Many companies share ideas about sustainability, especially in the physical environment. They deal with whether paper is wasted, rubbish correctly sorted, etc. Only rarely is there a discussion about the virtual world and the impact of, for example, e-mail communication or cloud storage. Maybe it's time finally to do something about this.
Although it may seem like such thinking is still in its infancy, it makes sense to start reflecting on the subject. Gerry McGovern, author of a book entitled World Wide Waste, elaborates on the topic and describes what sustainability means in the context of the digital workplace.
It is stated that in the last two years humanity has created more data than in our entire previous history. We now count in zettabytes (zettabyte = 1021 bytes). McGovern claims printing out one zettabyte of data would require 20 trillion trees. There are currently about three trillion trees on the planet. By 2025, it is estimated that hundreds of zettabytes will flow in virtual space. By 2035, we will have thousands.
Most data has no further use
- According to research by Tech Target, approximately 90% of data is no longer used after three months of its initial storage
- According to a 2018 Active Archive Alliance report, 80% of all digital data, once stored, will never be reused
- According to a Lucidworks analysis, people typically process only about 10% of the data they collect
- According to IDC research, 90% of unstructured data is never further analysed
- According to IBM, 90% of all sensor data collected from IoT devices is never used
Whenever you communicate in virtual space, you create data. For example, a simple phone conversation (without video) generates 36 MB of data per hour. Normal definition video produces an average of 270 MB of data in the same amount of time. And we could continue in the same vein ...
What does this mean? If you're deploying a new digital workplace or intranet, take the time to track the migration of your content and manage it effectively. Even the introduction of a single shared repository can prevent employees sending the same document in multiple versions. Start thinking sustainably even within virtual space. In the new digital age, this is really needed.
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