ICT solutions 21 centurySMARTer2030: ICT Solutions for 21st Century Challenges is the third report that builds on the understanding of how interdependent we are across countries, industries, and cultures. Our findings show an ICT-enabled world of 2030 that is cleaner, healthier and more prosperous, with greater opportunities for individuals everywhere.
This new report is based on in-depth modeling, unprecedented in its range, into the potential for ICT to disrupt business as usual and to reshape radically the way we live, as well as reducing the impact that continuous economic growth has on the environment. It shows how ICT can help break the link between
economic development and resource depletion, with emissions savings close to ten times those generated by the ICT sector itself.
ICT is a central pillar in the response to climate change. This report identifies even more possibilities for environmental and economic savings, but also goes further. Until now, there has always been a strong correlation between economic growth and increased energy consumption. Now we find that ICT can finally decouple economic growth from emissions growth. Not only are we seeing potential gains beyond the baseline we extrapolated just a few years ago, if current trends continue we are also likely to realize even more gains than we can predict today.
Clearly, ICT transformation can change people’s lives for the better. The future of global development should be driven by connectivity and the spread of ideas, information, and innovation. Unfortunately, too many people still lack internet and telecommunications access but the ICT sector is committed to expanding access so that by 2030, 2.5 billion more people have access to mobile health, distance learning, and the full array of benefits that connectivity can provide.