Digitainability

Digital technologies offer immense potential for increasing environmental sustainability, but can cause negative externalities if not considered and applied strategically. The planned acatech study serves to gain a better understanding of the sustainability and market potentials in the context of the use of digital technologies and to identify development options for the promotion and economic application of the most promising key technologies from a sustainability perspective according to economic sectors.

The first step is to evaluate the most important digital technologies in terms of their ecological footprint and their potential to support the relevant United Nations environmental sustainability goals (SDGs), as well as their possible negative impact if not considered strategically.
Based on this, existing solutions and necessary research and development needs are to be identified for each economic sector. At the same time, the transfer potential of existing solutions for new sectors will be identified. In summary, the market potentials (market sizing) will be quantified.
Finally, recommendations for action will be derived. These should support decision-makers in politics, associations and business, provide a basis for argumentation for the development of a sustainable technology strategy as well as the basis for a possible control of various corporate and funding activities.

Project partners:

• acatech - German Academy of Science and Engineering e. V.
• Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy gGmbH (subcontracted)
• RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (subcontracted)

Project duration: August 2022 - February 2023

Total cost: 211.000 €

Total funding: 190.000 €