As the digitalization of society is fully ongoing, the opportunity arises to address potential sustainability issues early on. When it comes to negative environmental impacts of digitalization, such as the drastically growing energy use by data centers or the rare earth mineral extraction needed for the personal computers of a business’s workforce, or social impacts such as a worsening work-life balance for employees or dangerous monitoring practices of consumers: avoiding these problems early on is less costly than solving them.
As sustAIn.brussels embraces the twin green & digital transition, as promoted by the European Union, with a key focus on increasing awareness of and improving business sustainability, we gladly present two major contributions aimed at fostering sustainable digitalization within Brussels' business landscape. The first milestone is the sustAIn.brussels Twin Transition Frameworks, providing SMEs with a structured approach to navigating the interplay between digital innovations and sustainability. Complementary to this, we gladly present the second milestone, the Impact Estimation Dashboard Tool, offering partnering businesses a mechanism to visualize and compare the environmental and societal performance of their digital practices. Developed through collaborative efforts and iterative processes, these frameworks and tools represent significant steps towards promoting sustainable digital innovation and responsible business conduct within the Brussels business community.
Key Points:
1. sustAIn.brussels has developed frameworks to aid Brussels SMEs to incorporate sustainability within their digital growth strategy. The impact metrics range from environmental impacts related to carbon emissions and circularity to social impacts on consumers, employees and broader society.
2. The sustAIn.brussels Impact Estimation Dashboard Tool aids SMEs to gauge environmental and societal impacts of digital practices.
3. These milestones have been created through collaborative efforts with experts and industry, ensuring practicality and relevance.
4. As such, these frameworks and tools cater specifically to the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the Brussels area, increasing awareness on how to improve the sustainability of their digital transformation
Additional Resources: The twin green & digital transition: How sustainable digital technologies could enable a carbon-neutral EU by 2050
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Navigating the Twin Transition: The sustAIn.brussels Framework for Guiding Businesses Towards Sustainable Digitalization