Gobinda G. Chowdhury
Professor and Director
Centre for Information & Knowledge Management
University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Gobinda.chowdhury@uts.edu.auSustainability: what does it mean?
 Meeting the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meettheir own needs (http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares42-187.htm/ ) Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions underwhich humans and nature can exist in productive harmony,that permit fulfilling the social, economic and otherrequirements of present and future generations(http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm. ) A sustainable business is the one that works towards
minimising environmental and social impacts while
ensuring financial stability(http://www.eubusiness.com/europe/uk/sustainable-business/ )27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

Characteristics of a digital society We use digital information for almost every activity
 Anyone can be a content producer and distributor
 Internet and mobile technologies are used extensively
 Numerous services for info discovery & access Numerous devices for info discovery & access Content is also created and annotated by crowd
 ICT infrastructure and services form the foundation

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Challenges
 Changing technology – web, mobile social networking
 Numerous Information Service providers
 Library is just one part of the information universe
 Expectations are set by consumer net experiences Increasing dependence on ICT
 Social challenges: net skills, information skills
 15 million people in Britain do not have the basic netskills (BBC News, 8th Nov. 2012) Legal challenges: DRM, privacy, security
27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

A Paradigm Shift Search engines: free discovery of information
 Open access: free discovery and access From document to information -- content and data
 From word to meaning From ‘Access’ to ‘Connect’ Content-Content
 Content-Data
 Content-People
 People-People
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Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

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Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

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Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

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Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Some key questions
 How Sustainable are digital information systems andservices?
 How can we build specific indicators of sustainable
information systems and services?
 What are the emerging challenges for iResearch andiProfession?

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Environmental
Sustainability(Target: to reduce
GHG emissions,save the earth:positivecontributions toclimate change)

DigitalInformation
Systems andServices
Economic
Sustainability(Target: to ensurecheaper, easierand better access)27/12/2012

ICT Infrastructure, Business models, IPR, DRM…

Data & Content: Use,/Re-use, Information behaviour
Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

SocialSustainability(Target: To ensure
equitable access,informationsociety, digitaleconomy)

Economic sustainability of DI
 Target: to ensure cheaper, easier and better access Measures Less costs in production and distribution of information
 Less costs in access and use in terms of user time and efforts
 More value-added information
 Challenges
 Sustainable funding models
 Long term access (preservation): will information become
more expensive over time?
 Can information be ever discarded/destroyed?
 Can information be vintage?
27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Social Sustainability of DI
 Target: to ensure equitable access in order to build abetter (well informed) and healthy society Measures: in terms of use and impact of information:
 Education and research, decision making, etc.
 Healthy living, informed citizenship, etc.

 Challenges
 Can we build systems & services suitable for everyone?
Different communities, culture, language, skills….?

 Should every information be accessible to everyone?

27/12/2012Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Environmental Sustainability of DI
 Target: to reduce environmental impact of DI Measures: by reduction in the greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions throughout the lifecycle of DI
 Requires new research for:

 Development of tools and techniques for measuring

carbon footprint of DI systems & services
 Making environmentally sustainable DI systems &services

 Challenges:
 How to reduce the overall environmental impact of a
growing organism (DI systems and services)?
27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

OA: a shift in the economic model Open Access is becoming increasingly common
 Information and data should be free at the point of use
 A change in culture is needed in all sectors


Alternative economic models
 Institutional supports/Voluntary contributions
 From ‘user pays’ to ‘author pays’ model (see the recently
released Finch report (http://www.researchinfonet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Finch-Group-report-FINAL-VERSION.pdf)

27/12/2012

Author deposits: Institutional repositories see OpenDOAR,CORE, DRIVER, etc.

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012The content industry
 Global value of the publishing industry = €80 billion
 Second largest creative industry in the world, after TV
 Bigger than the music publishing; video games andentertainment software; and audiovisuals (DVDs anddownloads) industries combined
 In Britain the publishing industry has a turnover ofover £18.4 billion; 8000 plus companies employ around
164,000 people; contributes to over 8% of GDP Major STEM publishers make an annual profit of 3545%
27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15Dec. 2012

Impact of Open Access?
 Will it affect the information industry?
 Is there a power shift?
 Will it affect the knowledge creation process?
 Question: Will knowledge creation be dependent onwhether you can afford to pay to publish it?
 Will it affect the information services sector?

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

Economic Sustainability Issues
 Shared content acquisition and shared access Free digital libraries and information services
 New models for open access: Author-pays model Institutional and subject repositories
 Crowdsourcing
 User-generated content
 Digital Rights Management

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Social sustainability
 Numerous studies and HIB/IS&R models
 Changing contexts in the web environment: work,education, research, politics, health, daily living…
 Emerging culture & practices in the production ofknowledge
 Social networks and user-generated content

 Emerging user behaviour models in the net age
 Access, use and value judgement/impact of information
 New Initiatives and Models to support digital economy
 e.g. the Hargreaves Review in the UK: Digital CopyrightExchange, Digital Copyright Hub
27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Environmental sustainability:
Carbon footprint of ICT
 ICT’s own sector footprint stands at 2% of global

emissions and it will almost double by 2020
 HE institutions in the US produce 121 million tonnes ofCO2 in a year = nearly 2% of total annual GHG
emissions in the US = a quarter of the entire State ofCalifornia’s annual emissions
 In 2008-2009, HEIs in the UK used nearly 1,470,000
computers, 250,000 printers and 240,000 servers;
about 500,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from thiselectricity use27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012Carbon footprint of DigitalInformation
 Internet consumes between 170 and 307 GW(GigaWatt) of electricity = 1.1–1.9% of global
energy consumption ( = 16 TW (terra watt))
 In 2010 Google’s electricity consumption was 2.26
million MWh = emissions from 11 power stations
 Approx. 1 billion Google search is conducted every
day, producing (at a very conservative estimate)
1,000 tonnes of CO2

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

New directions for iResearch Sustainable models for information systems & services
 Integrated data and content management Linked content
 Linked data Linked people Needs an integrated approach to research New skills for iProfessionals

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

Content& Data
Economic Sustainability
New Business Models
New IPR and DRM
Digital CopyrightExchange/Digital Hub
New Digital Economy
New Data/Content Market
New Funding Models forInformation Services
New Metrices to Assess
Success of Information
Services

User

27/12/2012

SustainableDigitalInformationServices

Environmental Sustainability
Cloud Computing Services
Novel Database Design &ArchitectureNovel Data/ContentApplications & Models
Novel User-Centred Design
Usability Models
Impact studies

Social Sustainability
Novel HIB, IS&R, Cognitive
ModelsChanging Social, Cultural,
Community & Work Practices
Emerging Social & Legal issues
Digital/Information Literacy
Social Informatics
Digital Divide
Web Accessibility

ICTResearch Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012

Thank You

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012References
 Chowdhury, G.G. (2013). Sustainability of digital information services.

Journal of Documentation, Accepted Chowdhury, G.G. (2012). An agenda for green information retrieval
research. Information Processing and Management, 48 (6), 1067-1077
 Chowdhury, G.G. (2012). How digital information services can reducegreenhouse gas emissions, Online Information Review, 36(4), 489-506
 Chowdhury, G. G. (2012) Building Sustainable Information Services: aGreen IS research agenda, Journal of the American Society forInformation Science and Technology, 63(4), 633-647
 Chowdhury, G and Fraser, M. (2011). Carbon footprint of theknowledge industry and ways to reduce it. World Digital Libraries, 4(1),9-18 Chowdhury, G. (2010). Carbon footprint of the knowledge sector:
what’s the future? Journal of Documentation, 66(6), 934-946

27/12/2012

Research Symposium, University of Tsukuba, 13-15
Dec. 2012