Abstracts

Night prior dinner presentation

Extending the Life of Technology through the Circular Economy and  innovative Urban Mining
Matt Franklin, Chief Sales Officer, Roc Technologies and Andy Gomarsall, Chairman of N2S and former England Rugby Union player

E-waste is one of the fastest-growing environmental issues facing the world today. According to the UN, more than 50 million tonnes of e-waste is produced each year globally and only 20% of this is ethically recycled. If nothing is done, this will more than double by 2050, to 120 million tonnes (World Economic Forum report, 2019). In the UK alone, 1.5 million tonnes of e-waste are generated annually.

Roc, working with N2S enable Universities to have a sustainable approach to their IT asset management by enabling and measuring the reuse, resale or recycling of IT equipment. Roc is committed to environmental sustainability. Our services support the UN Sustainability goals that help Universities achieve improved Times Impact Rankings.The presentation will cover how Roc are working to help Universities achieve their sustainability goals through the delivery of innovative solutions and services. For over two decades, Roc working with, n2s has delivered industry leading  IT Lifecycle Management services with specialist expertise in the sustainability, security and compliance challenges associated with technology. We have made it our mission to redefine the lifecycle of technology and have pioneered innovations such as in precious metal recovery to achieve circularity in the IT and telecoms sectors. n2s is the first technology lifecycle management provider with expertise in decarbonisation to truly empower Universities to deliver and report on their IT sustainability goals.

Our aim is to redefine IT Lifecycle Management and pioneer innovation to support the principles of a circular economy. We have created a robust and auditable approach to every stage of the lifecycle that ensures information security and brand protection, mitigates risk and optimises the recovery of rare materials.

Wednesday 5 June 

All Fact No Fiction: All About Sustainability
Professor Begum Tokay, University of Nottingham

Sustainability goals: today and tomorrow

It's been nine years since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations (UN). Their recent report (2023) emphasised that urgent action is needed to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet by 2030. Digital sustainability has become an important aspect of net zero target as recently electricity consumption of data centres reached 200-250 TWh in 2020, which is more than domestic electricity usage of many countries (and approximating countries such as UK (286 TWh). In addition, vast amount of water use has brought up the ethical discussions while water scarcity has been affecting world population. Therefore, using green energy resources is not enough anymore to be sustainable.

Education technology that’s easy to use – and easy on the planet
Kirri Watson, Head of Adult Education, UK/I, Google, and Richard Fuller, Assistant Director of IT Services, University of York

Sustainable Data Centres, AI & Device lifespans and management

At Google we have a unique opportunity to empower individuals, organisations and governments with the data and tools they need to drive positive action for our planet.

That means using our products and platforms to help people make more sustainable choices, and working together with our partners to help reduce their emissions and advance transformative technology for a carbon-free future. It also means using our deep legacy in research and the breakthroughs we’re making in AI to accelerate innovation that can tackle climate change.

Join Google and University of York to explore how these technologies are being used in practice to promote a sustainable future in Higher Education.

Designing an innovative cross-sector tool to measure and reduce supply chain emissions and meet net zero ambitions
Charlotte Wood, Sustainability Manager and Claire Davies, Sustainable Procurement Manager, NTU

How engaging with your ICT supply chains to obtain real carbon emissions data can achieve measurable digital sustainability

Nottingham Trent University strives to be one of the most environmentally responsible universities in the UK. Hear how NTU's 'thinking outside of the box' approach to a software solution allowed them to design and develop a low cost Net Zero Carbon Supplier Tool that captures accurate supply chain carbon data and engages suppliers to embed sustainability. The team behind the Tool will demonstrate how it is enabling actual carbon reductions across scopes 1, 2 and 3 for ICT. 

Managing data storage to reduce environmental impact
Clare Casey, Head of Environmental Sustainability, Jisc 

Methods that can be used to reduce digital storage and top tips.

As part of Jisc's goals for 23/24 staff were challenged to reduce the current digital storage of 57 terabytes (exchange, teams, sharepoint) by 25%, if possible. This session will look at the approach that was taken in supporting staff to reach the target and reduce the environmental impact of the digital storage.

Device lifecycle, culture and sustainability
John Ireland, Director of Customer Services @ IT Services, University of Oxford

Considerations around device lifecycles and impact on IT sustainability

Findings from work to look at reducing environmental impact by extending device lifecycles at Oxford. When should you replace a desktop or laptop PC? What about the manufacture, shipping and end-of-life treatment? What are the surprises?

Sustainability Behaviour Matters
Sean Green, Director of Digital, University of East Anglia

Explore a case study undertaken at a UK University on Sustainable behaviour

How to evaluate the environmental claims of IT suppliers.
Nick Skelton, Independent IT Consultant

Sustainability 101:

• Why we should prioritise reduce, above reuse, above recycle
• CO2 emissions: scope 1 (direct), scope 2 (indirect), and scope 3 (supply chain)
• Supply chain emissions: the largest proportion but the most difficult to reduce
• Why offsetting is no substitute for reducing emissions.

Evaluating supplier claims:

• Life Cycle Analysis: the gold standard for understanding environmental impact
• Good suppliers or merely good storytellers? How to spot greenwashing
• The importance of independent accreditation and verification schemes
• Benefit from professional expertise: working with your procurement and sustainability teams

Sustainability and AI
Dr Marcia Tavares Smith, Senior Research Associate, School of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University

Environmental, ethical and social impacts of digital technologies such as AI

Alongside the potential benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is important to understand the negative impacts that the adoption of such technology generates. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is responsible for around 2-4% of global carbon emissions, an amount that is similar to that produced by the aviation industry. The rapid adoption of digital innovations like generative AI are likely to make this situation worse. In addition to carbon emissions, there are other environmental and social impacts and ethical issues to consider. Before we can take advantage of the benefits of AI it is important to reflect on what important issues should be considered when designing and developing digital products, service and systems.

Greener screens: Launching our Green Digital Design internship
Catherine Munn, User Experience Research Specialist, University of Edinburgh

Sustainable web design, UX and student internships

Our UX team has recently recruited a Green Digital Design intern to investigate sustainable web design practices over the summer. This talk will explain why we’re running the internship, what we’re hoping to find out, and how we’re using this opportunity to reduce the energy emissions of the University of Edinburgh’s web pages.

Should we put our data centres somewhere cold?
Dr. Emma Barnes, Head of Research and Faculty IT and Richard Fuller, Assistant Director of IT Services, University of York

York's HPC adventures in Sweden: nine months on

At the UCISA DIG23 conference, the University of York generated a lot of interest in an initiative to move their HPC computing to a datacentre in Sweden's colder climate. This is an opportunity to learn how successful the datacentre has been since it went live in October 2023.

It started with an idea and now we've done it, we’ve migrated the University's High Performance compute (HPC) provision to a better-than-net-zero data centre in the heart of Sweden.Our HPC facility is live and running user workloads. Hear about the challenges we've faced along the way, how users have found the new system and the opportunities we've taken and learn from our mistakes if you decide to do this yourself!

Balancing Carbon with Digital Transformation
Paul Couchman, Director of Technology and Gavin Scott, Head of Sustainability, University of Nottingham and Howard Gray, Director Business Consulting - Sustainability & Climate, CGI

Why it is critical, now more than ever that we are embedding carbon into digital and data strategy, and taking action to mitigate its impact

Outlining our increasingly digital world and its contribution to global emissions, this session will explore topics such as: Sustainable data management; Responsible use of AI; Sustainable EUC; Sustainable ICT policy and procurement; and Building carbon into digital and data strategy.

Everything Everywhere All at Once
John Vass-de-Zomba, IT Environmental Sustainability Manager, University of Manager

An approach to tackling the range of environmental impacts of a HE institution's IT estate and operations

The uses IT is put to can benefit or harm the environment - compare AI identification of new fossil fuel reserves to AI optimisation of wind turbine placement. But the creation, operation and disposal of IT, like most human activity, is in itself harmful to the environment as it requires materials and consumes energy. When addressing the sustainability of an HE institute's IT we are mitigating that harm. Given we cannot tackle everything all at once, what should we focus on? Is it more effective to gain an extra year out of our laptops, or to utilise one particular cloud provider over others, or to strengthen sustainability in procurement policy?

Before we attempt to prioritise the improvements we could bring about, we must decide the bases on which we will compare these apples to oranges. This is not simply a case of choosing a metric, gathering the data, then seeing which comes out on top. We must decide which environmental impacts to address, how we might measure them, and consider the availability, veracity, and meaning of data for measuring our effectiveness. We might also want to consider more indirect, qualitative outcomes and whether pragmatic compromises are needed in order to achieve real change.

This presentation lays out the approach we have taken at the University of Manchester to balance these considerations. In it, we will also dip into the lessons we have learnt along the way, and some of the discoveries we've made which have helped to inform our decisions. The hope is that by sharing these, others in a similar position may progress more rapidly and beyond, then in turn share their learning with the HE IT environmental sustainability community.

Do website carbon footprints matter?
Scott Stonham, Digital Carbon Online

Website carbon emissions might seem small, but they can carry a greater influence.

The carbon dioxide emissions of websites are often considered inconsequential when compared to other environmental factors an organisation must address. Yet, when aligned to visitors numbers and behaviour they can soon grow to be much more significant, reaching tens or even hundreds of kilograms per month. Additionally, websites are the public embodiment of the organisation’s brand and can carry reputation and apply influence far beyond carbon emission reduction. In this talk we explore the role of website carbon footprints as part of a broader digital sustainability mission along with an exclusive study of the website emissions of the UK’s top universities.