How do we make digital services more sustainable?

September 27, 2022

HE Connect Manchester 2022

Talk given in my role at the Green Web Foundation.

The conference is tailored for digital leaders in higher education and features 2 packed days with a carefully curated mixture of talks, workshops, activities and world class facilitators, thought-provokers, speakers and session leads.

Many people are still under the notion that digital is intrinsically green and even good for the environment. But if the internet was a country it would be the seventh biggest emitter of carbon in the world, and it’s thought to produce more carbon emissions than the aviation industry.

The cloud isn’t as fluffy and harmless as we’re led to believe…

In this talk, we’ll discuss how:

  • digital technologies cause climate impacts;

  • anyone can take meaningful action to improve the sustainability of the tech they build, manage, or use;

  • to spot greenwashing in the digital tech sector.