Elements of Sustainable ICT – Manufacturing and lifecycle of ICT Equipment

The ICT sector is praised for its tremendous impact on our society. ICT enhances the productivity and processes of all industries. Consumers and companies have gained valuable new digital services that help us in our daily lives. 

Yet, at the same time, the ICT sector has a considerable footprint from the energy use, manufacturing of devices and recycling (E-Waste). The goal of this course is to present this footprint, what the impact is on our environment and society, and how it could be lowered and thereby reduce our carbon emissions and impact on global warming. 

The course equips learners with the conceptual and technical foundations required to understand, evaluate, and contribute to the design of more sustainable and energy-efficient digital services. 

The objective of this course is to provide the students with a structured understanding of how our digital infrastructure uses energy and material resources and thereby creates a major negative footprint on our society and environment. The course aims to raise awareness of the footprint of ICT and what is being done and what more can be done to support our goal towards a greener future. By the end of the course, learners will have an understanding of the wide impact of ICT resource usage, and how digital services could be built to be more resource efficient. 

The objective of this course is to give the students a holistic understanding of the environmental impact of ICT hardware (smart phones, laptops, servers, etc.) during their lifecycle. 

This course focuses on the manufacturing and repairing of ICT equipment, and the environmental impact associated to the ICT hardware.