Digital technologies are an integral part of modern life: In industrial manufacturing, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) unlock previously unexploited efficiency potentials (often referred to as „Industry 4.0“). ICT infrastructures facilitate the provision and large-scale use of innovative products and services (such as online consulting services, chatbots, or cryptocurrencies) which would have been considered science fiction by many just a few years ago. The economic success of online stores and sharing services providers does not appear feasible in the absence of modern ICT devices and innovative business models that were explicitly developed for use with such devices. 

Sustainability researchers already developed numerous strategies to exploit the positive environmental effects of the digital transformation. Respective approaches emphasise, among other things, the potential to increase overall economic resource efficiency, to expand the lifetimes of products (e.g. by promoting circular economy business models) and to increase the amount of repaired devices and reused materials at the end of a product's life cycle through the use of smart ICT applications. At the same time, however, it can be observed that smartphones, laptops and comparable ICT goods are often replaced by new purchases after relatively short use phases. From a sustainability perspective, this aspect of digitalisation must be assessed critically. To name only two aspects in this regard: The manufacturing of ICT products requires various (often rare) raw materials. Furthermore, the energy-intensive production of ICT goods usually takes place in distant world regions. As such, the greenhouse gas footprint of the digitalisation in Germany is significantly influenced by energy sources being used in these manufacturing countries.

That is why the DigitalRessourcen project is conducting a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts of the digital transformation in Germany: Direct environmental impacts of specific ICT applications are assessed in detail in selected case studies. These life cycle-based micro-analyses are complemented by macro and meso-level analyses of the global impacts of the digital transformation in Germany. In line with key assessment dimensions for the United Nations' Agenda 2030, the global material footprint as well as the global carbon footprint are analysed as key pressure indicators. 

GWS lead the project and take responsibility for the implementation of the macroeconomic footprint analyses. For this, the GWS research team can draw on a Multi-Regional Input-Output modeling framework which had been initially developed by GWS researchers in the preceding DigitalRessourcen I project. Project partners are Ecologic Institute and Wuppertal Institute. The Wuppertal Institute is responsible for life cycle assessment of selected ICT applications. The Ecologic Institute is responsible for analysing stakeholders, engaging in communication with them, and deriving action fields and policy recommendations from main project outcomes.