By Hans Nilsson / Published on Mon, 2008-06-23 05:00
The Romans claimed that sailing was necessary, and it certainly was for them in order to build and maintain an empire, but how about us? Are travelling and transportation as necessary with telecommunications expanding?
In a global word, nothing has changed since Roman times. We need to meet and move things, maybe even more so. The question is how we do it.
In the past week there have been two reports launched with the same basic message: IT will enable us to be much smarter. The keyword, though, is 'enable'. Will we rise to this ability?
Graphics from article in The Economist
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2008-05-08 11:50
Or is it a tool used for generating energy savings?
In the eighties and nineties, the energy consumption of ICT appliances was not an issue. At that time, it appeared to be miniscule in comparison to other energy consumption. In recent years however, this has changed dramatically. The ICT sector has matured and today’s huge server rooms can hardly be called minor energy users. Moreover, rising energy prices and climate change concerns have raised awareness of stand-by losses of communication appliances and PCs. As a result of this, the ICT sector is increasingly criticised for its steeply rising energy consumption.
It is a fact that the carbon footprint of the ICT sector has been rising and is now estimated to be 2% of global emissions, but the ICT sector cannot be viewed separately from the rest of the economy. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has recently published a study ('Information and Communication Technologies: The Power of Productivity') stating that the innovative effects of ICT have contributed to an economy-wide reduction of the energy intensity in the U.S.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sat, 2006-12-02 01:00
Future benefits to the EU and its health care services
A new report commissioned by Leonardo ENERGY gives a clear overview of the market potential for home care related ICT applications in Europe. Interesting is that the study follows three different yet complementary approaches to the subject:
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Fri, 2006-10-13 00:00
ASK-IT is an integrated project, partly funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme, e-Inclusion. The driving vision behind the ASK-IT project is to develop services based on Information Communication Technologies (ICT) that will allow Mobility Impaired people to live more independently. Through a device (mobile phone, PDA) users will have access to relevant and real-time information primarily for travelling but also whilst home, for work and leisure services. The emphasis is on a seamless service provision and a device that is intelligent enough to address the personal needs and preferences of the user. For example, information for a visually impaired person will be given orally, while for an illiterate person mostly in graphics. The project involves a demonstration phase during which the ASK-IT system will be tested and evaluated in 8 cities across Europe. ASK-IT involves 57 partners from a range of organisations, including industry, research institutes and European user associations and is coordinated by SIEMENS (Spain) and CERTH/HIT (Hellenic Institute of Transport, Greece).
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