Combining digital sobriety and ecological transition of cities

The last decade has been marked by a massive development of digital technologies that have opened the way to multiple innovations and applications, but whose environmental impact is far from neutral...

Growing energy consumption, record greenhouse gas emissions, increasing consumption of raw materials and rare metals, use and pollution of water resources... The impact on the environment is not negligible and could increase as our use of these digital technologies grows.

Alongside the La Rochelle Urban Community and the city of La Rochelle, the SUEZ Consulting teams are working with their partners* to develop a strategy for responsible digital technology.  Fully aligned with the La Rochelle Territoire Zéro Carbone (La Rochelle Zero Carbon Territory) ambition, the strategy aims to reduce the territory’s digital impact considerably.

To make digital solutions levers for the territory, combining a better quality of life and the performance of urban services, our teams have established a 3-step strategy:

• Measuring the impact of digital technologies with different tools: assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, digital tools life cycle analysis, a close collaboration with the Institut Numérique Responsable (INR) and tools development such as WeNR, a solution based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of carbon footprint and responsible digital maturity
• Raising citizen and stakeholder awareness about the environmental impact of digital technology through conferences, workshops and interviews in order to raise collective awareness
• Co-developing a road map with concrete actions minimising the impact of digital technologies

* : SUEZ Smart Solutions, Greenspector and Digital4Better