Humanising digital life : reducing emissions while enhancing value-adding human processes

Trkman, Peter (author), Černe, Matej (author)

Carbon emissions are on the rise and threaten to change the way humans live. Information technology can contribute to reducing such emissions by either virtualising or eliminating some human activities. However, without a proper understanding of humans' value proposition and processes, such developments might not lead to behaviour that is more environmentally friendly. Thus, for digitalisation to reduce humans' climate impact while maintaining or even improving the quality of human life, the value-adding aspect needs to be maintained. The core challenge lies in redesigning human processes, especially those related to work, so that environmentally harmful activities are eliminated while maintaining humans' fundamental value proposition. The paper discusses a vision of the future involving a shift from digitalisation to human digitalisation, and it addresses the importance of the leading role of government and research institutions in this development. In addition, the paper identifies future research avenues such as the need to focus on redefining human processes, virtual experiences, ethics and the important shift in information systems education.

• Language: English
• Keywords: informatics, sustainable development, environmental protection, carbon emissions, COP26, human processes, humanising digital life, value proposition
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: In print
• Publication version: Author Accepted Manuscript
• Year: 2021
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-133283
• UDC: 502.131.1
• ISSN on article: 0268-4012
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102443
• COBISS.SI-ID: 83861251
• Publication date in RUL: 19.11.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of information management
• Shortened title: Int. j. inf. manage.
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0268-4012
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8905221

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.
• Licensing start date: 06.11.2021

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: informatika, trajnostni razvoj, varstvo okolja

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Funding programme: Temeljni raziskovalni projekt
• Project number: J5-2555
• Name: Oblikovanje organizacije v digitalni dobi