The Economic Virtues of Digital Sobriety and Eco-Design

Opt for digital sobriety and save money by purchasing your second-hand on-premise software licenses on the Softcorner marketplace.

Today, digital technology is omnipresent in our private and professional lives. France has almost 61 million internet users out of a population of just over 65 million inhabitants, which is almost 100% across all age groups. The benefits of a connected society are evident, but in the context of climate urgency, it is essential to consider the ecological footprint of digital technology to sustainably combat its negative effects and develop more sustainable practices.

Digital services account for 10% of electricity consumption in France and 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Manufacturing a computer requires 588 kg of raw materials, 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water.

As Frédéric Bordage, the founder of the GreenIT collective, reminded us: "Digital technology is a limited resource, and we must urgently limit its use." As an involved actor, he highlights the issues of digital pollution and promotes the environmental and economic virtues of eco-design and digital sobriety.

Definition of the Concepts of Eco-Design and Digital Sobriety

Relying on software and hardware infrastructures (servers, network equipment, fixed and mobile terminals...), digital technology contributes exponentially to greenhouse gas emissions. These GHG emissions are almost equally divided between the manufacturing phases of digital devices (37%), their use (38%), network infrastructures, and data centers (25%). By implementing an eco-design and digital sobriety strategy, a lever of the ecological transition consecrated by the REEN law (Reduction of the Environmental Footprint of Digital Technology) of November 2021, companies can simultaneously act on these three phases. 

What is Eco-Design?

Eco-design involves integrating the environmental dimension from the design of digital products and services to their end of life. Hardware eco-design simplifies the repair of digital equipment to extend their lifespan and slow down the excessively high renewal rate of devices (mobile phones, desktop, and laptop computers...). Responsible digital design (RDN) also improves the recycling of these devices at the end of their life.

Software and applications are also concerned with eco-design. They are at the heart of digital services and influence the choice of hardware based on technical prerequisites, and also determine its lifespan. Software sobriety has a decisive impact on processor power, memory capacity, and storage required for its proper functioning. The eco-design of software intervenes throughout the software lifecycle:

• Upstream, relying on the principles of digital eco-design, which include simplicity in terms of features and user interface, frugality and digital sobriety in terms of data volume, relevance that encompasses the usefulness of the results obtained, processing speed and accessibility, and finally durability, which involves being able to reuse all or part of a program.
• During the development phases, with the analysis and supervision of the software to identify the programs and functions that consume the most resources and energy and optimize the code.
• Downstream, by respecting a principle of digital sobriety during deployment (choice of hosting and installation procedures) and ensuring continuous improvement based on user feedback. Eco-design also defines software decommissioning procedures within your information system as part of your second-hand market resale strategy to value your software assets or simply to archive them. By following this approach, you avoid residual impacts on your servers, terminals, network, and storage spaces.

What is Digital Sobriety?

The expression is from Frédéric Bordage who, in 2008, observed that digital technology is a critical, non-renewable resource that is inexorably depleting. Digital sobriety is based on the moderation of digital uses and the design of more sober digital services. For the French association The Shift Project, digital sobriety involves moving from an instinctive digital use today to a conscious and thoughtful digital approach. Digital sobriety has a systemic dimension that mechanically has social, economic, and technological repercussions.

Concretely, the strategy of digital sobriety is based, among other things:

• On limiting the renewal of digital equipment through a maintenance and upkeep strategy to extend their lifespan;
• On reducing the volume of electronic waste by donating equipment to associations, depositing them in recycling and waste recovery channels, or selling spare parts;
• On limiting the electricity consumption of equipment by turning them off at the end of the day rather than putting them on standby, favoring Wifi over 4G, disabling geolocation and notifications for mobile terminals, and activating power-saving modes;
• On optimizing the hardware, software, network, and telecom infrastructure, and limiting the use of cloud technology;
• On adopting good daily practices to improve the management of your collaborators' emails, deleting unnecessary documents from backup units, limiting the use of video conferencing...

The Second-Hand Software License, a Vector of Savings and Digital Sobriety

The management of your software assets (SAM) is part of a digital sobriety approach because it is a source of savings and efficiency. A precise analysis of your software architecture in light of your collaborators' needs will allow you to decommission unnecessary applications and buy second-hand on-premise licenses. By removing unnecessary applications from your servers and terminals, you free up resources in terms of power, storage, and bandwidth, and also reduce your energy consumption. By favoring the circular economy and second-hand perpetual licenses with the Softcorner marketplace, you extend the lifespan of software licenses and your hardware infrastructure. You achieve substantial savings that you can reinvest in security projects, eco-design... in line with the requirements of sustainable and reasoned digital technology.