Digital sustainability: basic conditions for sustainable digital artifacts and their ecosystems

Abstract

The modern age has heralded a shift from the industrial society, in which natural resources are crucial input factors for the economy, towards a knowledge society. To date, sustainability literature has treated knowledge—and in particular digital artifacts—mainly as a means to the end of achieving sustainable development. In this conceptual paper, we argue that digital artifacts themselves ought also to be considered as resources, which also need to be sustainable. While over-consumption is a problem facing natural resources, with sustainable digital artifacts, underproduction, and underuse are the biggest challenges. In our view, the sustainability of digital artifacts improves their potential impact on sustainable development. A theoretical foundation for digital artifacts and their ecosystem allows us to present the relevant research on digital information, knowledge management, digital goods, and innovation literature. Based on these insights, we propose ten basic conditions for sustainable digital artifacts and their ecosystem to ensure that they provide the greatest possible benefit for sustainable development. We then apply those characteristics to four exemplary cases: Linux kernel development, Bitcoin cryptocurrency, the Wikipedia project, and the Linking Open Drug Data repositories. The paper concludes with a research agenda identifying topics for sustainability scholars and information systems academics, as well as practitioners. A number of suggestions for future studies on digital sustainability are also put forward.

Sustainable Tourism in the Open Innovation Realm: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Indeed, nowadays, there is a growing interest in what scholars label as digital sustainability [9][10][11]. According to [12], "Digital resources are handled sustainably if their utility for society is maximized, so that digital needs of contemporary and future generations are equally met.…”

“…Among the numerous characteristics of digital sustainability (i.e., intergenerational justice, regenerative capacity, economic use of resources, risk reduction, absorptive capacity, economic and ecological added value [10]), there are some that fit with the interests of sustainable tourism well.…”

“…Actually, the vision offered by some scholars [10,11] is reduced if we consider only the digital technology per se without recalling the definition of a tourist product as global and as a result of an overlapping perspective between the demand and offer side [18].…”

Explicating the Role of Trust in Knowledge Sharing: A Structural Equation Model Test

“…Information systems and technology help people to share knowledge while creating communities that transcend time and space constraints in the context of knowledge management and increase access to, speed and volume of knowledge (Ignatavičius et al 2015). The trust in technologies for knowledge management is a white topic in contemporary research literature where the most important elements are trust that the technology can function properly (Kuo 2013) and trust that technology is transparent (Stuermer et al 2016). In some business contexts, especially in new technology development, trust in technologies also represents the belief that knowledge is safe.…”

The new silk road and its potential for sustainable development: how open digital participation could make BRI a role model for sustainable businesses and markets

“…To connect the knowledge, ideas, and demands of shareholders and stakeholders, to provide locally and culturally tailored services to them, and to benefit from the power of crowd sourcing and collective intelligence, an open, decentralized communication and deliberation platform for the BRI could be created by combining and extending participatory platforms such as UN OCHA, Global Pulse, the Deliberatorium, and Nervousnet (see nervousnet.info). A similar approach can be found in the FuturICT initiative (see www.futurict.eu, www.futurict2.eu) or the concept of "sustainable digital artefacts" in the light of open source and access (Stuermer et al 2016). FuturICT aims to generate crowd-sourced data, using smartphones and other Internet of Things sensors run by many engaged participants from both, civil society and governmental institutions.…”