Summary
The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is associated with both positive and negative effects. The negative contribution to sustainability consists, for example, in the consumption of resources for the production of the individual components (e.g. antennas for the base stations of mobile communication networks) and the energy requirements caused by the production and use of ICT with the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Positive effects can arise, for example, from the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to ICT use.
The literature on this issue shows that a quantification of ICT-related sustainability effects is strongly driven by the assumptions made. For this reason, the focus of this study is less on quantification and more on identifying the main drivers for the sustainability effects of ICT infrastructure. It turns out that in addition to the technical drivers, indirect, non-technical drivers are often responsible for the use of a specific technical solution, or that they determine the technical drivers. While in the mass market energy-efficient solutions for cost reasons are an intrinsic driver from competing companies, it is often the case with publicly implemented products that the functioning of the solution is more important.
