Circular strategy assessment for digital services: The CADiS framework

Abstract

The incorporation of digital technologies (DTs) and digital services into our daily lives is expected to grow in the years ahead. Whereas these technologies and services are recognised as important enablers of sustainable development, their resource footprint and environmental impacts are often underestimated or overlooked. One of the key proposals expected to mitigate the negative consequences of DTs and digital services is the development circular economy (CE) strategies. In an attempt to synthesise these important concepts while contributing to environmental sustainability, this paper introduces the Circular strategy Assessment for Digital Services (CADiS) framework. Its main goal is to support a simultaneous holistic understanding of the environmental impacts of digital services and the role of CE strategies in ameliorating them. Its open structure and granularity in terms of system coverage (nano/micro, meso and macro levels) and flow analysis (materials, energy and the role of data management) allow pinpointing the most suited interventions for achieving greater circularity and environmental sustainability. For this, the CADiS framework considers circularity (C) indicators and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), which could be considered independently or merged, to promptly evaluate many scenarios at once. To demonstrate its practical application, a case study of an eHealth service deployed in three distinct elderly living schemes is presented. The evaluated digital health and well-being service integrates six types of electronic devices for urgent notifications, audio, and video communication, and is interconnected using Power over Ethernet (PoE) infrastructure. The results identified the scenario that incorporates regenerative/cleaner energy sources and closing material loops as the best-performing one. Given the ever-expanding importance of digitalization in our society, the CADiS framework is timely to facilitate environmental assessment reporting and increase the circularity of digital services to achieve sustainable development.