9 May
09:00-12:00  Scientific Evaluation, Salongen, KTH Library, Osquars backe 31
12:00-13:00  Lunch at CESC, Osquars backe 14
13:00-15:00  Scientific Evaluation, Sal D42, Lindstedtsvägen 17, plan 4 (entrance from “Borggården”, just opposite CESC)
16:00-17:00  Pre-meeting for PhD-students at CESC

10 May
09:00-09:50  Evaluators meet CESC’s PhD students, Salongen, KTH Library, Osquars backe 31
10:00-12:00  Generalist Evaluation, Salongen, KTH Library, Osquars backe 31

18:30 –            Dinner at Martins Gröna, Regeringsgatan 91

Evaluation Committee
Scientific experts: Kim Davis, Roland Clift
Generalists: Douglas Reeve, Sybrand van der Zwaag

“Green Leap is a strong complement to CESC’s research interest in ICT and sustainability”, says Mattias Höjer, Director of CESC. The collaboration provides great potential for current and forthcoming CESC-research to be further developed in Green Leap projects.

Green Leap will be an independent research group within CESC, building bridges between design industry, academy and other actors with an interest in sustainability. The group is led by Sara Ilstedt, professor in product and service design, and Teo Enlund, senior project leader with a background in industrial design.

Besides startup and networking activities, Green Leap and CESC have launched the umbrella project “Prototyping the future”, also financed by the Swedish Energy Agency. The project will develop design prototypes in order to visualize future sustainable lifestyles, thus combining CESC’s competence in futures studies and Green Leap’s knowhow on visualisation and design.

See Green Leap’s website: http://www.greenleap.kth.se  (in Swedish, see also English version)

Contact

Mattias Höjer, hojer@kth.se, tel 08 790 6451
Sara Ilstedt, sarai@kth.se, tel 08 790 78 30

There is a growing interest for Linked Open Data. A new network gathers the Swedish scene and intends to raise awareness and understanding for Linked Data activities.

Linked Data is about using the web to connect related data that wasn’t previously linked. CESC has an explicit interest in Linked Open Data as it allows to develop innovative applications for sustainability purposes (see our project Data-driven Sustainability).

On 17 April 2012, CESC hosted the first meeting of a newly established national network for Linked Data enthusiasts. About 25 participants from private companies, public bodies and research institutions gathered for an all-day meeting in order to discuss ongoing activities and good examples.

Many participants expressed a feeling of being alone with their interest in Linked Data in Sweden, says Hannes Ebner from CESC, one of the organisers. Compared to other countries, the Swedish scene is still in its infancy.

The new network gathers Semantic Web pioneers and enthusiasts from all over Sweden who want to advance and promote research and development activities involving Linked Data.

Contact: Hannes Ebner, hebner@kth.se

Twitter hashtag: #ldsv

Video from the first network meeting 17 April 2012 at KTH (in Swedish):
http://bambuser.com/v/2561372 (förmiddag)
http://bambuser.com/v/2561840 (eftermiddag)

Read How a Guardian partnership is developing a new app to monitor readers’ digital footprint  (Christ Preist, The Guardian, 19 April 2012).

CALL FOR PAPERS

1st International Conference on
“ICT for Sustainability”
(ICT4S 2013)

ETH Zurich, Switzerland
14-16 February 2013

http://www.ict4s.org

Background and Objectives

“ICT for sustainability” is about utilizing the transformational power of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for making our world more
sustainable: saving energy and material resources by creating more value from
less physical input, increasing quality of life for ever more people without
compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs. While the
potential of ICTs’ contribution to sustainability has been increasingly
recognized during the last decades, implementing this potential has proven to
be a challenge.

The ICT4S conference aims to bring together leading researchers from the
technical, natural and social science disciplines:

- to take stock of the role of ICT in sustainability and to improve the methods
of measuring the positive and negative effects of ICT;

- to create an interdisciplinary synopsis, to inspire new approaches to unleash
the potential of ICT for sustainability in various fields of application,
from production to consumption;

- to improve methodologies of evaluating, developing, and governing the effects
of ICT systems on the sustainability of societal and environmental systems.

Invited Speakers

Pierre-Alain Graf, CEO Swissgrid
Robert Madelin, Director General, European Commission DG INFSO (tentative)
Jennifer Mankoff, Prof., Carnegie Mellon University
Daniel Spreng, Prof. em., ETH Zurich

Topics

Topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Sustainability through ICT
- ICT for energy management and planning:
ICT for energy efficiency, smart energy systems, smart grids, smart
metering, ICT and renewables
- ICT and dematerialization:
ICT for material efficiency, ICT-supported life cycle thinking, ICT and
product-service systems, smart recycling
- Sustainability in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI):
Creating awareness, supporting behavioral changes, empowering the ‘green’
consumer with information, supporting design for sustainability
- Other enabling effects of ICT for sustainability:
Other effects of ICT as an enabler of sustainable development may be
addressed as well

2. Sustainability in ICT
- Energy flows induced by ICT and how to reduce their impact:
Energy use in the life cycle of ICT hardware, energy consumption of data
centers, decentralized and renewable power generation for ICT, energy
harvesting, energy-aware and energy-autonomous systems
- Material flows induced by ICT and how to reduce their impact: Scarce
resources used for ICT hardware, electronic waste (e-waste, WEEE),
recycling technologies and schemes, environmental and social impacts of
ICT-related material flows, future electronics
- Green design and green software:
Measuring resource consumption at the level of ICT functions and services,
implications of software architecture on hardware load, the potential of
software to save hardware resources, sustainability in software
engineering, resource-aware software, price transparency in the ICT sector

3. Economic and Political Dimensions
- Rebound effects and how to avoid them:
ICT-induced efficiency and rebound effects, history of ICT-related rebound
effects, theories and models of rebound effects, rebound effects vs.
intended growth, political frameworks for avoiding rebound effects
- Energy markets:
Role of ICT in the deregulation of electricity markets, ICT and dynamic
prices, electronic energy markets, enabling political frameworks for smart
energy use
- Economics of ICT hardware:
Supply security of the resources used in ICT, geopolitical aspects of
critical metals, economics of e-waste recycling, world commodity markets
and ICT

Audience

The ICT4S conference will bring together leading researchers in ICT for
Sustainability with government and industry leaders. Decision-makers with an
interest in using ICT for sustainability, researchers focusing on ICT effects
on sustainability and developers of sustainable ICT systems or applications
should attend this conference.

For submission details and further information see the conference website.

CESC-researcher Elisabeth Ekener Petersen gave an overview over her work on social life cycle assessment (social LCA or s-LCA) under the “Sustainable supply chains” track of the conference. A current CESC project assesses the social impact of a computer laptop in the supply chain including disposal. The case study gives an opportunity to evaluate the recently issued UNEP/SETAC Guidelines for social LCA.

In short, a social LCA explores how production affects society and people. Relevant stakeholders in a case study are e.g. workers, consumers and the companies that are suppliers and customers in the production chain. Also impacts on communities and society at large are interesting aspects.

The working conditions at production sites are obviously important factors in a social LCA but also e.g. access to local resources such as water or forests. Human rights, corruption, job creation and technology development locally are further aspects that are included in the analysis. There are both negative and positive social impacts in a product life cycle.

So far, the results must be interpreted cautiously, as the method is still under development. If further developed, social LCA can be useful for companies to systematically assess social risks and opportunities in the supply chain of products. The method can also provide a basis for social labeling.

CESC’s research on social LCA has attracted substantial interest, as social impacts from production and consumption are addressed in many different settings. The research results are currently summarized in two papers to be published in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

Börjesson Rivera, Miriam
Henriksson, Greger
Åkerlund, Maria

Title

Getting there and back again – Commuting and ICT in six cities across the globe

Published in

Report from the KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications, Stockholm.
ISSN:1654-479X, TRITA-SUS 2012:1

Summary

Ericsson ConsumerLab performed a qualitative exploratory study of how people experience daily commuting in three different countries. This report aims to present the outcome of the study in such a way that the data can be useful for further analyses and studies of commuting in relation to ICT use and environmental sustainability. Based on the study’s findings this report will present analytical data on: i) how ICT can be linked to everyday travel in order to facilitate commuting from the user’s point of view; and ii) how ICT solutions can enable commuting in an environmentally more sustainable way.

The study, which had an ethnographic approach, showed that in general, commuters would like their commuting time to be, or at least seem, as short as possible. The respondents spend hours commuting every week and often claim to consider it a waste of time. Regardless of means of transport, they would like to get the most out of their commuting time (working, socialising, relaxing etc.), which implies that there is a demand for further technological improvements in this area (voice recognition services in cars, privacy settings in public transport, connectivity in public transport, etc.). An aspect that adds to how people perceive their commuting time concerns the extent to which its duration is predictable – even if the time cannot be shortened, commuters at least want to know how much time they will spend on their daily commute, so that they can plan their day with more certainty.

Irrespective of means of transport, two major frustrations for commuters are lack of flow and the presence and behaviour of other people. People seem to lack good real-time information enabling them to avoid interruptions in their commute and much of their frustration relates to poor infrastructure conditions and management. Frustration with other people derives from their conduct in traffic contributing to inconveniences, congestion or hazards, or from noise, smell or littering on public transport.

The greatest motivators for commuting by car are a feeling of independence in relation to other people, schedule and choice of route, and the private space the car offers. This means that the car provides flexibility in terms of when and how people travel, while also providing a private space both mentally (“in the car you can do whatever you want”) and physically (“you don’t have to hustle with others on the bus or train”). The major frustration when commuting by car is the need to focus on driving, so drivers cannot utilise time as they would wish.
People generally justify their choice of public transport by anti-car arguments, which include difficulty in finding a parking space at work, expensive parking, fear of driving, lack of driving licence etc., but can also motivate their choice as giving them ‘me-time’ without having to focus on driving. The major frustration with commuting by public transport is dependency on time schedules and the shortcomings of the public transport network. This is exacerbated by a lack of relevant information or available options. However, commuting can be improved in a variety of ways for car and public transport users with the help of ICT. From a sustainability perspective, it is important to exploit the potential of ICT solutions to facilitate more environmentally friendly practices.

Many of the ICT (Information Communication Technology) solutions identified in this report require reliable access to the internet and/or mobile phone network. The mobile phone is currently the single most important internet device while commuting, thus perhaps being the point of departure for many of the solutions, such as travel planner, ticketing options, etc, but for car users mobile phone services need to be adapted through better in-car voice recognition technologies, since the focus needs to be on driving. Current information services could be more personalised and contextualised in order to better suit the individual driver and most of these ICT solutions and services are also applicable to public transport commuters, but an additional function for such commuters could be some kind of ‘emergency button’ on mobile phones to increase their sense of security in travel.

Home office solutions are a way of avoiding the frustrations of commuting altogether. While working from home is regarded by some with ambivalence and is impossible for many, there are ways of refining these solutions.

Download report

CESC partner Ericsson ConsumerLab has performed a qualitative study on people’s experiences with commuting in Germany, India and USA. CESC’s report analyses data from the study and discusses ICT solutions that could facilitate commuting from the commuters’ perspective. The report also reflects on how ICT could enable commuting patterns that are preferable from an environmental perspective.

Börjesson Rivera, M., Henriksson, G., Åkerlund, M. (2012) Getting there and back again – Commuting and ICT in six cities across the globe. Report from the KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications, Stockholm.

Download report

Anna Kramers, Örjan Svane

Title

ICT applications for energy efficiency in buildings

Published in

Report from the KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications, Stockholm.
ISSN:1654-479X, TRITA-SUS 2011:3

Download report

The study shows that Alma Media online newspapers have a lower total environmental impact than the printed. However, when considering the time people actually spend reading the printed newspaper or the electronic version, the printed version is in favour.

Further results and details of the study will be presented at the Alma Media event “Towards sustainable media” at Finlandia Hall on 25 January 2012 (9:00-11:30 ). Åsa Moberg from CESC will attend the panel discussion at the seminar.

Read more
Alma Media’s press release
Environmental performance of Alma Media products (Project page)