Guidance released for creating sustainable digital services
The French telecom and digital regulator, Arcep, published a new document on May 17, 2024, titled the General Reference for the Ecodesign of Digital Services. However, a quick search reveals no specific details about the content or its contributions to reducing the environmental impact of the digital sector.
Based on previous references from Arcep, this document is expected to offer a framework for sustainable digital service design. Here's what we know it might include:
- Principles and criteria for lower environmental impact digital services, focusing on energy efficiency, resource use reduction, and circular economy principles.
- Guidelines for service providers and developers to optimize software and infrastructure to reduce energy consumption and emissions.
- Measures to improve transparency and eco-responsibility in digital service delivery, such as reporting environmental footprints.
- Recommendations on lifecycle impacts of digital services, including hardware use, network infrastructure, and data centers.
- Encouragement of sustainable development goals by fostering less resource-intensive digital innovation.
The document aims to decrease energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and electronic waste throughout the value chain, thereby reducing the impact of the digital sector.
The General Reference for the Ecodesign of Digital Services is part of the Interministerial Mission for Digital and Sustainable Numeracy and is linked to the Ministry of Ecological Transition's Responsible Digital initiative. The document is also linked to the REEN law (Reduction of the Environmental Impact of the Digital Sector).
It's important to note that this is not the first resource of its kind. A previous version was published on November 29, 2022. The creation of this document involved a public consultation launched on October 9, 2023, by Arcep and Arcom, gathering opinions from various stakeholders.
The document, now available on the Arcep website, also provides elements for reflection on artificial intelligence, particularly on the energy-intensive learning phase of these tools. Creating a lightweight service allows it to run on older devices, contributing to limiting the early renewal of electronic equipment.
Municipalities with over 50,000 inhabitants are mandated to define a responsible digital strategy by January 1, 2025. The General Reference for the Ecodesign of Digital Services could serve as a valuable resource in achieving this goal. For the latest and detailed content, it's recommended to consult directly with Arcep’s official publications or press releases issued around May 17, 2024, as publicly available search results do not currently provide this information.
- The General Reference for the Ecodesign of Digital Services, recently published by Arcep, encompasses principles and criteria from environmental science, such as energy efficiency and resource use reduction, aiming to create digital services with a lower environmental impact.
- As a part of the Interministerial Mission for Digital and Sustainable Numeracy and the Ministry of Ecological Transition's Responsible Digital initiative, the document proposes integrating technology into environmental-science practices with a focus on reducing the digital sector's energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and electronic waste.
