The digital environmental footprint grows in an unsustainable way because of the business models of the dominant players , i.e. the GAFAMS/BATX and their derivatives (Netflix, TikTok etc..). Making digital sustainable again is not compatible with digital superpowers and calls for a transition to alternate business models designed for sustainability.
Presentation and discussion of the main results of a study to be published in Q4 2022 that should lead to redefining the terms of the debate about digital sustainability.
This study shows that more than 50% of the growth of the digital affluence is due to a very small number of companies and this leads to two conclusions which should help reposition the debate on digital sustainability:
- it is key to focus public policies on these companies to have them change their business models and to prevent those to become the norm in a fast digitalizing economy,
- doing this will give space for a redesign of the digital ecosytem for sustainability
