ICT for sustainable development

According to ADEME, even if it is “directly and indirectly energy-using and emitter of polluting gases, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector constitutes an important motor for progress in terms of a reduction of polluting emissions and in terms of an energy consumption control”. A study carried out in 2016 within the French administration confirmed it and indicated about videoconference that “it has become an indispensable tool which can help to reduce gas emissions”*.

Videoconference is one of the actions carried out by Charlois Group to reduce its carbon footprint. That choice can be explained by the geographic dispersal of the group’s houses in France and in other countries. As a matter of fact, there are many travels among houses and videoconference is going to reduce them.

Always based on the same logic of reducing its carbon footprint, Charlois Group opted for a secure electronic signature software to dematerialize an important part of procedures and, consequently, to reduce paper consumption.

Environmental problems linked to the Information and Communication Technology, including data storage, are significant nonetheless. For example, to try to resolve those issues, new projects are currently under study to use date centers heat to power district heating systems.

*in Raluca Iugulescu-Lestrade, « Téléconférence et visioconférence ou les paradoxes des outils de simplification des réunions ».