How green is the Internet?

Bradford is playing a part in the Government's first-ever detailed analysis of the environmental and social impacts of the Internet.

The Government's Competitiveness White Paper placed e-commerce at the heart of its vision of a knowledge-driven economy and a year later the DTI was committed to producing a sustainable development strategy. The inquiry is designed to contribute to the strategy by identifying the social and environmental implications of e-commerce.

The year-long 'Digital Futures' inquiry is backed by a consortium of Government departments, companies and think-tanks, including Bradford's Department of Environmental Science. It will ask whether e-commerce will create an economy which uses less energy and helps the UK to meet its climate-change targets, and whether some products and services - such as records, banking, etc. - will be 'dematerialised' altogether.

The inquiry was launched by Patricia Hewitt, e-Minister at the DTI, who said: "The increasing use of e-commerce by business, Government, and the public at large could have a profound impact on our ability to become more sustainable. E-commerce has the potential to reduce the resource intensity of many products and services, but it is important that we assess the benefits and problems in a systematic and balanced way." Professor Peter James and Dr Peter Hopkinson are the Bradford members of the think-tank element of the project which is due to report in early 2001.

Professor James and Dr Hopkinson are assessing the effects of the online shopping revolution on transport and logistics; and, together with Robin Barden, are collaboratively writing a book, provisionally entitled Betterlives.Net? The book assesses the social and environmental implications of developments in information and communication technology.

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University - Public Relations - Annual Reports - 2000 Contents - Research

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