Swiss IGF: How do net zero and digital transformation come together?

A hot topic of this year’s Swiss Internet Governance Forum was the ecological footprint of digitalization. A discussion between Jan Bieser (Berner Fachhochschule BFH), Dr. Mira Wolf-Bauwens (IBM Research) and our director Florin Hasler delivered valuable insights. The panelists agreed that after several decades of optimism about efficiency and technology, it is now time to take account of the rebound effects and ecological costs. Technology should only be used where it actually adds a net value. This requires bold moves. In that regard, there is a lot of potential in re-using existing infrastructure, code and LLMs. This will not be possible without the willingness to change – together. 

With the Prototype Fund, we create a space where teams can actively work on projects to help shaping the necessary conditions. By setting examples, we will hopefully succeed in incentivising digitally sufficient solutions on a broad scale in the future. Thanks to Joséphine von Mitschke-Collande and Francesca Giardina from Stiftung Mercator for coordinating this session and to Sylke Gruhnwald for the excellent moderation. Let’s move!