Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Anticipations of Digital Sustainability: Self-Delusions, Disappointments and Expectations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Anticipation, Agency and Complexity

Part of the book series: Anticipation Science ((ANTISC,volume 4))

Abstract

The strong momentum of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the last decades has been associated with mostly positive anticipations of their impact as drivers of human progress, especially as a key element of response to the challenges posed by the unsustainability of our current social, economic and environmental behaviors. A particular perspective is taken on the actual impact of ICTs to show that, contrary to the mainstream perception, for now their net impact on overall sustainability is negative. This in turn is suggested to be a result of how ICTs and innovation in general are presently conceived and framed, in a way that actually inhibits their potential for human progress in harmony with the environment. The need is claimed for a more complex anticipatory framework of the interplay between Science, Technology and Society, in order to reverse the situation and make digital tech useful for life as a whole.

Most of the necessary knowledge is now available but we do not use it.

Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring” (1962)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barlow, J.P. 1996. A declaration of independence of the cyberspace. http://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence.

  • Baur, C., and D. Wee. 2015. Manufacturing’s next act. Munich: McKinsey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckert, J. 2013. Capitalism as a system of expectations: Toward a sociological microfoundation of political economy. Politics and Society 41 (3): 323–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bower, J., and C. Christensen. 1995. Disruptive technologies: Catching the wave. Harvard Business Review 73: 43–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan Kim, W., and R. Mauborgne. 2005. Blue ocean strategy. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, C. 1997. The innovator’s dilemma. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordell, A.J., T. Ran Ide, L. Soete, and K. Kamp. 1997. The new wealth of nations: Taxing cyberspace. Cordell: Between The Lines.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamandis, P., and S. Kotler. 2012. Affluence. The future is better than you think. London: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. Bold: How to go big, create wealth and impact the world. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmott, S. 2013. Ten Billion. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Union. 2014. Critical raw materials. http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_en.

  • Fleming, S. 2016. Decline of the start-up nation. Financial Times, 5 August 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, C.B., and M.A. Osborne. 2013. The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization? Oxford: Oxford Martin School.

    Google Scholar 

  • GeSI. 2008. Climate Group for the Global eSustainability initiative. SMART 2020: Enabling the low-carbon economy in the information age. http://www.smart2020.org/_assets/files/02_Smart2020Report.pdf.

  • Golumbia, D. 2013. Cyberlibertarians’ digital deletion of the left. Jacobin Magazin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R.J. 2016. The rise and fall of American growth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hilty, L.M., et al. 2006. The relevance of ICTs for environmental sustainability. A prospective simulation study. In Environmental modelling & software, 21, 1618–1629, July 2006. Oxford: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hintemann, R., and J. Clausen. 2016. Green cloud? Current and future developments of energy consumption by data centers, networks and end-user devices. In 4th international conference on ICT for sustainability (ICT4S), august 2016. Amsterdam: Atlantis Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • IBM. 2016. Watson for President 2016. http://watson2016.com.

  • ICT4S. 2016a Computing within Limits: Visions of Computing beyond Moore’s Law. Workshop at the 4th international conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S), August 2016. Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016b. Slow Tech: Clean ICT, an overview and case study exploration. Workshop at the 4th international conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S), August 2016. Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • IISD. 2012a. International Institute for Sustainable Development. ICTs, the internet and sustainability: An interview with Jim MacNeill. June 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012b. International Institute for Sustainable Development. ICTs, the internet and sustainability: An interview with Angela cropper. October 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • ITU. 2003, 2003–2005. Geneva declaration of principles. In United Nations, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), World Summit on the Information Society. WSIS. http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.html.

  • ———. 2005. Tunis commitment. United Nations, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, 2003–2005). http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.html.

  • Keynes, J.M. 1930. Economic possibilities for our grandchildren. In Essays in persuasion, vol. 1963, 358–373. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, S. 2015. Fundamental limits to Moore’s law. Cornell University. arXiv:1511.05956v1. November 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurzweil, R. 2006. The singularity is near. London: Gerald Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, J. 2010. You are not a gadget. A manifesto. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansell, R. 2012. ICT Innovation and Sustainable Development. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), October 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzucato, M. 2013. The entrepreneurial state: Debunking public vs private sector myths. London: Anthem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morozov, E. 2013. To save everything, click Here. New York: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, S. 2016. Silicon Valley is no answer for sluggish productivity. Financial Times, 1 June 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargman, D. 2016. Designing for sustainability: Breakthrough or suboptimisation? 4th international conference on ICT for sustainability (ICT4S), August 2016. Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauli, G. 2015. The blue economy. Version 2.0. New Delhi: Academic Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, C. 2002. Technological revolutions and financial capital: The dynamics of bubbles and Golden Ages. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. Making the some mistakes as in the 1930s. Financial Times, 2 August 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poli, R. 2017. Introducing anticipation. In Handbook of anticipation. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, N. 2016. The robots invading Wall Street. International New York Times, 27 February 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Postman, N. 2005. Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of business. New York: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rattle, R. 2012. ICTs roles in an Environmental Society. In Towards an Environmental Society? ed. M. Lapka and E. Cudlínová. Prague: Karolinum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosa, H. 2005. Une critique sociale du temps. Paris: La Découverte.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter, J.A. 1942. Capitalism, socialism and democracy. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sombart, W. 1913. Krieg und Kapitalismus. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Souter, D. 2015. Advancing a sustainable Information Society for all. United Nations Public Adminstrations Program, July 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Souter, D., and D. MacLean 2012. ICTs, the Internet and Sustainability: Where Next? International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), October 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stirling, A.C. 2014. Towards innovation democracy? Participation, responsibility and precaution in the politics of science and technology. London: UK Government Office of Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • SVTC, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. 2006. Toxic Sweatshops. http://svtc.org/our-work/e-waste/.

  • The Guardian. 2012. Children of the Congo who risk their lives to supply our mobile phones. 7 December 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. Internet governance too US-centric, says European Commission. 12 February 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN. 2012. The future we want. United Nations General Assembly. Resolution adopted on 27 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vickery, G. 2012. Smarter and Greener? Information Technology and the Environment: Positive or negative impacts? International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), October 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • WEF. 2016. The future of jobs. Employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, E.D., R.U. Ayres, and M. Heller. 2002. The 1.7 kilogram microchip: Energy and material use in the production of semiconductor devices. Environmental Science & Technology 36 (24): 5504–5510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Innaxis Foundation & Research Institute, Madrid, Spain

    Carlos Alvarez-Pereira

Authors
  1. Carlos Alvarez-Pereira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlos Alvarez-Pereira .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Roberto Poli

  2. PhD Student, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Marco Valerio

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Alvarez-Pereira, C. (2019). Anticipations of Digital Sustainability: Self-Delusions, Disappointments and Expectations. In: Poli, R., Valerio, M. (eds) Anticipation, Agency and Complexity. Anticipation Science, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03623-2_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation