The ecological transparency of the information society

A de-linking of pollution from economic growth and de-materialisation can p robably be seen as the most important single characteristic of sustainable development. With regard to this, ecological transparency means understandi ng all human activities, processes and patterns that have an impact on the potential for sustainable development. Closely linked with this is the idea that the ecological footprint of the information society should be concern ed with the environmental implications of its generations, applications and the disposability of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Th is paper aims at developing scenarios, and a set of criteria, plus indicato rs as tools for identifying various environmental impacts inherent in the i nformation society. Furthermore, it aims for the successful unification of the positive factors of the information society with ecologically sustainab le development. It is concluded that policy plans for the information socie ty would benefit from the enhanced level of ecological transparency the inf ormation society can provide, as presented via the indicators mentioned lat er in the text. Further, it is suggested that prerequisites should be creat ed for evaluating the implications of the information society and for the a pplication of related information society technologies. Such an approach co uld be labelled an Information Society Assessment. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.