Towards a digital sustainable European economy
E-business technologies have brought radical changes in the modern economy with many different sorts of transactions including e-commerce, e-work and e-government. Many sectors such as books, recorded music and banking employ digital technologies focusing on dematerialisation of goods. This replacement of physical assets has been considered as an innovation that can provide companies with the competitive edge for success. The Digital Europe project investigated the effects of e-business on dematerialisation, resource efficiency, environment and sustainable development. Several sectors were explored in detail and the analysis results are expected to play a crucial role on formulating policy for sustainable electronic markets. In addition to this, the project highlighted recommendations focusing on strategic areas such as resource use, transport, social inclusion and regional development. This report involves the environmental effects of e-business and e-work at three different levels. At the micro-level, various case studies were used in order to quantify the resource- and transport efficiency of e-business and to identify the important parameters that influence this efficiency. The same approach was followed at the meso-level where different e-business types were used instead of traditional products, services and customs. Similarly to the micro-and meso- analyses, a top-down approach was used for the investigation of energy-use and selected material flows (CO2) of three EU Member States. This macro-economic analysis concentrated on the impact of e-business and ICT to dematerialisation and resource productivity. Based on the completed research study, improvement areas were identified and specific recommendations were concluded for policy, business and science. These may be found in the report that is available for downloading: here(opens in new window).
