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Digital and the environment: a general reference framework for the eco-design of digital services

"The eco-design of digital services is not only a search for optimization, efficiency or performance but a more global reflection on the use of technologies. It is important to integrate the environmental impacts of digital technology into the design of digital services, aiming directly or indirectly to extend the life of digital equipment and to reduce the consumption of computer and energy resources by terminals, networks and data centers.  Several government departments are working on the development of an ecodesign reference framework for digital services. This reference framework was one of the commitments of the government's "Digital and Environment" roadmap published in February 2021.The main objectives of this digital service ecodesign standard are to reduce the consumption of IT resources and the contribution to equipment obsolescence, whether it is user equipment or network or server equipment. " All the professions closely or remotely linked to the design of a digital service: project manager, project management assistant, project manager's assistant, product owner, UX researcher, designer, graphic artist, developer, devops, tester..." "This repository contains criteria that are all verifiable, generic and timeless. The goal is to be able to perform a compliance audit of the digital service (self-audit or independent external audit)". Each criterion is a question. The answer is expected to be "yes", "no" or "not applicable". The answer "yes" is favorable in terms of reducing environmental impacts. The answer "not applicable" must be justified. No label or certificate based on this standard is planned for the moment. The aim is to promote a voluntary approach to the eco-design of digital services. "Even before implementing the criteria of this standard," the authors of the standard point out, " it is essential to ask the question of the purpose of the digital service and its relevance in meeting a need. Is the existence of this digital service necessary? Could we have done otherwise than develop a digital solution? After comparative measurements, is a non-digital alternative to the service feasible and preferable?This standard must be integrated into a virtuous circle including existing standards and regulations: RGAA (Référentiel général d'amélioration de l'accessibilité) for accessibility RGS for Security RGI for interoperability RGPD for the protection of personal data. A public consultation, online until November 26, 6:00 pm, for all actors involved in the design of digital services, will allow to validate the proposed criteria or to enrich the reference system in order to move from this beta version to a version 1.

• Environment

Published on 19/11/21



Education for sustainable development: students made aware of digital sobriety and engineers of eco-design

A provision in the law aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology in France calls for raising students' awareness of digital sobriety and environmental issues in computing. This presentation of ecological issues with computing will be included in a more general training on digital, which is already in place.Another article of this law provides, moreover, that students pursuing an engineering career will have to take " a module on the eco-design of digital services and digital sobriety ". As of the start of the 2022 school year, the engineering qualifications commission will have to check that all engineering courses include such a module.According to the Interministerial Mission for an Eco-responsible Digital Economy DINUM, "the eco-design of digital services is not only a search for optimization, efficiency or performance but a more global reflection on the use of technologies. It is important to integrate the environmental impacts of digital services in the design of digital services by aiming directly or indirectly to extend the life of digital equipment, to reduce the consumption of computer and energy resources of terminals, networks and data centers. In this regard, the Interministerial Mission recently published 4 documents as part of this more global reflection: The Responsible Digital Best Practices Guide for Organizations; The eco-friendly digital toolbox; The general reference framework for the ecodesign of digital services ; The practical guide to responsible digital purchasing. Education for sustainable development today: a blurred objectEducation for sustainable development is one of the four themes (along with the fight against harassment, the place of digital technology and European and international openness) that the Conseil d'Evaluation de l'École (CEE) has closely examined, on the occasion of its first report (The School Evaluation Council was created in 2019).The report of this first evaluation campaign is based on the analysis, from a list of keywords, of a sample of 100 randomly selected evaluation reports.The ERC notes a relatively weak presence of the theme in the evaluation reports, since two-fifths of them do not mention it at all and only one-third include at least two items on the subject. In the schools, the eco-delegates and the School Life Council are widely mentioned, but also the Principal Education Advisors, the documentalist teacher, some teachers and agents (catering and spaces), sometimes with a more encompassing vision, in the spirit of the principles of sustainable development. The actions carried out concern recycling and the fight against waste, the living environment (well-being, school climate), and broader themes (citizenship, heritage, culture) in connection with other courses. The E3D label (see below) is very present and makes it possible to federate sometimes very diverse actions. The disciplines are not forgotten (multidisciplinary projects, evaluation by competence, oral, accompaniment, etc.), the student being taken into account as a whole. Beyond a sometimes restrictive vision of sustainable development (limited to the fight against waste, for example), there is room for real reflection that is not always undertaken by the establishments. On the strategic side, the E3D (Education for Sustainable Development) label is a support point. "Education for sustainable development is an object with an even more blurred outline", concludes the CEE, " that the actors sometimes give it a singular meaning without returning to its fundamental principles. The best equipped establishments propose a look at the pupil and his environment, the need for a global seizure, of a setting in coherence of the actors and the actions, of a valuation of the commitment and the responsabilisation ".The " E3D " approach E3D " (School or Establishment in Global Approach to Sustainable Development) was developed by the Ministry of National Education to recognize and encourage schools and establishments that are committed to a global approach to sustainable development.This approach participates in education for sustainable development, making the school a place of global learning for sustainable development. It is an important component among the different modalities of reinforcement of education for sustainable development that have been promoted at the national and academic levels since 2019.The latest annual assessment conducted in October 2021, which covers the 2020-2021 school year, shows a strong progression: there are now more than 7,700 schools, colleges and high schools that have been awarded the E3D label. 

• Inclusion

• Environment

Published on 11/04/22



La base de données Empreinte® de l’ADEME, ou comment parler la même langue pour l'écoconception et la comptabilité carbone

Avant d'afficher un Nutri-Score, un Eco-Score ou d'annoncer des objectifs de réduction d'émissions de gaz à effet de serre, il faut pouvoir calculer l'impact environnemental d'un produit ou d'un service.Le 15 février 2023, l'Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie (Ademe) a mis en ligne la Base Empreinte, résultat de la fusion de la Base Carbone, la base de référence pour la comptabilité carbone des organisations, et de la Base IMPACTS, la base utilisée pour l’affichage environnemental français des produits de grande consommation.Cette nouvelle source de données centralisée va permettre à l’ensemble des acteurs concernés de « parler la même langue » pour l'écoconception des produits ou le calcul de bilans carbone.La Base Empreinte est la base officielle pour le programme gouvernemental français d'affichage environnemental des produits et services de grande consommation hormis la mobilité et les produits de construction.L'administration de la Base Empreinte est assurée par l'ADEME mais ses orientations et les données qu'elle contient sont validées par un comité de gouvernance et des comités techniques regroupant divers acteurs publics et privés.L’ADEME est l'un des rares organismes au monde à mettre à disposition gratuitement les données nécessaires : la Base Carbone pour les émissions de CO2, la Base Impacts pour les indicateurs environnementaux et la Base Agribalyse pour les produits alimentaires.Pour alimenter ses bases de données, l’ADEME réalise elle-même des analyses de cycle de vie de produits, qui permettent de déterminer son empreinte carbone ou énergétique mais aussi son impact sur l'eau, les sols, l'air, la biodiversité ou encore la santé.

• Data

• Commons

• Environment

Published on 30/03/23