Particiants on the DESC walk photographes beneath the statue of Rousseau as the sun sets

The Digital Environment System Coalition (DESC) convened two sessions (403 and 204) on 16th and 18th March at this year’s WSIS Annual Forum held in Geneva. The first was a walk which we believe to be the first ever such event held during a WSIS annual forum, and the second was a more traditional session within the cavernous CIGG. Both sessions were convened by the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at Royal Hollloway, University of London which provides the Secretariat to DESC, in association with INIT (the Inter-Islamic Network on IT), the WWRF (Wireless World Research Forum), ICT4D.AT, and RC-DISC (the Research Cluster for Digital Inequality and Social Change at the University of Canberra).  

Experiencing digital environment interactions in the “place” of Geneva (Session 403): the DESC Walk

We experience things differently when we walk, when we talk together, and when we interact with the real physical environment.  We feel the fresh air on our faces, smell the vegetation, hear the noise of running water, and touch the rough rocks on the slopes.  We interact differently with each other.  We pause and contemplate where we are.  Our minds engage in ways that are so, so different from when we sit in large conference halls.

This DESC walk provided an opportunity for participants (i) to share their own research and practice relating to the interactions between digital tech and the environment, (ii) to discuss the positive and negative impacts of digital tech specifically on the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere, and (iii) to make recommendations concerning the further development of YouthDESC.  In essence, individual participants brought the group to a halt at locations that they felt were most appropriate for them along the walk and shared information about themselves and their research/practice, and we also stopped at five pre-planned locations to discuss each of the main themes as a group.  Moderators of each main stop sought to encourage the participants to highlight three positive and three native interactions between digital tech and the environment.

• Parc Mon Repos – the biosphere (led by Paul Spiesberger).  Issues discussed included the positives of being able to share nature through digital images, use of remote sensed imagery to monitor the biosphere, and the use of digital tech to enhance agricultural production.  Negatives included digital pollution of plants and green spaces, potentially adverse effects on human health (including mental health), and increased urban exploitation of rural environments through digital tech.
• Poste Filial – YouthDESC (led by Tasfia Rahman).  This began with a visit inside the building to discover the ways through which it is now necessary to use virtual/digital systems to post a physical/real card.  We also recognized the important links between postal communication in the past and digital communication at present.  The Instagram account of @YouthDESC was discussed, alongside the pros and cons of different social media platforms for engaging youth
• Pont des Bergues – the hydrosphere (led by Ahmed Imran).  It was recognised that unlike the biosphere and lithosphere, the impact of digital tech on the hydrosphere is less immediately visible.  However, negatives include the impact of deep sea mining for rare earth minerals, and the heating of water in cooling systems.  The use of water warmed by the heat produced by servers was, though, also seen as a benefit.
• Ile Rousseau – the atmosphere (led by Zumana Imran).  Beneath the feet of the philosopher Rousseau, our thoughts turned to the atmosphere above us, and focused on the positives of the use of satellites for monitoring environmental change and enabling communication in isolated places, whilst also recognizing the harms of treating outer space as we used to treat the oceans (global commons), the impact on dark space, and space junk.  It was also recognised that different cultures have differing views about the environment, and we must engage with indigenous communities.
• Auditoire de Calvin – the lithosphere (led by Tim Unwin).  As dusk came upon us, few people remained to walk up the steps to the Cathedral and Auditoire de Calvin, but we nevertheless discussed the impact of mining for minerals used in digital tech, the impact of waste especially in landfill, and also the potential benefits in land management.

Scenes from the DESC walk in Geneva, 16 March 2023

Reimagining the Interface between Digital Tech and the Physical Environment (Session 204)

This formal workshop session had three main aims:

• to share an updated overview of DESC’s emerging model that challenges much existing work being undertaken on digital tech and climate change;
• to provide an update on its ongoing activities since WSIS 2022; and
• to do this in a lively and interactive way.

Official ITU photograph from WSIS Session 204

The session was structured as follows:

• Introduction to DESC, highlighting the need to adopt a holistic approach focusing on the interaction between digital technologies and the totality of the physical environment (including the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere – see diagram below) rather than just climate change.  Indeed, a focus primarily on  human-induced climate change is likely to lead to seriously adverse impacts on other dimensions of the physical environment.
• Summaries of the key points of discussion explored during the DESC walk (WSIS Session 403) the previous day, presented by the five discussion moderators (including the YouthDESC session).
• Highlights of two examples from the activities of DESC’s Working Groups emphasizing why these issues matter:
  • The indigenous DESC Working Group (Poline Bala’s sliodes were presented by Tim Unwin).  This highlighted that indigenous peoples are insufficiently represented at events such as WSIS, and that they can contribute significantly to new ways of addressing the interface between digital tech and the physical environment
  • A video presentation by James Crabbe on the importance of omics for informing policy on deep sea mining.
• This was followed by an introduction to the toolkit being developed by DESC for all those who have pledged to the ITU-led Partner2Connect initiative to enable them to consider and address the environmental impact of their proposed interventions.
• The final element was a lively discussion around the issues raised, that included new commitments from participants to explore collaboration on implementing the DESC toolkit

DESC in Geneva

The general consensus from both sessions was that they were enjoyable and informative – and that DESC should offer to convene another walk in 2024 when we can delve once again into both the positive and negative impacts of the design and use of digital tech on the environment.