ICT: Catalyst for change

MG Jun, divisional director of Two Tomorrows (Asia), looks at some of the key sustainability issues in the information and communications technology sector

Information and communications technology (ICT) companies are in a position to make a major contribution to sustainability by enabling far-reaching changes.

Product benefits

Although directly responsible for a relatively low level of carbon emissions (two per cent in Europe), the ICT industry can bring about large reductions in emissions elsewhere. This can be achieved, for example, through technology-led innovations such as ‘smart grids’ that save energy by using two-way digital technology to control electrical appliances at consumers’ homes. In addition, technology solutions can be used to increase the efficiency of combustion engines, buildings and logistics networks. These are all huge areas of opportunity.

Similarly, ICT companies can provide socially inclusive products and services that enable accessibility for people of all ages and abilities. For example, Vodafone provides text-to-speech software enabling blind people to read text messages.

Direct impacts

Some in the ICT sector have started to achieve the win-win of reduced energy consumption and therefore manufacturing costs. Meanwhile, water usage is a significant issue for semiconductor companies, and they have begun to invest in strategies to reduce water usage and wastewater discharge.

More needs to be done, however, about managing the environmental impacts of products at the end of their life. For instance, companies could provide more support for take-back systems and develop better ways of recovering raw materials from recycled products. Take mobile phones as an example. In the USA, 130 million mobile phones are discarded every year. And in China, where take-back systems are as-yet underdeveloped, around eight million new mobile phones enter use every month.

Responsible sourcing

As in many major industries, ICT companies have significant indirect impacts through activities in their supply chains. Most pressingly, ICT companies need to ensure that their sourcing of important raw materials used in component manufacture such as tin, tantalum, and tungsten is not causing or exacerbating conflict.

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative and the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, among others, acknowledge that collaboration with first and higher-tier suppliers is needed to make social and environmental improvements. More sophisticated processes and information exchange together with improved intra-sector engagement are providing the mechanisms for this.

Track record

Two Tomorrows has developed its knowledge of sustainability issues in the ICT sector through many years of working with leading players in the field. This work has included:

• benchmarking the accountability of HP, Vodafone, Philips, LG Electronics and SK Telecom
• helping Juniper Networks and Vodafone develop and implement stakeholder engagement strategies
• providing independent sustainability report assurance for Samsung SDI, LG Electronics and SK Telecom
• designing sustainability training for staff at Hitachi Europe
• helping Symantec develop a responsible sourcing programme
• advising Apple and Motorola on their producer responsibility programmes.

Our offices in San Francisco, Seoul and London are ideally located to service key parts of the ICT value chain.

To find out more about our work in the ICT industry, contact MG Jun in Seoul at mingu.jun@twotomorrows.com or Todd Cort in San Francisco at todd.cort@twotomorrows.com