Sustainability of digital information services

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to propose a model which serves to illustrate that a number of factors are responsible for, and contribute to, the different forms of sustainability of digital information services. It also seeks to identify some areas of information research and their interrelationship in the context of sustainability of digital information services. Design/methodology/approach -This research is based on critical analysis of a range of research and policy documents, and an environment scan, in different aspects of sustainability of information systems and services. Recent and relevant past research studies as well as some relevant government policies and initiatives have been critically analyzed in order to identify various factors that are said to contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of information services. Findings -It is noted that the sustainability of information has not been studied within the mainstream information science research. However, several previous research studies have produced findings and models that can be used to achieve some aspects of sustainability of information. It is also noted that various parameters of sustainability are inter-related and hence a proper research agenda has to be prepared, and concerted research efforts are needed in order to be able to develop and manage sustainable digital information services. Practical implications -A model has been proposed showing the various factors to be studied for achieving the economic, social and environmental sustainability of information services. Interrelations among the different factors and their implications for sustainability of digital information systems services are also discussed. Originality/value -The model is expected to open new vistas for research in the economic, social and environmental sustainability of digital information systems and services. It will develop new tools, technologies and applications for building sustainable information systems and services appropriate for the digital era.

La cara oculta de la sociedad de la información: el impacto medioambiental de la producción, el consumo y los residuos tecnológicos

“…De momento, el cómo evaluar ese impacto es un objeto de estudio en sí mismo (Malmodin et al, 2014;Kalaitzoglou, Bruntink, & Visser, 2014). Algunos trabajos apuestan por una visión más general del impacto del mundo digital (Chowdhury, 2013;Hankel, 2014); otros estudian aspectos y/o dispositivos de forma específica, sean las comunicaciones móviles en su conjunto (Fehske, Fettweis, Malmodin & Biczók, 2011), las redes inalámbricas (Auer et al, 2012;Zeller et al, 2013), los centros de datos (Cappiello, Melià, Pernici, Plebani & Vitali, 2014) y sus "servidores comatosos o zombies" 11 (Koomey & Taylor, 2017), o el paso del uso de ordenadores de sobremesa a tabletas (Hischier & Wäger, 2014). También son varios los autores que estudian si el paso del mundo offline al online es siempre positivo en tér-minos de sostenibilidad como se suele creer, obteniendo datos que cuestionan esta creencia generalizada (Arushanyan et al, 2014;De Decker, 2015).…”

Legal deposit of electronic books – a review of challenges faced by national libraries

“…Various factors, such as political instability, lack of funding, poor infrastructure, etc. might have contributed to a lack of representation from the Middle East (Moghaddam, 2010;Bhatti, 2014), Africa (Lor, 2005;Nsibirwa, Hoskins and Stillwell, 2014) and other developing nations (Chowdury, 2013). Language as a barrier to communication might also have contributed to the limited representation from Eastern Europe (e.g.…”

“…Facilities, furniture and buildings as such are not physical environmental issues limited to legal deposit, but might contribute to the success or failure of legal deposit. For electronic books environmental factors, such as ICT infrastructure and connectivity are very important -especially in developing countries (Chowdury, 2013), and specifically in Africa where poor telecommunication infrastructure and inadequate ICT training are listed as challenges for legal deposit (Matuvo and Musoke, 2012).…”

Designing Sustainable Data Archives: Comparing Sustainability Frameworks

“…For the purposes of this paper, our inquiry is limited to frameworks that focus on the longevity of organizations or services, rather than those that examine ecological sustainability or broader societal issues (e.g. Chowdhury, 2012). We conclude with a brief discussion of how data archive sustainability can be discussed in more nuanced ways than the current literature suggests and brief implications for designing data services that persist over time.…”