribute for sustainable development by providing appropriate information services. The monitoring and reporting of the organisational impact on sustainability is constantly required both by members and business partners. Thus, sustainability can be viewed as a new dimension of information system assessment.
Information Systems and Environmental Sustainability: Towards Global Changes
Abstract: Information systems and information technologies can play an important role in fostering changes leading to positive effects on the environment. We articulate a framework showing how the pursuit of environmental sustainability involves changes focused at different levels (eg, individual, organizational, and societal) and targeted towards different goals (eg, preventing pollution, product stewardship, cleaner technology).
Environmental Sustainability and Information Systems: The Similarity
Application of information technology and environmental planning share two very important characteristics: they are both concerned with planning, evaluating, and directing human activity in a wider context, and this activity is multiaspectual, mul- timodal, and multidisciplinary in scope. Further, the ideal in both cases is sustainable, long-term activity that brings overall good rather than harm. This paper discusses the multiaspectual nature of environmental sustainability and shows briefly how this understanding can be translated to the field of information systems.
Towards Sustainability Information Systems
Procedia Computer Science, 2015
Companies have to submit the postulate of sustainability. Therefore, they necessarily need comprehensive support by efficient information for remaining competitive taking sustainability into account. But such type of information systems are neither existing in practice nor are they treated scientifically in a comprehensive manner. Merely, concerning sustainability mission statements and reporting knowledge and results are available. But this will describe but not support or force sustainability. Sustainability is defined as the optimization of not only its three components but also its mutual integration. Strategic information management suggests strategic situation analysis, strategic target planning, strategy development and strategic information system planning as sequence of process steps for developing corporate relevant portfolio of information systems. Precondition for an individual design of such a portfolio is the availability of a common sustainability target system. Therefore, it will be necessary to prepare a hierarchical target system for each of the three components of sustainability and to examine the relationships between all identified target elements in how far they are harmonic or whether it will be possible to harmonize them. By the availability of such a harmonized integrative sustainability target system precondition are given to develop a portfolio of sustainability information systems.
From green to sustainability: Information Technology and an integrated sustainability framework
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2011
Sustainability has increasingly become important to business research and practice over the past decades as a result of rapid depletion of natural resources and concerns over wealth disparity and corporate social responsibility. Within this realm, the so-called triple bottom line seeks to evaluate business performance on its impacts on the environment and interested stakeholders besides profitability concerns. So far, Management Information Systems research on sustainability has been somewhat constrained in the realm of green IT, which focuses mostly on the reduction of energy consumption of corporate IT systems. Using the resource-based view as the theoretical foundation, the manuscript develops an integrated sustainability framework, illustrating the integration of human, supply chain, and IT resources to enable firms develop sustainability capabilities, which help firms deliver sustainable values to relevant stakeholders and gain sustained competitive advantage. Particularly, the role of automate, informate, transform, and infrastructure IT resources are examined in the development of sustainability capabilities. The work calls for a bold new role of IT in sustainability beyond energy consumption reduction. Implications for future research and management practice on IT and sustainability are also discussed.
Information Systems for a Green Organisation
Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications
Green ICT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. It is a new and rapidly evolving discipline with new terminologies, experimental results, regulatory restrictions and policy recommendations from scientists, ICT organizations and governments. Organizations need to monitor their practices and ICT usage carefully in order to formulate effective policies, control processes and manage content based on sound architectures. Green ICT contains a high level of complexity because of uncertainty of processes, data quality and reliability. It is also beset by dissent and debate that engulfs wider disciplines such as technology itself, sociology, ethics and law – all of which reflects into the amalgamation of wide ranging data. The success or failure of Green ICT policies is determined by the way an organisation manages the participation and social interactions of its employees and customers. A green organi...
Article The Potential of IT for Corporate Sustainability
2014
Several studies have proven that information technology (IT) can improve enterprises' performance. The effective and efficient management of enterprise resources has for long been the role of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Whereas traditional ERP systems focused on the optimization of financial resources and assets, the manifold challenges of a sustainable development necessitate broadening that view. Business applications need to provide informational transparency on all kinds of financial, environmental and social indicators, both within the enterprise and along the value chain; they need to support business processes and enable the measuring, tracking and reporting of sustainability performance, as well as the compliance with legal regulations, all implying substantial potential for improving corporate sustainability. However, the understanding of the potential of IT for corporate sustainability poses an interesting and valuable research topic. Drawing on previous works of Luftman, Melville et al. and Dao et al., we propose a conceptual model for the sustainability value of IT. We will summarize the main aspects of the recent discussion around the capabilities of IT and, then, illustrate with best-practice examples how these capabilities can be utilized for improved sustainability performance in a corporate setting. The paper concentrates on the second order effects of IT, like process improvements or substitution effects, which have also been described as "green through IT".
Sustainable Green Information Technology to Reduce the Environmental Impact
Alternation: Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Arts and Humanities in Southern Africa, 2019
Climate change are the challenges facing environment today. Environmental sustainability is a persistent problem. IT is also growing at a quicker rate in a variety of fields. Due to this, the world is facing an increasing environmental threat which are posing severe challenges to the human race. Tackling these environmental problems and establishing a sustainable environment requires the adoption of appropriate sustainable green IT strategies in all of the South African tertiary institutions. This study addressed this environmental problem by developing a framework for measuring sustainable green IT practices and policies at universities in South Africa. The research methodology entailed an empirical investigation using a qualitative approach using a case study. The data was collected in the form of semi-structured interview using a representative sample of IT, IS and Computer Science academics who use the system and are already acquainted with IT terminologies, across the conventional South Africa universities. A theoretical framework based on the findings was designed that presented five themes. These are (1) the sustainable environmental development; (2) IT resource optimisation for green solution; (3) e-waste disposal management; (3) energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction; and (5) cost benefit relevance. A total of 30 items relating to the five themes have also been identified. Finally, this paper presented practical guidelines and recommendations for universities in South Africa which are applicable to other educational areas such as schools, institutions and colleges.
The Potential of IT for Corporate Sustainability
Sustainability, 2014
Several studies have proven that information technology (IT) can improve enterprises' performance. The effective and efficient management of enterprise resources has for long been the role of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Whereas traditional ERP systems focused on the optimization of financial resources and assets, the manifold challenges of a sustainable development necessitate broadening that view. Business applications need to provide informational transparency on all kinds of financial, environmental and social indicators, both within the enterprise and along the value chain; they need to support business processes and enable the measuring, tracking and reporting of sustainability performance, as well as the compliance with legal regulations, all implying substantial potential for improving corporate sustainability. However, the understanding of the potential of IT for corporate sustainability poses an interesting and valuable research topic. Drawing on previous works of Luftman, Melville et al. and Dao et al., we propose a conceptual model for the sustainability value of IT. We will summarize the main aspects of the recent discussion around the capabilities of IT and, then, illustrate with best-practice examples how these capabilities can be utilized for improved sustainability performance in a corporate setting. The paper concentrates on the second order effects of IT, like process improvements or substitution effects, which have also been described as "green through IT".