• Energy Research

This dataset is published for transparency and open data purposes, as part of the work "'We are always on, is that really necessary?' Exploring the Path to Digital Sufficiency in Flexible Work" published at ICT4S 2023 conference. The study: We conducted three focus groups with a total of 11 participants, inside two different companies. Our aim was to investigate the notion of digital sufficiency in the context of flexible work. Content: Preliminary interview guide.pdf: the interview guide containing the questions for the preliminary interview Focus group slides.pdf: the slides presented to the participants of the three focus groups Focus group participant print-outs.pdf: the sheets distributed to the participants of the three focus groups, for individual note-taking Codebook.xlsx: the codes extracted (with the help of the software Saturate) from the transcripts of the three focus groups: tab CODEBOOK: the codes, sorted by three levels and by research question, along with their definition and a description on when the code is applicable, tab Code Count: the number of occurrence of each code in the transcripts, tab Clustering Tactics: the thematic analysis performed on the codes with level 1 "tactic". Corresponds to the Table III in the paper For privacy reason, all names are removed and the transcript and audio recording are not part of this replication package.

Companies are increasingly adopting cloud-based solutions to provide their employees with tools for flexible work. The environmental consequences of this trend, although largely under-researched, are likely to be negative. In fact, by enabling integrated and easy-to-use features (document collaboration, backups, online meetings, etc.), using the cloud typically leads to a growth in data traffic and outsourced computation. At the same time, the 2022 IPCC report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) calls for sufficiency measures to reach net-zero emissions, i.e. actions on the demand side to avoid unnecessary consumption of resources. However, how much and which cloud usage is 'sufficient' for flexible work? This exploratory study looks into this question by using qualitative research methods. We carried out three focus groups within two companies, investigating the daily use of digital technologies in flexible work. A thematic analysis using open coding was performed on the outcome. Our findings include (i) a list of main digital work activities and differences according to work settings, (ii) the perceptions of what makes certain digital activities or their cloud feature necessary, and (iii) a list of tactics towards sufficiency and the perceived benefits and challenges associated to them. In our increasingly connected work environments, there are plenty of opportunities to decrease our digital footprint by recentering on the essentials, and simultaneously bring co-benefits like focus, and better quality of life. Future work could identify the cultural part of what is perceived as necessary by running the same study in other countries and professional environments. Further research would also be helpful to identify the potential impact and acceptability of the identified tactics.

Information and communication technologies are increasingly pervasive in our everyday lives. Their use has greatly evolved from an ancillary service to a component of all our activities, anytime, anywhere. To this aim, we rely heavily on cloud computing and, more recently, on edge computing. Hence, their contribution (or obstruction) to the sustainability of our society at large is pivotal. Unfortunately, cloud/edge provisioning has a dark side: it too often prioritizes economic gain over the cost of long-lasting sustainability. Also, sustainability is often absent from the discussions in the cloud/edge research community. To start the discussion and highlight a number of sustainability shortcomings of the cloud and edge computing paradigms, we carry out an exploratory study involving experts-in-the-field, capture their inputs in the form of so-called unsustainable patterns, and complement them with examples of possible countermeasures. The results of our study include: (i) the definition of a Pattern Model, (ii) a catalog of unsustainable patterns for the cloud and edge computing paradigms, and (iii) the identification of preliminary countermeasures and takeaways in order to make these two paradigms more sustainable.