The Need for a Green ICT Reference Framework
2026-04-10 • Software Engineering
Software EngineeringComputers and Society
AI summaryⓘ
The authors explain that it is hard to measure and manage how information and communication technology (ICT) systems affect the environment because these systems are complex and different groups handle parts of them separately. They argue that just using numbers or data isn't enough to solve this problem. Therefore, they created a shared framework that brings together many viewpoints, stages of the technology's life, and rules for managing it. This framework is a first step to help people work together to make ICT more environmentally friendly.
ICT systemssustainabilitymeasurement practicesgovernancereference frameworklifecycle phasesGreen ICTInformatics Europeenvironmental impact
Authors
Marco Aiello, Mina Alipour, Antonio Brogi, Rafael Capilla, Lidia Fuentes, Ilche Georgievski, Gabriele Gianini, Mahyar Tourchi Moghaddam, Monica Vitali, Sebastian Werner
Abstract
The sustainability impacts of ICT systems are difficult to assess and govern due to structural complexity, fragmented measurement practices, and unclear responsibilities across system layers. We argue that these challenges cannot be addressed solely by metrics and motivate the need for a shared Green ICT reference framework that integrates sustainability across multiple perspectives and domains, lifecycle phases, and governance contexts. We present an initial framework developed within the Informatics Europe Green ICT Working Group as a first step towards a comprehensive reference framework.