Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Development

Cesar Marolla

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351045216
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Strategy
• Index: Business

Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Development shows how ICT, as an enabler for all spheres of development, can help innovate business processes and operations, and provide faster integration of new technologies into business systems. Focused on sustainability, the book addresses strategic approaches to cope with a range of climatic, environmental, cyber-security threats and other global risks, and aims to promote prosperity and economic growth. Furthermore, it explores how the adoption of new technologies, and collective action based upon a strategic behavioral theory of new leadership, can be applied when responding to specific set of conditions that allow for the proposed strategies to cope with risks.

Information technology and strategic planning complement each other to attain the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Risk management frameworks, business continuity systems, and strategic planning methodologies such as mechanism design theory, strategic adaptive cognition (SAC), and risk mechanism theory (RMT) are the fundamental components needed to have a universal approach embedded into the national development plans agenda. As technology no longer follows an orderly, linear path, but improves exponentially, developing a strategic approach to ICT implementation help world leaders in the difficult but inspiring task of making a sustainable world and consequently find solutions to achieve the SDGs and the desired growth pattern that must be sustained, inclusive and equitable.

Features:

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• Discusses for the first time the potential of ICT as a transformative power in finding solutions to climatic and economic issues.

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• Illustrates comprehensive strategic planning for leaders to implement in both public and private organizations.

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• Integrates standards and frameworks in the context of sustainable development along with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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• Describes in detail how mechanism design, risk management, business continuity systems, a comprehensive strategic planning using SAC (Strategic Adaptive Cognition) and risk mechanism theory can be used to address environmental risks and attain sustainable development goals (SDGs).

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• Explains eHealth as an adaptation strategy to address future changes in climate and impacts, and the links between mitigation and adaptation to ICTs.

1

Information and Communication Technology and Sustainable Development: An Imperative for Change

ICTs in the Context of Development Goals

The progression of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and sustainable development have accelerated through the innovation and urgent need of finding solutions to cope with global risks. A familiar place of knowledge and technology as a major feature of the knowledge-based economy is an important step to begin strategic action. Never before has humanity faced, on a global scale, natural challenges imminent and uncertain at the same time. Information technology can be both a vital tool and critical link for world nations to foster economic development, as well as addressing social and environmental issues. Therefore, it became imperative to utilize ICTs to combat environmental hazards and its repercussions for society’s interest in the environment and sustainable development. This leads to actionable benefits of ICTs that can be placed in promoting economic growth, minimizing poverty, and addressing environmental challenges. Their social implications may present themselves as temporary or permanent changes to the atmosphere, water, and land due to human activities, in addition to social exclusion, poverty, substantial levels of inequalities, and health and demographic challenges, which can result in impacts that may not be irreversible. Literature concerning both the potential and challenges of ICTs in the climate change field began to emerge at the beginning of the 2000s (Ospina and Heeks, 2010), paving the way for new developments and implementations for practical solutions between information society and the environment.

From a global perspective, the relationship between ICTs, sustainable development, and the environment explores the use of ICTs in the context of development goals, expressly the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which are eight goals with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. Moreover, the MDGs aim at warranting environmental sustainability (Millennium Development Goals, 2015). Research started to emerge at the end of the 1990s with an increasing awareness of environmental sustainability. Climate change wasn’t addressed specifically at the time; instead, the aforementioned studies were addressing a growing concern to the negative and positive effects of ICTs in the field in addition to these technological benefits in monitoring the environment (Ospina and Heeks, 2010). Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other gases’ negative effects on the planet created a focus in technological advances to find concrete solutions. Within that field of research, the studies concentrated on the potential of ICTs toward CO₂ emission reduction, including a multiplicity of highly innovative applications cultivating important actions toward achieving energy efficiency and innovation in such areas as the telecommunication and transport sectors. The emerging evidence of the consequences of inaction to cope with climate change impacts opened the door to new uses of ICT applications in vulnerable contexts to climate change. In particular, developing countries are in a susceptible position to environmental challenges. The role of ICTs can be essential in tailoring strategic planning to mitigation and adaptation, as well as emerging applications that could help improve the access to climatic information by providing fundamental support for decision-making processes at local and national levels.

Broadband Networks to Minimize Detrimental Effects and Promote Economic Growth

There is an interlink between the gross domestic product (GDP) and the expansion of broadband networks, services, and applications where broadband penetration contributes to GDP growth and economic prosperity, although not all GDP growth equals economic equality among populations. There are several studies that corroborate the aforementioned statement, such as a 10% increase in broadband penetration adding to an extra 2.5% GDP growth in China (Broadband Commission, 2012). According to the World Bank, in high-income countries a 10% rise in broadband penetration adds a 1.21% rise in economic growth, or 1.38% for low- and middle-income countries (Minges, 2015). The Broadband Commission study (2012) estimated that the ICT sector contributes 2–2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including radio communication systems and equipment, but its largest contribution is in enabling energy efficiency in other sectors. Conversely, the overall productivity growth among OECD countries is approximately 40% of ICT’s use and its applications can have the potential to reduce energy consumption in the remaining 97–98% of carbon emissions. Moreover, ICT has the capacity to implement carbon savings five times greater than the sector’s own total emissions (2% of total greenhouse gas emissions) (SMART, 2020). The new report updates corroborated the ICT’s potential to reduce global emissions even further with more than 7.8 gigatons by 2020—equivalent to a 15% reduction of global emissions, for only a low increase in ICT’s own emissions, particularly as new services and applications enabled by high-speed high-capacity broadband are being developed (ICT’s and the Internet’s impact on job creation and economic growth, 2012).

There are three principal roles for the ICT sector to achieve sustainable development goals:

• Transformation: The transformation of physical products and systems to digital services reducing through dematerialization replacing travel with collaborative tools such as video-conferencing or substituting the need to produce physical products by delivering e-products and services (Broadband Commission, 2012).

• Climate mitigation: Greening ICT is referred to as the reduction of the sector’s own emissions. Therefore, developing energy lean products with a strategic plan for reduction targets is primordial to establish concrete solutions to mitigation. Process optimization also plays an important role like smart grids, smart logistics, smart buildings, and smart motor systems (Roeth and Wockek, 2011).

• Climate adaptation: Aimed at the vulnerability of systems to the effects of severe weather events. Adaptation initiatives can be accomplished by weather information and disaster alerts and conducting routine risk assessments to identify and plan for high-risk situations. Based on identified risks, continuity and preparedness plans are developed and tested.

Health: The Face of Environmental Risks and Sustainable Development

ICT and the Health Sector

There is a link between changes in extreme weather and climate events’ impacts on public health and the exacerbation of those impacts on the poor populations. We find implications of adaptation and mitigation strategies, and what the ICT sector can contribute to minimizing such detrimental effects on the vulnerable inhabitants. The discussions about the potential of ICTs to improve the health and well-being of poor and marginalized populations have been in the international arena of major players such as the United Nations and the World Bank. However, the aforementioned potential of ICTs has not been used effectively. Much more research is needed and, even more importantly, the effectiveness of implementing models to increase information flows and the dissemination of evidence-based knowledge to empower citizens needs to be re-evaluated and developed for better results.

The tools and approaches used in ICT have not been extensively used as instruments to advance equitable health-care access, particularly in developing countries. The applicability, relevance, and cost-effectiveness of the approaches are a relatively new stage of development and implementation. Therefore, world leaders, policy-makers, and decision-makers are hesitant to determine their investment priorities (Chandrasekhar and Ghosh, 2001). Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning some important initiatives that have proven positive results, such as a 50% reduction in mortality or 25–50% increase in productivity within the health-care system (Greenberg, 2005). Moreover, ICTs have been important in the improvement of the health sector. It has enabled:

• The communication and remote consultation;

• Dissemination of public health information and the facilitation of public discourse and dialogue around major public health threats;

• Diagnosis and treatment through telemedicine;

• Facilitated collaboration and cooperation among health workers, including the sharing of learning and training approaches;

• Supported more effective health research and the dissemination of and access to research findings;

• Strengthened the ability to monitor the incidence of public health threats and to respond in a more timely and effective manner;

• Improved the efficiency of administrative systems in health-care facilities (Ramesh et al., 2014).

There is a promising role of ehealth as a mitigation and adaptation strategy to reduce GHGs and societal vulnerability to changes in the climate system. However, a gap exists between implicit and empirically demonstrated benefits of ehealth simply because only a few studies have been conducted with limitations in opportunities for implementation. Undoubtedly, ehealth is modeled to increase quality, efficiency, and access to health care, particularly in remote areas. Initial results from the largest home health-care clinical study, the UK Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) program, strongly support these statements. Preliminary outcomes show 15% reduction in emergency room visits, 20% reduction in emergency admissions, 14% reduction in elective admissions, 14% reduction in bed days, and 45% reduction in mortality for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes. Telemedicine is thus considered one of the few reasonable solutions to address the growing number of elderly and chronically ill people in the developed world (Holmner et al., 2012). Environmental and climate-related effects can overwhelm the health-care system and health-care facilities will need to assess the associated risks and adopt new technological tools and risk management frameworks to deter and/or adapt to the harmful impacts. The delivery of health care entails efficiency and timely delivery of services and, as health experts warn that despite years of effort toward improving emergency preparedness when disasters occur, the health system is still vulnerable to disruptions. Nonetheless, the growth of powerful new health information technologies (HITs) can enhance the delivery of health care and the promotion of health with the support of mobile health communication devices, advanced telehealth applications, access to relevant health information, enhance the quality of care, reduce health-care errors, and increase collaboration. Nevertheless, the opportunities for HIT to develop new ways of providing efficient technological tools to cope with climate health risks need to be tailored to the efficient design of mHealth applications to meet the health literacy levels of different audiences that communicate effectively with a diverse array of health-care consumers, providers, and policy-makers (Kreps, 2017).

Between 1994 and 2013, 6,873 natural disasters were recorded worldwide, which claimed 1.35 million lives or almost 68,000 lives on average each year. In addition, 218 million people were affected by natural disasters on average per annum during this 20-year period (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, 2015). Nonetheless, the science of weather forecasting and climate monitoring, which is critical to reducing such high casualty rates, is being advanced by the development in ICTs.

An Example of Weather Forecasting and Telecommunication Networks

Extensive weather station networks are needed for monitoring key climate parameters such as wind speed, precipitation, barometric pressure, soil moisture, wind direction, air temperature, and relative humidity. These parameters may be used both for forecasting and for decadal climate modeling. The technologies needed include weather satellites and both local and remote automated weather stations. Just as with telecommunications networks in general, there are logistical and financial problems in achieving sufficient global coverage to collect the required data. Satellite observations include visible spectrum cameras to detect storms and deforestation, infrared cameras to detect cloud and surface temperatures and sea level rise, and particle detectors of solar emissions.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-11&12) and others are capable of making these observations, which are essential in providing input to weather forecasting and climate models. Emphasis is now on improving coverage of space and land-based sensors. Fine resolutions are needed, with frequent updates, to provide the most accurate forecasts. For example, the European Meteosat-8 located over the Atlantic Ocean at 0 ^o longitude provides an operational European “rapid scan” mode service, which commenced in the second quarter of 2008 (with images of Europe every 5 minutes). Meteosat-9, also at 0° longitude, provides the main full Earth imagery service over Europe and Africa (with images every 15 minutes). More work is needed to establish whether Africa and other developing regions could benefit from dedicated weather satellites, with improved resolution over their regions, to match the standards of weather and climate variability and change forecasting in developed regions.

Integration and assimilation of ehealth into the everyday life of health-care workers is becoming a reality in developing as well as developed countries (World Health Organization, 2008). ICTs enable online communication about medical issues and diagnosis of complicated diseases by ...