Building a low carbon economy with ICT
Microsoft is exploring how ICT can play an enabling role in four main areas:
- low carbon economies
- e-health
- education
- government
To turn their vision into reality, Microsoft has turned to the Imperial College Business School. With Johns Hopkins University co-ordinating the project across all four areas, Imperial will focus on ICT’s role in low-carbon economies.
“How Europe can move to a low-carbon economy is a critical question for citizens, companies and policymakers. We’re seeking to shed light not just on the potential impact that ICT can have on carbon but also the barriers to widespread adoption of ICT-enabled solutions and what firms and governments can do to overcome them.” says Dr Ian Mackenzie, Project Director.
Dr Peter Thomond, Project Manager, explains why Microsoft chose to work with Imperial: “Understanding what is required for successful innovation and structuring complex business problems are our main areas of expertise. It’s fantastic to work with industry to apply this knowledge to tackle climate change. I feel passionately about the benefits of applied research - our work is academically rigorous and industrially relevant.”
Identifying technologies and gaps
The project began by identifying a wide range technologies, products and services with the potential to enable reduced CO2 emissions. The team then estimated their potential impact on emissions, discovering in the process the need for a common approach to impact estimation. Through this project, the team has provided a mechanism for firms and experts to collaborate to develop useful estimates.
The second stage identifies barriers to wide spread adoption for specific high potential ICT-based applications or infrastructures before looking at how governments and firms can overcome them. Because the context for adoption varies by country, each technology is being assessed in four representative European counties. Barriers can be technological, economic, or behavioural - such as when adoption requires significant changes in consumer behaviour.
Alex Velkov, senior analyst on the project, adds “We aim to collaborate with a range of companies, agencies and other academics to generate practical insights into how the power of ICT can be unleashed to create a greener Europe. Our work should be of value to firms and policy makers alike.”
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