Kartläggning av svensk FoU inom området IT och miljö

• Swedish R&D activities in the field of IT and the environment - a mapping related to indirect environmental effects and effects at system level Feb 2009: Peter Arnfalk, Andrius Plepys, Chris van Rossem, The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, Lund University. The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University has, in autumn 2008, been commissioned by Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) to investigate Swedish research and development (R & D) scene in the field of IT and the environment. The survey was conducted with the help of Blekinge Institute of Technology and the company Exido, a reference group with representatives from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Linköping University (LiU), Interactive Institute, as well as the Swedish IT & Telecom Companies (a part of Almega). The purpose of the survey was to provide a current review and understanding of research activities in Sweden to assess how to best design and fund R & D efforts in the field for Swedish growth. The mission was to survey the area, analyze results and to draw conclusions. The mapping was limited to R & D projects related to indirect environmental effects and effects at system level from the use of IT, which means that research on IT’s own environmental impact along its life cycle, so-called direct effects, was not targeted. Information collection was made primarily with the help of a web-based questionnaire, through interviews, literature search and searches in various databases. The results show that there is a wide range of different projects in Sweden in this multidisciplinary field. Most R&D projects could be linked to the energy, environmental informatics, transport, process and manufacturing, buildings, as well as products and services. Many projects focused on our attitudes and behaviour surrounding the use of IT, an issue that was researched in 42 % of the projects. Furthermore, many of the reported projects are related to areas such as energy efficiency, environmental analysis, environmental monitoring, intelligent transportation systems, surveillance and control, process optimization and ‘smart houses’. Other areas of research concern are dematerialization, telework, urban planning, IT in energy production and distribution, virtual meetings, simulations, and eco-design of products. 8 We found R & D projects at many universities and institutes around the country, but a certain concentration was found mainly around Stockholm (Stockholm University, KTH, Kista), Gothenburg (Göteborg University, Business School, Chalmers), Linköping (Linköping University, including the Linköping Institute of Technology), Lund / Malmö (Lund University, Lund Institute of Technology and Malmö University College); and Karlskrona / Ronneby / Karlshamn of Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH). Around these areas a number of research institutes can be found, which also carries out projects in the IT and the environment. We found that none of the national grant organizations for R & D projects have any explicit strategy or established grants program for interdisciplinary research in the field of IT and the environment. This may partly explain the fact that relatively few researchers characterize their projects in this field. Another reason may be that the area is not clearly defined and difficult to delineate. The findings of this study highlight the fact that IT offers a range of preventive solutions to environmental problems. Hence, IT solutions should to a greater extent be considered and included in the environmental technology toolbox, and its applications promoted when considering environmental measures. The concept of Green IT is currently mainly interpreted as IT with a relatively low direct environmental impact. The concept should preferably be expanded to also include indirect and systemic effects, to stress the fact that this is where the technology’s major environmental potential is found.

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SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

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IT

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