Digitalisation and environmental concerns
- Nagarlok: Quarterly Journal of Urban Affairs
- 56(4), Dec, 2024: p.439-450
Of all the technological revolutions the world has experienced, the digital revolution stands out as the most transformative, game changing, developmentally critical and a challenging field. It is game changing because it has brought-out radical shifts in the lifestyles and development of the countries. Today digital technology has become indispensable to every sector including core areas like manufacturing, agriculture, communication, transport, defence, space, environment, finance, business, medicine, wellbeing and leisure activities. The economies are already reaping the benefits of digitalisation. Even global environmental monitoring agencies are dependent upon the growing digital knowledge and technologies. Digitisation is transforming the entire developmental maps of the countries and in the process, the digital infrastructure itself is undergoing constant transformation inventing new devices and technologies to meet the changing needs of the societies across the world. Unfortunately this global party is being spoiled by certain environmental concerns. Its intensive energy use, pollution-ridden device manufacturing and the e-waste are the prime environmental issues confronting the countries today. This paper, while explaining the significance of digitalisation in the current development scenario across the world, discusses the emerging energy, environmental and public health problems. Besides, the paper attempts to present an environmentally sustainable digitalisation framework.- Reproduced