The Digital Carbon Footprint Is Growing , or Is It

There are two trends that are rapidly changing the world we live in – digitalization and climate change. At first glance, the two appear to be completely disparate trends. However upon further examination, there are correlations that are worth exploring. For one, digital technologies, devices and applications are ubiquitous in today’s world and growing. With such growth comes environmental impact. But what is that impact and is the growth significantly contributing to climate change or do efficiency improvements offset emissions? Digitalization has a clear environmental “footprint” that must be prioritized by information and communication technology (ICT) companies. At the same time, ICT has a “handprint” that has had a measurable benefit in reducing the growth of the world’s carbon emissions, with many more unrealized opportunities. The seminar will examine this topic from the lens of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, Intel Corporation, and will discuss both the challenges ahead as well as the opportunities that digitalization presents.

Speaker(s): Todd Brady,

Princeton University , Princeton , New Jersey, United States, 08541, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/272145