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Alipay’s Scripted Savings: Gamifying Financial Growth Through Interactive Storytelling

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Alipay’s Scripted Savings: Gamifying Financial Growth Through Interactive Storytelling

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https://daoinsights.com/news/invested-in-the-story-the-alipay-little-purse-helps-you-save-money-with-fictional-script/

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Invested in the story: the Alipay “Little Purse” helps you save money with fictional script

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Towards the end of July, the “Little Purse” savings service from Alipay launched an innovative way of gamifying savings.

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Taco Bell’s app feature helps consumers stick to their budget

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Taco Bell’s app feature helps consumers stick to their budget

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Taco Bell’s app feature helps consumers stick to their budget

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The ‘name your price tool’ randomizes restaurant menu items within a set dollar limit

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Furry, friendly and full of AI, Casio's Moflin targets adult stress relief

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Furry, friendly and full of AI, Casio's Moflin targets adult stress relief

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App analyzes user photos to provide home energy-saving tips

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App analyzes user photos to provide home energy-saving tips

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Om dit proces makkelijker en laagdrempeliger te maken introduceert Praxis de Duurzaamheidscheck. Klanten krijgen via de gratis Praxis Plus app met één foto van een ruimte in hun huis persoonlijk verduurzamingsadvies. Met behulp van beeldherkenningstechniek en vier simpele vragen, zoals woningtype en klusgrootte, brengt Praxis de verduurzamingsklussen in beeld. Zo krijgt de klant inzicht in welke verduurzamingsklussen er mogelijk zijn in zijn/haar situatie en welke besparing dit oplevert, in de vorm van een kluschecklist. In deze kluschecklist vindt de klant gelijk bijbehorende hulpcontent zoals stappenplannen en instructievideo's, en kunnen de benodigde artikelen direct worden besteld. Tevens kunnen klanten de klussen die op de kluschecklist staan opslaan voor later en delen met bijvoorbeeld hun huisgenoten of partner. Zo maakt Praxis het nog makkelijker voor de klant om aan de slag te gaan met het verduurzamen van hun huis.

Miranda Smit, Marketing Director Praxis: "Met de toevoeging van geavanceerde beeldherkennings- en AI-technieken zetten we weer een grote stap richting ons doel om het de Maker zo makkelijk mogelijk te maken. De Duurzaamheidscheck is een belangrijke toevoeging aan de app op het gebied van energiezuinig en duurzaam wonen. We begrijpen dat onze klanten op zoek zijn naar gemakkelijke manieren om groenere keuzes te maken, en met deze innovatieve functie geven we hun de handvaten om hiermee aan de slag te gaan. Ons doel is om iedereen te laten zien dat duurzaam wonen makkelijker is dan gedacht."

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Praxis maakt huis verduurzamen makkelijker met app

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AMSTERDAM, 12 oktober 2023- Vanaf deze week maakt Praxis het voor klanten nog makkelijker om hun huis te verduurzamen. Aan de gratis Praxis Plus app ...

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Vision care at the speed of sight - make vision care more accessible and affordable

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Vision care at the speed of sight - make vision care more accessible and affordable

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Revolutionizing Eye Care: Eyebot Launches Vision Testing Kiosks

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Discover how Eyebot is transforming eye care with innovative vision testing kiosks. Learn about this cutting-edge technology and its impact on accessibility.

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Smart bird feeder leverages AI to recognize individual birds

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Smart bird feeder leverages AI to recognize individual birds

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Discover a new chapter of Bird Buddy and learn how we’re evolving in support of our mission to deepen your connection with nature.

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Small but mighty, a Dutch wind turbine could soon power single-family homes

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Small but mighty, a Dutch wind turbine could soon power single-family homes

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De elegante en efficiënte verticale windturbine voor thuis of bij het bedrijf.

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Nutri anche la mente. Acquista un libro.

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Dutch Initiatives Spark Connections: 'Chat Checkouts'

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Dutch Initiatives Spark Connections: 'Chat Checkouts'

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Kindness Wins: Chat Checkouts, the Rescued Food Market, and the Tiny Home Village

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Dutch Initiatives Spark Connections: 'Chat Baskets'

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Dutch Initiatives Spark Connections: 'Chat Baskets'

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Grocery Shopping Experience - Delicious soup brand Oma’s Soep collaborates with Albert Heijn supermarket branches in Amsterdam to elevate the grocery shopping experience i…

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 Beavertown Brewery turns bar stools into conversation starters

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 Beavertown Brewery turns bar stools into conversation starters

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Beavertown Brewery rolls out ‘friendship-building’ stools

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A survey commissioned by London’s Beavertown Brewery shows over half say there is a stigma around talking to people they don’t know.

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 Hair stylists trained to have eco-conversations with customers

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 Hair stylists trained to have eco-conversations with customers

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nside this chic Sydney hair salon, the chat between stylists and clients could be much the same as in any other hairdressers around the world. Some small talk. The ubiquitous and occasionally mundane chat about holidays and traffic. For regulars, the conversation can move to the deeply personal before you can say semi-tint or shag cut.

In fact, there is only one easily missable clue in the front window that conversations inside Paloma might, when the occasion arises, be a bit different. A poster reads: "This salon chats about love, life & climate action."

"The weather is the hook. You can take a cue from that," says Prof Lesley Hughes, one of two climate scientists who have helped run workshops to give hairdressers the tools for times when the conversation turns to the existential.

"You can show the science until you're blue in the face but what can be more effective are people who you trust talking about it. It's important to show it's not a subject to be afraid of."

More than 400 hairdressers have attended workshops as part of a project called A Brush With Climate being driven by Paloma's owner, Paloma Rose Garcia.

Paloma Rose Garcia, the owner of Paloma salon in Paddington, has organised seminars for hairdressers across Sydney to instruct them on how to talk to their clients about climate action. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

During the sessions, hairdressers hear the basics of climate science and get to role play how conversations might go. They also take one of the posters back to their own salons.

"We're relationship builders," says Garcia. "We suggest some easy ways to introduce climate to the conversation and the biggest one is definitely the weather. But we encourage all the hairdressers to make it their own story."

Some guests, she says "feel helpless and they're a bit embarrassed that they don't understand the science", but want to know more. Mostly, clients accept the basis for climate action but don't know what to do next.

Garcia tells a story about one regular client, a mother of two. After having the climate chat and talking about solar power and ethical banking, she left happy.

"She came back eight weeks later and she's made all these changes. She was really proud. But also she'd been talking to all her girlfriends about it too. It might just be a 20-minute conversation but it can be really powerful."

Jose Bryce Smith is founder of haircare company O&M with a focus on environmentally friendlier and healthier products with less chemicals. She's partnering with Garcia to build the project. They're already fielding calls from the industry in the UK who want to know more.

"Some women keep their hairdressers for a long time and they'll tell them their secrets - they're the unpaid therapist," says Smith.

Not every chat - or even most of them - will be about climate change, say Smith and Garcia. As pseudo-experts in human social interactions, hairdressers tend to know when it's time to go quiet or change the subject.

"For women, hair is so much a part of our identity and there's a lot of trust that goes into that. You're letting someone touch your hair and so you have to like them. That trust allows them to start that conversation.

"There have been so many salons affected by fires and floods in the last few years in Australia. We could see what was happening to small businesses and how they were being affected by climate change - they're casualties of what's happening."

Paloma Rose Garcia: 'You're letting someone touch your hair and so you have to like them. That trust allows them to start that conversation.' Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Social researcher Dr Rebecca Huntley, author of How To Talk About Climate Change in a Way That Makes a Difference, also talks to the hairdressers at the workshops.

Huntley says hairdressers can reach important segments of the Australian public - people who make up about 40% of the population and are either concerned or cautious about climate, but don't dismiss it or deny it's a problem.

"We know those people tend to avoid newspapers or books or any information really that broadcasts itself as being about climate change," says Huntley.

"But when we ask those people who they want to hear from about climate change they often say their friends and family. They'll say climate change is a problem and they want to do more, but they want to hear that from people who are personally relevant to them and are relatable."

Huntley says as far as making a difference goes, having conversations about climate - if there are enough of them - can make real change.

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There's a bit of a green army of hairdressers and beauticians that are really passionate

Paul Frasca, co-founder of Sustainable Salons

"The more that we make talking about climate change something that we just do all the time, the more likely it is we create a broad social mandate for climate action."

There is evidence, too, that hairdressers and beauticians have a unique role in societies.

Dr Hannah McCann, a senior lecturer in cultural studies at the University of Melbourne, is researching the social and emotional role that hairdressers have with their clients.

She says the hours at a time spent together, and the fact there's plenty of touching, makes the relationship different from almost any other.

"It's both social, with the chit-chat, but also people can end up disclosing a lot of things. I've theorised that's because of the intimacy. You might talk to your Uber driver, but they're not touching your hair."

McCann has been interviewing hairdressers since 2017 and says clients will disclose personal secrets in the salon - including miscarriages, mental health problems or violence in relationships - that they won't reveal to anyone else.

Paloma Rose Garcia: 'We suggest some easy ways to introduce climate to the conversation and the biggest one is definitely the weather.' Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

"Often you can be in there for a long time, but it is a place where there is touch. There's an intimacy that's different - and people go back so the relationships build over time," she says.

She says in 2019 and 2020, hairdressers were having a lot of conversations about the black summer bushfires that ravaged much of Australia's east coast.

"People would be expressing some climate anxiety about the things that are happening. They've talked about events like bushfires and it would be good to have some skills to navigate those conversations."

McCann says in the long-term, the industry needs to acknowledge the social role hairdressers play - and the burden they carry when conversations do become emotionally heavy - and to train apprentices on how to help and cope themselves.

The Brush With Climate project may have come along at just the right time - not only because at the 2022 federal election a record number of independent candidates (all female and all very pro-climate action) were elected to parliament.

"There's been a dramatic change in the industry in the last eight years or so," says Paul Frasca, the co-founder of Sustainable Salons, an Australian "profit-for-purpose" company that recovers recyclables such as shampoo bottles and hair and uses them to create new closed-loop products.

"There's a bit of a green army of hairdressers and beauticians that are really passionate. But some hairdressers are scared to talk about sustainability and climate change because they don't know enough. That's what's really great about what Paloma is doing."

Among the 1,500 businesses served by Sustainable Salons, Frasca says "dozens" were ravaged in the country's recent horror fires and devastating floods.

He says in surveys of the industry, there's a common story. Hairdressers are often young mums and their children are learning more about environmental issues and climate change. And they want to see action.

"These children are coming home and they're yelling," says Frasca. "Hairdressers are signing up to this because they want to be on the right side of history."

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Wash, blow dry and 1.5 degrees please: hairdressers trained to talk about climate action

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nside this chic Sydney hair salon, the chat between stylists and clients could be much the same as in any other hairdressers around the world. Some small talk. The ubiquitous and occasionally mundane chat about holidays and traffic. For regulars, the conversation can move to the deeply personal before you can say semi-tint or shag cut.

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Hack Care: Crafting Dementia-Friendly Homes with Creativity and Compassion

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Hack Care: Crafting Dementia-Friendly Homes with Creativity and Compassion

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Disclaimer: The ideas in this catalogue have been gathered to suggest ways to improvise and expand care for persons with dementia. While every effort has been made to ensure that the hacks contained in this catalogue do not pose any undue health and safety hazards, we nonetheless urge all readers to exercise their own judgement on the safety, suitability and appropriateness of these ideas to their own respective caregiving situations.

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The Yellow Canteen: Dulux Paints a Healthier Future for Indonesian Schools

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The Yellow Canteen: Dulux Paints a Healthier Future for Indonesian Schools

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Painting a healthier future for our children.

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 The Ordinary’s Radical Pricing Experiment: Empowering Fairness and Community Care

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 The Ordinary’s Radical Pricing Experiment: Empowering Fairness and Community Care

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The Ordinary on Instagram: "We’re trying something we’ve never tried before. An idea based around the trust we have in our community, and a way to recognise the current cost of living.

Our Daily Set brings a simple regimen to cleanse and care for skin—a routine that some people may not be able to prioritise in today’s environment.

We’re listing The Daily Set with three price options to choose from Sept 10-Oct 31st*—
Regular price
23% off
40% off

The price you choose to pay will be completely up to you. Those who are able to pay the regular price will support our ability to make this idea possible.

The three price options for The Daily Set are live now on our website and in our stores, and offer what we humbly believe to be a universal quality skincare regimen at a price point that is now even more accessible.

*Conditions apply.
The Ordinary’s Choose a Price Program is available on purchases of The Daily Set at theordinary.com or The Ordinary stores from Sept 10 to Oct 31, 2024. Limit of one purchase at each discounted price per customer. Chosen price must be indicated prior to checkout. No rainchecks or price adjustments and not applicable to purchases outside the program period. Non-transferable and no cash value. DECIEM reserves the right to amend or cancel this program at any time in its discretion. See link in bio for full details."

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9,714 likes, 433 comments - theordinary on September 18, 2024: "We’re trying something we’ve never tried before. An idea based around the trust we have in our community, and a way to recognise the current cost of living.

Our Daily Set brings a simple regimen to cleanse and care for skin—a routine that some people may not be able to prioritise in today’s environment.

We’re listing The Daily Set with three price options to choose from Sept 10-Oct 31st*—
Regular price
23% off
40% off

The price you choose to pay will be completely up to you. Those who are able to pay the regular price will support our ability to make this idea possible.

The three price options for The Daily Set are live now on our website and in our stores, and offer what we humbly believe to be a universal quality skincare regimen at a price point that is now even more accessible.

*Conditions apply.
The Ordinary’s Choose a Price Program is available on purchases of The Daily Set at theordinary.com or The Ordinary stores from Sept 10 to Oct 31, 2024. Limit of one purchase at each discounted price per customer. Chosen price must be indicated prior to checkout. No rainchecks or price adjustments and not applicable to purchases outside the program period. Non-transferable and no cash value. DECIEM reserves the right to amend or cancel this program at any time in its discretion. See link in bio for full details.". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Ordinary (@theordinary)

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Breaking the Swipe Cycle: Pique's Love Wall Sparks Organic Connections

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Breaking the Swipe Cycle: Pique's Love Wall Sparks Organic Connections

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Pique Dating on Instagram: "THANK YOU!!!! THE LOCAL LOVE WALL MAGIC CONTINUES! 🩷

We cannot thank YOU ALL enough for bringing such lovely energy, communal kindness, and vulnerability in trusting our process💌 

To our lovely participants, this weekend was filled with magical energy - we truly appreciate all of the joy, humor,and absolutely welcoming energy you all brought!🫶  Catch us back at it next weekend (*sunday only exclusive*)- Already on the love wall? Swing by again and check out the new cuties! Have yet to join? Swing by and come experience the magic of the love wall✨

It’s truly such an honor getting to bring the city together in a beautiful way, so here’s to making connections that last!💓"

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50 likes, 1 comments - the.pique.app on August 13, 2024: "THANK YOU!!!! THE LOCAL LOVE WALL MAGIC CONTINUES! 🩷

We cannot thank YOU ALL enough for bringing such lovely energy, communal kindness, and vulnerability in trusting our process💌 

To our lovely participants, this weekend was filled with magical energy - we truly appreciate all of the joy, humor,and absolutely welcoming energy you all brought!🫶  Catch us back at it next weekend (*sunday only exclusive*)- Already on the love wall? Swing by again and check out the new cuties! Have yet to join? Swing by and come experience the magic of the love wall✨

It’s truly such an honor getting to bring the city together in a beautiful way, so here’s to making connections that last!💓". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pique Dating (@the.pique.app)

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Harry’s Talk Squad: In-Game Therapy for Gamers' Mental Health

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Harry’s Talk Squad: In-Game Therapy for Gamers' Mental Health

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Life can sometimes feel like you’re stuck playing on hard mode. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Harry’s to launch Talk Squad gaming sessions, where you can speak confidentially to one of Shout’s mental health professionals while playing a video game together. Book a session

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AI Granny Fights Scammers: O2’s Creative Solution to Phone Fraud

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AI Granny Fights Scammers: O2’s Creative Solution to Phone Fraud

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AI Scambaiters: O2 creates AI Granny to waste scammers’ time

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Marktplaats Redefines Holiday Gifting with Children's Book on Secondhand Toys 

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Marktplaats Redefines Holiday Gifting with Children's Book on Secondhand Toys 

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Marktplaats reclame | Niets zo mooi als speelgoed van een ander

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 Soul Optic: Rethinking eyewear production to employ non-sighted workers

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 Soul Optic: Rethinking eyewear production to employ non-sighted workers

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SOUL OPTIC Gafas elaboradas por Artesanos Ciegos

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Gafas elaboradas en la oscuridad de Artesanos Ciegos Cada montura es una historia de inclusion. Resignificando la oscuridad a través de un objeto de moda Expertos en lentes de sol formulados Compra con propósito Envios a todo el planeta

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Why Every Company Needs a Futurist-in-Residence

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Why Every Company Needs a Futurist-in-Residence

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As part of a client engagement, I recently stepped into a futurist-in-residence-style role for a major tech company that was eager to infuse futures thinking throughout an already innovative organization. This initiative, aimed at exploring what the next 10-15 years might bring, allowed me to leverage the full spectrum of a futurist's tools as well as those of an organizational designer-simultaneously exploring their design question while teaching and integrating foresight capabilities.

Being a futurist means spotting signals that may only be whispers today, but could become profound shifts tomorrow-shifts that companies will have to be prepared to navigate. When playing this role we use a mix of facilitative, creative, and analytical tools that not only identify emerging patterns, but also embed foresight into the organization itself, helping shape the culture to be more forward-facing. Our techniques range from examining historical patterns to scanning for signals of change to telling stories of multiple plausible futures-each designed to bring clarity to a complex environment and make emerging opportunities actionable for an organization as a whole.

What do those tools include?

‍Hunting for signals in the noise

Identifying and tracking signals of change is the primary activity of any foresight work. It's focused on spotting glimpses of the future that exist in the world today. A signal might be a new idea, behavior, technology, social context, or business model that may seem insignificant now, but could redefine industries or the world at large if it scales. Recent examples I uncovered for clients include everything from the resurgence of "dumb" phones to the emergence of four-day work weeks to big tech's greenhouse gas emissions surges fueled by the expansion of AI. Grasping these subtle shifts enables teams to broaden their perspectives and think beyond what's currently happening.

‍Mapping drivers of change

Tracking and mapping broader trends and underlying drivers of change - like the climate crisis or the rapid rise of LLMs -gives further context to signals and reveals potential structural shifts influencing social, technical, environmental, economic and political systems-ultimately shaping how organizations adapt, innovate, and respond to emerging opportunities and risks in the future. Understanding the why behind these changes allows teams to build flexible strategies grounded in deep awareness of external forces.

‍Considering different futures

Imagining a range of possible futures challenges teams to consider different potential outcomes and to design tangible steps the company can take to either grab opportunity or avoid risk. Although it's important to imagine ideal or preferred future scenarios to create a transformative vision for the future, it's just as critical to explore potential futures with extreme uncertainty or disruption to stress-test ideas. Imagining "what if" scenarios like, "What if AI became the standard for all customer service?" or, "What if customers demand ownership of their data?"stretches a team's thinking to identify resilience strategies and become more nimble.

‍Preparing for disruption‍

Identifying and interpreting emerging paradigms helps organizations to anticipate market or strategic shifts before they disrupt, making it possible to proactively invest in nascent opportunities or manage the decline of legacy approaches or systems. It minimizes risks associated with abrupt change and encourages continuous innovation, ensuring the organization remains competitive and able to seize new growth opportunities as they arise. It's all about building confidence in making strategic choices.

‍Creating artifacts from the future

A future news headline, a mock product, or an immersive experience can make abstract concepts concrete, spark discussion and inspire strategic actions that could be aligned with longer-term goals. Sometimes the most powerful stories or artifacts of the future are those that are the most mundane, like a job description or a transportation ticket set 15-20 years into the future. These visions bring the future to life, and enable teams to embed future-thinking into strategic choice making.

Given the scale of the organization I was working with, we expanded the traditional signals exploration, mapping everything from the future of work and retirement, to the rise of a digitally-native generation, to shifts in human decision-making related to a broad and rapid integration of AI. A collaborative team of consultants and internal staff updated this tool weekly, regularly identifying and tracking trends, drivers, and future scenarios across the tech industry. And we mapped paradigm shifts in critical areas of the company's operations, spotlighting strategic opportunities to lead change in the space.

Additionally, we developed and deployed a futures-focused curriculum and a program to engage leadership and key cross-functional stakeholders, ensuring lasting impact and sustained capabilities across the organization. Not only did we prepare the organization to anticipate and navigate future shifts, we also embedded a lasting culture of foresight, empowering the organization to lead its industry with confidence and agility.

For companies like this one, having a futurist-in-residence is no longer a nice-to-have-it's a strategic imperative. This role is critical for two reasons: preparation and opportunity. With so many variables at play-from technological advances to societal shifts-it's critical to have someone who can filter through the signal noise, identify potential game-changing opportunities, and help those who guide the organization to adopt a more forward-thinking approach. The role can also foster a culture that challenges assumptions, encourages innovative and creative thinking, and equips teams to identify and interpret the forces that are shaping tomorrow.

In today's volatile and complex world, companies need futurists not just as advisors, but as strategic enablers who build futures literacy across an organization. Investing in the future means investing in the people who can help organizations see a wide array of futures clearly and act on uncertainty with confidence, helping turn that uncertainty into strategic possibility.

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Why Every Company Needs a Futurist-in-Residence

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For companies looking to the near-term, it's no longer a-nice-to-have

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AI Energy Consumption: Balancing AI Adoption with Sustainability Goals for Irish Businesses

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AI Energy Consumption: Balancing AI Adoption with Sustainability Goals for Irish Businesses

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Balancing AI Adoption and Sustainability: Practical Advice for Irish Businesses — KAREN HOWLEY

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Discover how AI’s energy consumption impacts Irish businesses and what leaders can do about it. Learn about AI’s energy demands, future efficiency trends, and practical steps for reducing environmental impact.

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Healing Hearts on the Dance Floor: The Fandangoe Discoteca

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Healing Hearts on the Dance Floor: The Fandangoe Discoteca

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The Fandangoe DISCOTECA | The Loss Project CIC

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Audi Transforms Car Manuals into Captivating Storytelling Experiences

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Audi Transforms Car Manuals into Captivating Storytelling Experiences

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X-ble Shoulder: Redefining Human-Machine Collaboration for the Future of Work

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X-ble Shoulder: Redefining Human-Machine Collaboration for the Future of Work

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Introducing Industrial Wearable Robot 'X-ble Shoulder' | Hyundai Motor Group

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Taste the Future: Electric Lollipop Brings Flavors to Virtual Reality

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Taste the Future: Electric Lollipop Brings Flavors to Virtual Reality

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Electric lollipop brings taste to virtual reality

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VR ‘gustation interface’ lets you taste a grapefruit while in the metaverse

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 #EffortIsEverything: Knorr Celebrates the Humour of Holiday Cooking Fails

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 #EffortIsEverything: Knorr Celebrates the Humour of Holiday Cooking Fails

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AIM Architecture transforms oil silos in China into community park

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AIM Architecture transforms oil silos in China into community park

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AIM Architecture transforms oil silos in China into community park

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AIM Architecture has transformed a series of former oil silos in Changzhou into Cotton Park, a mixed-use community space surrounded by a public garden and play areas.

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Open Architecture converts airport fuel tanks into gallery spaces

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Open Architecture converts airport fuel tanks into gallery spaces

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Five aviation fuel containers on the former Longhua airport in Shanghai have been transformed into art and culture park Tank Shanghai, by local studio Open Architecture.

Open Architecture has created 60,000 square metres of gallery space on the former industrial site, for Chinese collector Qiao Zhibing.

Tank Shanghai sits atop a landscaped "super-surface" - a newly constructed ground level that provides undulating green spaces and squares above, and seamlessly connects each tank together below.

"This project is a story about how industrial relics are reincarnated through art in a new era of city development," said the studio, which is led by architects Li Hu and Huang Wenjing.

"The Tanks are transformed from containers of oil into containers of art and life."

Two of the tanks are now art galleries - one is finished like a traditional white cube, while the other has its original interior surfaces left exposed. The other three are multi-functional exhibition, leisure and activity spaces.

"Each of these transformations, which thoughtfully preserve and in some cases retain largely untouched the original features of the tanks, had to overcome significant design and construction challenges posed by the constraints of working with the existing structure of each tank," explained the architects.

Standing as distinct forms in the landscape, below ground the tanks appear as large atria, surrounded by sweeping staircases leading up from the concrete underbelly of the super-surface.

New windows and skylights in the tanks help draw natural light into the Tank Shanghai exhibition spaces.

Interval Architects uses red brick for botanic art centre in a wetland park

Two large public squares, called the urban plaza and the event plaza, sit within the landscaped park, designed as spaces that can host ceremonies, parties and performances. An embedded misting system in the event plaza can transform the space into a "foggy field".

To the south, an "urban forest" stretches the length of the site.

"This will be a precious piece of urban nature, hopefully attracting birds and squirrels to return," said the architects. "Art works and preserved industrial machines will be scattered in the landscape."

Alongside the event plaza at the east of the site, a former water-pump house will be transformed into a separate project space for art events and small exhibitions.

Open Architecture also recently created a subterranean space for the UCCA Dune Art Museum in Qinhuangdao, where a cave-like network of galleries sits underneath a sand dune.

Photography is by Wu Qingshan unless stated.
Project credits:
Architects: Open Architecture
Principal-in-charge: Li Hu, Huang Wenjing
Project team: Ye Qing, Luo Ren, Victor Quiros, Zhou Tingting, Chen Xiuyuan, Li Zhentao, Zhao Yao, Lu Di, Jia Han, Zhang Yiwen, Steven Shi, Zhou Xiaochen, Huang Zhonghan, Laurence Chan, Cynthia Yurou Cui, Yang Qi, Ge Can, Gao Qi, Stephanie Lee, Jin Boan, Zhang Hao, Wang Mangyuan, Yan Dihua, Zhang Chang, Tomas Kowalsky, Jiang Simin
Local design institute: Tongji Architectural Design Group
Landscape design: Beijing EDSA Orient Planning & Landscape Architecture
Lighting consultant: Shanghai Ming Chi Architecture and Engineering

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Open Architecture converts airport fuel tanks into gallery spaces

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Five aviation fuel containers on the former Longhua airport in Shanghai have been transformed into art and culture park Tank Shanghai, by local studio Open Architecture. Open Architecture has created 60,000 square metres of gallery space on the former industrial site, for Chinese collector Qiao Zhibing.

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Let’s Bend The Curve: Cutting Digital Carbon Footprints for a Sustainable Future

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Let’s Bend The Curve: Cutting Digital Carbon Footprints for a Sustainable Future

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By Thibaud Clement * December 8, 2024

Last week, I streamed 20 hours of videos on Netflix, YouTube, and Canvas. I asked 50 questions to ChatGPT and made 532 Google searches. I sent 25 emails and 325 WhatsApp messages. From behind my screens, it did not feel like I was contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the environmental impact of my online activity was real-it amounted to 1,447 grams of CO₂ equivalents, distributed as follows:

Over a year, this would add up to approximately 75 kilograms of CO₂ equivalents. To put that number in perspective, that is like:

What About You?

If you are curious about your own digital footprint, use the sliders below to model your usage. The default values represent the average behavior of an internet user in the United States.

Over a year, this would add up to approximately XYZ kilograms of CO₂ equivalents. To put that number in perspective, that is like:

At first glance, these numbers might seem small-and in absolute terms, they are. Taken individually, they may not ring any alarm bells, in particular as digital services have become an essential part of modern life. So, why does this matter?

The key takeaway is that digital activities have a carbon footprint, however small. When scaled across billions of people, even tiny amounts can add up to something enormous. This is especially true for digital technology, given the rapid and relentless growth of the internet.

The Internet Is Growing Fast

Between 2000 and 2024, the number of internet users has grown from 414 million to 5.52 billion:

This growth has been remarkably steady, with a mostly linear increase from 2000 to 2020. However, it now appears to be slowing. This is likely because a significant portion of the global population is already online. As we approach full global internet penetration, it is reasonable to expect the rate of growth to continue slowing. But what about internet traffic? How has the volume of data generated, transferred, and consumed by all these users changed over time?

The chart below allows you to simulate the growth of internet traffic since 2000. Three options are available: Logarithmic, Linear, and Exponential. Select an option and submit your guess to see how close you are to the actual growth rate.

Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Are On The Rise

With the rapid growth of internet traffic in mind, you might wonder how this has impacted the web's electricity consumption. The chart below compares the internet's energy use over time to that of G20 member countries, illustrating how the internet would rank if it were a country.

You can let the chart autoplay with the Play button, freeze the animation with the Pause button, and navigate through time year by year with the Previous and Next buttons. You can also update the list of countries included in the chart to refine your analysis.

Between 2010 and 2022, the internet's electricity consumption increased nearly tenfold, rising from 83 TWh to 788 TWh-a staggering 20.63% compound annual growth rate. By 2022, the internet consumed more electricity than 14 G20 countries, including Brazil and Germany, and was only outpaced by China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan.

Looking ahead, the trend shows no sign of slowing. Thunder Said Energy projects that by 2030, the internet's electricity consumption will reach 2,000 TWh, and by 2050, it could climb to 3,750 TWh. If these forecasts hold true, the internet alone would account for 5% to 7% of global electricity use-a remarkable share for something so integral to modern life. What does this mean in terms of CO₂ emissions?

While the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is often highly praised for enabling efficiencies that help reduce other sectors' footprint, it receives little attention as a contributor itself to greenhouse gas emissions. The charts below show the evolution of the ICT sector's CO₂ emissions:

According to Belkhir and Elmeligi, between 2007 and 2020, the ICT sector's share of global emissions more than doubled, rising from an estimated 1.06%-1.6% in 2007 to 3.06%-3.6% in 2020. This reflects the world's increasing reliance on digital technology and infrastructure.

By 2040, Belkhir and Elmeligi estimate that the ICT sector's share of the global carbon footprint could range from 5.82% under a linear trend to 14.57% if growth follows an exponential trajectory. Under that exponential scenario, ICT emissions would surpass the relative footprint of agriculture (9%) and approach half the current footprint of the industrial sector (29%) in the United States. These estimates assume global emissions stabilize at 2015 levels, in line with the Paris Agreement.

If the exponential trend prevails, the ICT sector will become one of the largest contributors to global emissions. This is the curve we want to bend.

Where Are Emissions Coming From?

To bend the curve of emissions from the ICT sector, we first need to understand what is causing these emissions. Estimates of emissions in the ICT sector vary according to methodology, but experts converge towards the idea that the main sources of emissions are data centers, networks, and user devices.

These three pillars of modern digital ecosystems interact to deliver digital services, enabling data transmission and processing:

Data centers process, store, and manage vast amounts of data, consuming energy for computation, storage, and cooling, often producingsignificant emissions if powered by non-renewable energy.

Networks, comprising wired and wireless infrastructure like fiber optics, routers, and cellular towers, transmit data between devices and data centers. They consume energy for signal transmission and maintaining connectivity, with emissions varying by network efficiency and energy grid.

User devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) serve as endpoints for accessing and consuming content, running applications, and interacting with services. They consume energy primarily for processing, storage, and display, with emissions depending on their energy source.

Andrae and Edler estimate ICT emissions to be distributed as follows:

Within each segment, we need to distinguish between two categories of emissions:

Embodied emissions refer to the greenhouse gases produced during the manufacturing, transportation, and installation of digital hardware, such as servers, devices, and network equipment.

Operational emissions are generated during the daily use of digital systems, including powering data centers, networks, and user devices.

According to the Sustainable Web Design Model, embodied and operational emissions are distributed as follows:

As the charts above suggest, addressing embodied emissions is crucial, since these emissions are essentially "built into" the physical infrastructure before it is used. However, as this pertains to the field of hardware manufacturing, it is outside the direct scope of this article.

In sustainable computing and software engineering, the focus is often on reducing operational emissions because they are directly influenced by how we design, develop, and optimize software and systems-such as improving energy efficiency, minimizing data transfer, and utilizing green energy sources. Let's examine how we can decrease operational emission contributions of data centers, networks, and user devices.

The Promise of Renewable Energy

One of the main sources of operational emissions in the ICT sector is the energy consumption of data centers. One way to reduce the emissions of data centers is to power them with renewable energy sources. Fortunately, the trend is already moving in this direction. The largest cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, have committed to powering their data centers with 100% renewable energy between 2025 and 2030:

In 2020, AWS reached 65% of renewable energy usage, and as of 2023, the company was matching100% of its electricity consumption with renewable energy sources. Amazon is aiming to operate their data centers with100% renewable energy by 2025, with a target for net-zero status by 2040.

Google's data centers have been carbon neutral since 2007 and the company has been matching100% of its annual electricity consumption with renewable energy purchases since 2017. Between 2019 and 2020, the share of renewable energy in Google's global electricity consumption increased from 61% to67%.

Microsoft's data centers have been carbon neutral since 2012, and were relying on 50% renewable energy by 2018. By 2050, the company ambitions to remove from the atmosphereall the carbon it has emitted since its founding in 1975.

Until all data centers are completely powered by renewable energy, sustainable software engineering practices can help product development teams maximize the reliance of the cloud applications they build on renewable energy sources. To that effect, the Green Software Foundation's Green Software for Practitioners certification advocates two fundamental carbon-awareness approaches, to make software do more when the carbon intensity of computing is lower.

Computational Load Optimization Based on Carbon Intensity

Demand shifting, on the one hand, involves rescheduling or relocating computational tasks to take advantage of lower carbon intensity at different times or locations. This strategy can be broken down into two types: spatial shifting and temporal shifting. Spatial shifting means moving computations to regions where energy is cleaner, such as data centers powered by renewable energy. Temporal shifting involves delaying tasks to times when the grid is less carbon-intensive, such as during sunny or windy periods. Training machine learning models at night when wind energy is abundant or relocating workloads to another hemisphere during peak solar seasons are both examples of demand shifting. Anne Currie, co-author ofBuilding Green Software, and a leading voice in sustainable computing, told me:

LLM training is a great example of what the Texan grid refers to as a Large Flexible Load, i.e. a load that is latency insensitive and could therefore be aligned with solar or wind generation. Even inference could be done in this way using pre-calculation and caching.

Demand shaping, on the other hand, refers to adapting computational workloads to align with the availability of low-carbon energy sources. Instead of moving tasks to a different time or location, demand shaping involves increasing or decreasing application activities in response to the current carbon intensity of the electricity grid. For instance, when the grid is powered predominantly by renewable energy, applications can scale up and perform more energy-intensive tasks. Conversely, during periods of higher carbon intensity, applications can reduce demand or prioritize essential processes. Examples of demand shaping include video conferencing software that adjusts streaming quality based on bandwidth or energy efficiency, and eco modes in applications that sacrifice performance to reduce energy consumption automatically or with user consent.

Efficiency, The Cornerstone of Sustainability

Dr. Sadasivan Shankar is Research Technology Manager at SLAC National Laboratory, Adjunct Professor in Stanford Materials Science and Engineering, and Lecturer in the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His current research and analysis on sustainable computing is helping provide directions for the US Department of Energy's EES2 scaling initiative, which aims to enhance the energy efficiency of semiconductor applications by a factor of 1,000 over the next 20 years. Dr. Shankar argues:

Even if the entire ICT sector were powered by renewable energy, the industry's exponential growth means efficiency would still be critical. Without significant improvements in how energy is used, the sector risks consuming an outsized share of clean energy resources that are also essential for other sectors and societal needs.

One metric often used to measure data center energy efficiency is Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). Developed by The Green Grid in 2006, PUE compares the total energy consumption of a data center to the energy used solely by its computing equipment. A PUE of 1.0 indicates that all energy is used for computing, with no additional overhead for cooling or power distribution. In contrast, if an application consumes 10 kWh of energy and the data center's PUE is 1.5, in theory, the energy drawn from the grid is 15 kWh-10 kWh for computing and 5 kWh for operational overhead like cooling and power delivery.

While PUE provides a useful proxy for energy efficiency in data centers, it is important to recognize its limitations as a metric. Asim Hussain, Executive Director of the Green Software Foundation, highlighted to me that PUE is not always as precise or comprehensive as it may seem:

PUE categorizes energy as "good" or "bad" based on its use, but these definitions tend to be arbitrary. For instance, cooling systems installed outside the building might be classified as "bad" energy, increasing the PUE, even if they are more efficient overall. In contrast, less optimal cooling systems located within the room might count as "good" energy, lowering the PUE.

Similarly, while a PUE of 1.01 might suggest that only 1% efficiency improvements are possible, significant opportunities often remain. These include optimizing scheduling, reducing fan speeds, or improving resource allocation-factors that may fall outside PUE's scope.

Mr. Hussain also cautions against interpreting PUE values too literally. For example, a data center with a PUE of 1.1 might appear to consume 110 watts for every 100 watts of computing. In reality, actual energy use could be much higher when accounting for components like switches and internal rack fans. This resonates with Dr. Shankar's findings that a single unit of computing may need at least 3-5 units of energy.

Despite these shortcomings, no better alternative currently exists. Developing a more granular model would require extensive instrumentation and modeling across the entire energy chain-from CPUs to external transformers. For now, PUE remains a valuable, albeit imperfect, indicator of industry progress.

Fortunately, PUE has improved significantly over the years. In 2007, the global average PUE was around 2.5, meaning that data centers consumed 1.5 watts in overhead for every watt used by computing equipment. By 2020, global PUE had dropped to under 1.6, thanks to advancements in IT hardware, more efficient cooling technologies, and a shift towards hyperscale cloud data centers that are far more efficient than smaller enterprise facilities.

This progress has been instrumental in keeping global data center electricity consumption relatively flat despite the exponential growth of internet traffic and workloads. For example, while internet traffic grew by a factor of 20 between 2010 and 2020, data center electricity use only increased moderately, stabilizing at an estimated 240-340 TWh in 2022, or roughly 1-1.3% of global electricity demand.

To understand the impact of PUE on energy consumption more deeply, explore the interactive charts below. The first chart illustrates the worldwide average annual PUE of data centers from 2010 to 2050, while the second shows global data center electricity consumption over the same period, including the energy used by blockchains and AI. By adjusting the PUE values in the first chart, you can see how efficiency improvements could shape energy consumption in the second chart.

These visualizations highlight both the achievements made so far and the critical importance of further reducing PUE over the long term to limit energy consumption as the ICT sector continues to grow. To achieve this, let's consider the factors that influence PUE, including how data centers manage energy-intensive processes like cooling.

Taking The Heat-And Giving It Back

A data center functions as a vast collection of information processing engines -servers-designed to perform complex computational tasks. Fundamentally, computing is the act of flipping bits-a physical process that requires and converts energy. Each server takes in electromagnetic energy as electricity, which powers its operations. This energy is then transformed into two outputs: information processing, the intended result, and heat energy, an inevitable byproduct.

Energy Conversion Flow of an Information Processing Engine

Innovation in overhead efficiency, particularly in cooling systems, plays a critical role in improving PUE by ensuring a larger proportion of a data center's energy consumption is allocated to computing rather than managing heat. Cutting-edge solutions such as advanced liquid cooling, optimized airflow designs, and energy-efficient pumps have already demonstrated their potential to reduce cooling demands significantly. As organizations aim to lower their PUE, such innovations represent a vital path forward for sustainable operations.

But what about the heat that data centers inescapably produce? Waste heat, rather than being discarded, can become a valuable resource. For instance, data centers can repurpose excess heat to warm nearby residential or commercial buildings or support industrial processes, reducing reliance on other energy sources. If implemented effectively, waste heat management could even contribute to a dramatic reduction in Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).

In theory, a data center that makes full use of its waste heat could achieve a PUE closer to-if not below-the theoretical threshold of 1.0, as the energy consumed would serve dual purposes: powering computing operations and providing useful heat for external needs. Although such an idea would require additional innovation, notably to reduce the noise of server cooling systems through adequate materials and technology, this underscores the transformative potential of waste heat as a key element in building more sustainable digital infrastructure.

Looking beyond hardware, optimizing the software that powers data centers offers another critical avenue for improvement. Rust, for example, is a programming language known for its efficiency, with studies showing it can halve electricity consumption compared to Java, a common language in cloud computing. Shane Miller, a leader in the Rust community, notes that this level of efficiency could enable data centers to double their current workloads or perform the same tasks in facilities half the size.

This creates a dual opportunity: by locating these mini data centers in urban areas-such as in the basements of residential or commercial buildings-they may be positioned closer to both heat consumers and data consumers. This proximity allows for more practical reuse of waste heat, while also reducing the network footprint-by minimizing the resources required to transmit heat and data, respectively, over long distances. These combined benefits hint at the transformative potential of sustainable software practices in addressing energy challenges.

The Immense Potential of Sustainable Software Engineering

In February 2020, Danny van Kooten, a software developer, published a blog post highlighting how a small change in sustainable web design could deliver remarkable environmental benefits. While refactoring his popular Mailchimp for WordPress plugin, he reduced the amount of data sent to the browser on every visit by just 20 KB.

Given that over two million websites use the plugin, this seemingly minor update led to an estimated reduction of the world's monthly CO₂ output by 59,000 kilograms-roughly the equivalent of 85 transatlantic flights from New York to Amsterdam and back. This story underscores how thoughtful, data-driven design choices can have an outsized positive impact, serving as a model for building greener digital systems. In the words of Mr. van Kooten:

"There's no way I can have that kind of effect in other areas of my life."

Mr. van Kooten's story also reflects the broader principles of sustainable web design, which focus on minimizing the energy and resources required to build, run, and access digital services. Experts like Tom Greenwood, Tim Frick, and Anne Currie have outlined key practices for sustainable digital systems that help reduce emissions across data centers, networks, and user devices:

Prioritize simplicity and efficiency: Reducing unnecessary features, files, and code minimizes energy consumption across all three areas by decreasing processing demands, lowering network data transfer, and reducing energy usage on devices.

Design for sustainability: Optimizing load times and minimizing data transfer directly reduces emissions from networks and user devices, as smaller data loads requireless energy for transmission andprocessing.

Leverage green hosting: Choosing hosting providers powered by renewable energy targets data center emissions, significantly reducing their carbon footprint.

Adopt user-centric sustainability: Building interfaces and features that encourage environmentally conscious behavior can reduce emissions from user devices, such as by promoting power-saving modes or reducing the need for frequent updates.

Extend system lifespans: Designing software and digital tools to remain functional longer helps reduce embodied emissions from manufacturing user devices and hardware while curbing waste.

Measure and optimize continuously: Tools to measure the environmental impact of digital services enable improvements across data centers, networks, and user devices, ensuring a holistic approach to sustainability.

While building the website for this article, I aimed to follow sustainable web design best practices wherever possible. For example, I chose a black background and green accents, as these colors consume less energy on user devices by minimizing screen pixel illumination. I also opted for lightweight visuals in SVG format, which require less data transmission than larger file types, and limited the imported libraries to essentials like D3 for charts. However, this is a work in progress-I could further optimize by compacting the CSS stylesheet and switching to a hosting provider powered by renewable energy, as GitHub Pages currently does not offer this option.

These principles highlight how sustainable web design can reduce emissions at every stage of digital infrastructure. Whether through optimizing software or selecting renewable-powered data centers, these strategies empower developers to make a meaningful impact on the environment. But how can we start assessing emissions from software, and how do we measure progress toward long-term sustainability?

What Gets Measured, Gets Managed

Advances in measurement tools are essential for driving change, as Ms. Currie emphasizes the importance of incorporating performance testing into software development practices. She highlights the need to understand what aspects of an application are fast or slow and the reasons behind their performance. In particular, she urges developers to evaluate the value of API calls, noting that they are CPU-intensive and represent an investment in energy and, often, carbon. By questioning the necessity and efficiency of these operations, engineers can make more sustainable choices in their designs.

For those with technical expertise, the Impact Framework from the Green Software Foundation provides an open-source toolkit to measure and manage the environmental impact of software. Designed for software engineering teams, this framework offers detailed methodologies and tools to analyze carbon emissions and optimize resource usage.

Meanwhile, Dr. Shankar's lab at Stanford University is developing a tool to facilitate the measurement of software sustainability. This pioneer initiative reflects growing academic interest in empowering developers with actionable insights to reduce digital emissions.

For individuals and organizations, tools like Website Carbon and EcoGrader offer a practical way to assess the sustainability of any website. By analyzing factors like data transfer size, hosting energy source, and user traffic, these tools provide actionable insights to help you reduce your digital carbon footprint. For example, you can assess the carbon rating of this very website here.

The potential impact of sustainable software engineering becomes staggering when scaled across major organizations. Take the websites of Fortune 500 companies as an example. By calculating the grams of CO₂ emitted per visit using data from Website Carbon and scaling this based on each site's traffic from SimilarWeb, we can estimate that 492 of these companies collectively emit 105,877 tonnes of CO₂ annually. This is equivalent to the emissions of over 23,000 passenger cars driven for an entire year.

The interactive chart below allows you to explore the annual CO₂ emissions from these companies' websites. The size of each rectangle represents the emissions of the company's website. You can mouse hover over each rectangle to reveal additional details about the associated company. You can also refine the selection of companies included in the chart with the filters provided below the chart.

By now, we have explored numerous strategies to reduce emissions from data centers, networks, and user devices, primarily through engineering innovations. this raises an important question: what role can users play in mitigating the environmental impact of digital technology? Is changing how we use these services as effective as improving how they are designed and operated?

The Subtle Tradeoffs of Digital Sobriety

Digital sobriety-the idea that reducing our use of digital technology can help mitigate its environmental impact-offers an intuitive path to sustainability. On the surface, fewer video calls, emails, and streamed gaming sessions seem like they would lead to less data transmission, lower energy consumption, and reduced emissions. Beyond sustainability, cutting back on digital usage can have other personal benefits: studies show that limiting screen time can improve mental health, enhance sleep quality, and boost overall well-being

However, experts in sustainability take a more nuanced view. While digital sobriety may offer benefits in certain contexts, it also involves tradeoffs. As Dr. Shankar points out, computer usage is strongly correlated with societal indicators like GDP and the Human Development Index (HDI). Wider access to digital technologies has transformed education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, lifting millions out of poverty and improving overall well-being.

The series of six charts below highlights these correlations, illustrating how digitalization has become a cornerstone of progress. On each chart, each dot represents a country: you can hover with your mouse over each dot to reveal the associated country's name and data. You can also navigate from one chart to another with the Previous Chart and Next Chart buttons.

This perspective shifts the focus from individual digital habits to broader systemic solutions. Mr. Frick emphasizes that personal responsibility should certainly be encouraged. However, to effectively transition to a circular economy and meaningfully address emissions, he also argue that we need Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), mandatory climate disclosures, and related laws to incentivize better behavior and hold corporations accountable. This resonates with what Mr. Hussain told me:

"An interesting perspective is to guide corporations into making carbon-neutral digital services, rather than expecting end users to reduce their usage. Ideally, video calls will produce fewer emissions, not because we are placing fewer of those, but because they simply do not emit greenhouse gases in the first place."

These viewpoints emphasize the critical role of policy and corporate responsibility in tackling the environmental footprint of digital technology. Rather than scaling back digital usage, a more effective approach may be to embrace digitalization while focusing on making it cleaner and more efficient. Riding the wave of digital transformation-embracing the growing reliance on digital services-allows sustainability efforts to align with existing behavioral trends rather than resist them. This approach also preserves the broader, tangible benefits of digitalization, such as reducing emissions in other sectors

By supporting a sustainable transition, we can work toward a future where computing is not an expensive, carbon-emitting privilege for the few-but a clean, affordable, and accessible opportunity for all. However, could greater efficiency in digital technology unintentionally backfire, leading to even higher emissions as usage increases?

The Paradox of The Jevons Paradox

The Jevons Paradox originates from the 19th-century observation that increasing the efficiency of coal use led to a rise in total coal consumption. Applied to computing, the fear is that making digital services more sustainable and efficient will encourage greater usage, potentially negating the environmental benefits.

Mr. Hussain challenges that assumption. He emphasizes that the software most consumed is often the cheapest, most addictive, and most profitable-not necessarily the most efficient or environmentally friendly. To the best of his knowledge, there is no evidence to prove that making software more efficient will lead to higher emissions.

Dr. Shankar provides a compelling perspective on this issue: what matters is achieving a net positive trade-off. By analogy, he explains that if we extend human longevity, some people will use their additional years for good, and others for bad. Yet the net result-more years for meaningful contributions-is overwhelmingly positive, which is why we pursue it.

The same logic applies to sustainability in computing. Making digital technology more efficient might increase usage, but it will also amplify the positive outcomes-greater access to education, healthcare, and innovation. Dr. Shankar adds:

"Too much of a good thing is better than too little. The alternative-inefficient, high-emissions computing-would be far worse, and that is what we must avoid. Our goal is to make computing so efficient that, even if the entire world uses it tomorrow, it still consumes less energy than today."

Rather than fearing increased efficiency, the focus should be on designing digital systems that are both efficient and sustainable, enabling global access while minimizing energy use. As Dr. Shankar and Mr. Hussain both argue, efficiency in computing represents an opportunity to achieve a net positive impact-providing essential services to a growing population without exceeding planetary boundaries.

Let's Bend The Curve

Digital services have transformed the way we live, work, and connect-but they come with an environmental footprint that is far from negligible. While the emissions from individual activities like emails or streaming may seem small, they add up significantly when scaled across billions of users. As the internet and the ICT sector continue to grow at an unprecedented pace, we find ourselves on unsustainable trajectories that demand urgent attention.

Given how deeply digital services are woven into modern life, expecting an absolute decrease in usage is neither realistic nor desirable. Digitalization drives societal progress, offering opportunities for education, innovation, and economic growth while helping to reduce emissions in other industries through smarter logistics, virtual collaboration, and resource optimization. Rather than scaling back, the goal should be to ensure that digital growth is both inclusive and sustainable.

The key lies in fostering innovation to make digital services cleaner and more efficient. By improving energy use in data centers, networks, and user devices, and by adopting principles of sustainable software engineering, we can work toward a future where computing is accessible to everyone-at a fraction of today's emissions. The challenge is immense, but so is the opportunity.

If we all join forces-as engineers, policymakers, and end users-to prioritize efficiency and sustainability in the technology industry, there is no doubt we can meet the world's growing computing needs in an environmentally-friendly manner. Let's create a digital future that benefits everyone and the planet we call home. Let's bend the curve.

Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to Professor Maneesh Agrawala, Cameron Linhares-Huang, and Mhar Tenorio for their outstanding teaching in the field of data visualization, which greatly enriched this project. My heartfelt thanks also go to Dr. Sadasivan Shankar, Tim Frick, Asim Hussain, Anne Currie, and Tom Greenwood for generously sharing their time and expertise in computing sustainability, offering invaluable insights that shaped this article. Finally, I would like to thank Noemie Clement for her unwavering support and encouragement throughout this initiative.

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Sustainability in the Computing Age: Addressing the Environmental Impact of Digital Technology

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The app that blocks social media until you get up and work

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The app that blocks social media until you get up and work

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A new app has a seemingly odd goal for people - that they use apps less. But the people behind the iOS app Steppin accept the reality that many modern individuals need technology to wean themselves off technology.

iOS app Steppin was created by Paul English, the cofounder of the travel site Kayak (purchased by Priceline in 2012 for $1.8 billion). Steppin, which dropped Tuesday on the app store and has the tagline "Escape the Scroll," allows users to block access to sites and apps - with an emphasis on social media - until they complete a self-regulated amount of steps. English's concept, according to The Verge, came after a family trip to Spain that found the clan looking down at their timelines instead of up at the museums and cathedrals.

Steppin users determine how many steps they need to take to unlock, say, a minute of TikTok or five minutes of Instagram. English sees the app as a way to promote both mental and physical health for kids and adults.

Online controls aren't limited to social media, but also video games and entertainment sites like Netflix. Eventually, Steppin users will be allowed to get creative with what physical exertion unlocks screen time, like yoga or Pilates classes.

Soon to be available on Android as well as iOS, Steppin is free for now, but will likely follow a subscription model (probably around $20 monthly) in the future.

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The app that blocks social media until you get up and work

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How Liquid Death's Founder Started A $700 Million Water Brand | Founder Effect

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Four Nokia designs that never became a reality

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Four Nokia designs that never became a reality

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Stained glass over stag parties: inside Belgium’s first beer spa

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Stained glass windows are a core element of Bath & Barley’s interiors and identity by WeWantMore, referencing Belgium’s history of beer brewing in abbeys.

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