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IT and sustainability: New strategies for reducing carbon emissions and resource usage in transportation

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  • Funk, Jeffrey L.

Abstract

This paper describes how rapid rates of improvement in smart phones, telecommunication systems and other forms of IT enable solutions for sustainability and how this provides opportunities for the fields of telecommunication and information systems. While reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change focuses on technologies with rates of improvement less than 5% per year, most types of information technologies are experiencing annual rates of improvement that exceed 30% per year. These rapid rates of improvement are changing the economics of many activities of which this paper describes four examples in transportation. The paper concludes by discussing challenges for universities and in particular for the fields of telecommunications and information systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Funk, Jeffrey L., 2015. "IT and sustainability: New strategies for reducing carbon emissions and resource usage in transportation," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 861-874.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:39:y:2015:i:10:p:861-874
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2015.07.007
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    Cited by:

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    2. Park, Jiyoun & Nam, Changi & Kim, Hye-jin, 2019. "Exploring the key services and players in the smart car market," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10).
    3. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco, 2020. "Measuring the urban sustainable development in cities through a Composite Index: The case of Portugal," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 507-520, July.
    4. Salahuddin, Mohammad & Alam, Khorshed & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2016. "The effects of Internet usage and economic growth on CO2 emissions in OECD countries: A panel investigation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1226-1235.
    5. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco, 2018. "Measuring the Performance in Creative Cities: Proposal of a Multidimensional Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, November.
    6. Wang, Lei & Chen, Yangyang & Ramsey, Thomas Stephen & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2021. "Will researching digital technology really empower green development?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    7. Dehghan Shabani, Zahra & Shahnazi, Rouhollah, 2019. "Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, information and communications technology, and gross domestic product in Iranian economic sectors: A panel causality analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1064-1078.
    8. Awan, Ashar & Abbasi, Kashif Raza & Rej, Soumen & Bandyopadhyay, Arunava & Lv, Kangjuan, 2022. "The impact of renewable energy, internet use and foreign direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions: A method of moments quantile analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 454-466.

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