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THE GREEN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES
Soemarno
International Seminar on Environmental Changes and Sustainability, Graduate School
of Brawijaya University, March 3rd Malang 2010.
The three key aspects to the Green Knowledge Society.
Economic – a knowledge economy is the way forward for a
competitive economy to generate sustainable growth and
employment through innovation and to enable social and
environmental goals to be pursued. Investment in ICT in support of
Green Knowledge Society goals would additionally provide a
much-needed short-term economic boost.
Societal – a knowledge society is an inclusive society in which
everyone should be able to participate, including those less able,
so that this entry becomes part of basic human rights. It is the
power of individuals acting in concert that drives innovation.
Environmental – the Green Knowledge Society is a sustainable
society so that growing use of ICT must support an eco-efficient
economy. It has overtones in the economy, specifically with use of
sustainability to drive new products, processes and industry
sectors.
Policy themes
Three key themes run through this policy study:
First, ICT is bringing about a fundamental shift in our
economic and social lives. For instance, relationships between
producers and consumers in both public and private spheres become
more interactive and multi-faceted, so that the consumer ceases to
be just a passive recipient and becomes an active participant. There
are enormous consequences for the ways in which we interact, our
social organisation, the delivery of public services including how
government interacts with citizens. This means we must be ever
more aware of human and social aspects as they relate to ICT.
Second, we have reached a tipping point in the transition to a
knowledge economy. The changes we have been experiencing can
no longer be thought of as an evolution from the industrial past.
Rather, the change is revolutionary. The enterprises that drive the
knowledge economy and produce jobs and growth have to be more
competitive, creative and innovative than ever before. It is crucial that
Europe becomes a leading knowledge economy if it is to meet the
social and economic aspirations of its citizens. Moreover, the current
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economic downturn emphasises an immediate objective for ICT
policy, to be an element for economic recovery and strengthen the
world economy. Commissioner Reding has highlighted this potential
in recent speeches.
Third, the issue of climate change is the most important
challenge of our time. ICT occupies a leading role in the fight against
climate change, contributing to a sustainable low-carbon economy.
Moreover a global lead in this domain could be an important new
opportunity segment for world’s economy – a ‘Green New Deal’.
Photo seminar document 2010
A practical plan for the green knowledge society
These three themes emerged from the study’s programme of
research and interviews with experts and stakeholders. These
themes underpinned the selection of ten key policy areas, which
were chosen from the analysis of interviews and a creative workshop
with leading thinkers. The ten policy areas, shown below, form an
overall ICT policy framework over the next five to ten years:
1. The knowledge economy: driver of future wealth
2. The knowledge society: participation for all
3. Green ICT: support for an eco-efficient economy
4. Next generation infrastructure: balancing investment with
competition
5. Soft infrastructure: investing in social capital
6. SMEs and ICT: supporting any small enterprises
7. A single information market: enabling cohesion and growth
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8. Revolutionising eGovernment: rethinking delivery of public
services
9. Online trust: a safe and secure digital world
10. Clear leadership: rethinking the policy making process
THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY (KBE)
The term “knowledge-based economy” results from a
fuller recognition of the role of knowledge and technology
in economic growth.
Knowledge, as embodied in human beings (as “human
capital”) and in technology, has always been central to economic
development. But only over the last few years has its relative
importance been recognised, just as that importance is growing. The
modern economies are more strongly dependent on the production,
distribution and use of knowledge than ever before. Output and
employment are expanding fastest in high-technology industries,
such as computers, electronics and aerospace.
In the past decade, the high-technology share of
manufacturing production and exports has more than doubled, to
reach 20-25 per cent. Knowledge-intensive service sectors, such as
education, communications and information, are growing even faster.
Indeed, it is estimated that more than 50 per cent of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) in the major economies is now knowledge-based.
Knowledge and economics
These trends are leading to revisions in economic theories
and models, as analysis follows reality. Economists continue to
search for the foundations of economic growth. Traditional
“production functions” focus on labour, capital, materials and energy;
knowledge and technology are external influences on production.
Now analytical approaches are being developed so that knowledge
can be included more directly in production functions. Investments in
knowledge can increase the productive capacity of the other factors
of production as well as transform them into new products and
processes. And since these knowledge investments are
characterised by increasing (rather than decreasing) returns, they are
the key to long-term economic growth.
According to the neo-classical production function, returns
diminish as more capital is added to the economy, an effect which
may be offset, however, by the flow of new technology. Although
technological progress is considered an engine of growth, there is no
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definition or explanation of technological processes. In new growth
theory, knowledge can raise the returns on investment, which can in
turn contribute to the accumulation of knowledge. It does this by
stimulating more efficient methods of production organisation as well
as new and improved products and services. There is thus the
possibility of sustained increases in investment which can lead to
continuous rises in a country's growth rate. Knowledge can also spill
over from one firm or industry to another, with new ideas used
repeatedly at little extra cost. Such spillovers can ease the
constraints placed on growth by scarcity of capital.
Technological change raises the relative marginal
productivity of capital through education and training of the labour
force, investments in research and development and the creation of
new managerial structures and work organisation. Analytical work on
long-term economic growth shows that in the 20th century the factor
of production growing most rapidly has been human capital, but there
are no signs that this has reduced the rate of return to investment in
education and training. Investments in knowledge and capabilities
are characterised by increasing (rather than decreasing) returns.
These findings argue for modification of neo-classical equilibrium
models – which were designed to deal with the production, exchange
and use of commodities – in order to analyse the production,
exchange and use of knowledge.
Incorporating knowledge into standard economic production
functions is not an easy task, as this factor defies some fundamental
economic principles, such as that of scarcity. Knowledge and
information tend to be abundant; what is scarce is the capacity to use
them in meaningful ways. Nor is knowledge easily transformed into
the object of standard economic transactions. To buy knowledge and
information is difficult because by definition information about the
characteristics of what is sold is asymmetrically distributed between
the seller and the buyer. Some kinds of knowledge can be easily
reproduced and distributed at low cost to a broad set of users, which
tends to undermine private ownership. Other kinds of knowledge
cannot be transferred from one organisation to another or between
individuals without establishing intricate linkages in terms of network
and apprenticeship relationships or investing substantial resources in
the codification and transformation into information.
In the knowledge-based economy, firms search for linkages
to promote inter-firm interactive learning and for outside partners
and networks to provide complementary assets. These relationships
help firms to spread the costs and risk associated with innovation
among a greater number of organisations, to gain access to new
research results, to acquire key technological components of a new
product or process, and to share assets in manufacturing, marketing
and distribution. As they develop new products and processes, firms
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determine which activities they will undertake individually, in
collaboration with other firms, in collaboration with universities or
research institutions, and with the support of government.
Innovation is thus the result of numerous interactions by a
community of actors and institutions, which together form what are
termed national innovation systems. Increasingly, these innovation
systems are extending beyond national boundaries to become
international. Essentially, they consist of the flows and relationships
which exist among industry, government and academia in the
development of science and technology. The interactions within this
system influence the innovative performance of firms and economies.
Of key importance is the “knowledge distribution power” of the
system, or its capability to ensure timely access by innovators to the
relevant stocks of knowledge. Efforts are just beginning to quantify
and map the diffusion paths of knowledge and innovation in an
economy – considered the new key to economic performance.
Measuring the performance of the knowledge-based
economy may pose a greater challenge. There are systematic
obstacles to the creation of intellectual capital accounts to parallel the
accounts of conventional fixed capital. At the heart of the knowledgebased economy, knowledge itself is particularly hard to quantify and
also to price. We have today only very indirect and partial indicators
of growth in the knowledge base itself. An unknown proportion of
knowledge is implicit, uncodified and stored only in the minds of
individuals. Terrain such as knowledge stocks and flows, knowledge
distribution and the relation between knowledge creation and
economic performance is still virtually unmapped.
In general, improved indicators for the knowledge-based
economy are needed for the following tasks:
1) measuring knowledge inputs;
2) measuring knowledge stocks and flows;
3) measuring knowledge outputs;
4) measuring knowledge networks; and
5) measuring knowledge and learning.
THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY (KBS)
Teknologi informasi dan komunikasi telah melahirkan apa
yang disebut dengan masyarakat berbasis informasi atau popularnya disebut dengan ‘information society' . Konsep ini kemungkinan
berakar dari tradisi liberal masyarakat Eropa dan kemajuan teknologi
dari Amerika. Seiring dengan pesatnya kemajuan teknologi internet
serta dibarengi dengan tingkat penetrasi internet yg tinggi di seluruh
dunia maka ‘information society' telah berkembang menjadi
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‘information and knowledge society' atau masyarakat berbasis
pengetahuan dan informasi.
Manfaat teknologi informasi dan komunikasi telah diakui
sebagai salah satu penyebab lahirnya masyarakat berbasis
pengetahuan dan informasi, selain memberikan dampak secara tidak
langsung bagi masyarakat dunia, al:
 Sebagai jembatan antara Negara berkembang dengan
Negara maju
 Sebagai alat pengembangan ekonomi dan social
 Berfungsi sebagai mesin pemacu pertumbuhan
 Sebagai pilar utama konstruksi pembentukan masyarakat
ekonomi global berbasis ilmu pengetahuan.
Peranan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi atau kami singkat
TIK terhadap pembentukan masyarakat berbasis pengetahuan dan
informasi telah lama diyakini sebab secara nyata berkontribusi bagi
penyebaran informasi dan penyediaan akses terhadap ilmu
pengetahuan dan teknologi yg sama bagi setiap orang dengan
prinsip jasa universal.
Prinsip pertama dan yang paling penting dalam pembentukan
masyarakat berbasis pengetahuan adalah jasa universal mempunyai
arti tersedianya akses informasi dan ilmu pengetahuan melalui
internet bagi setiap orang tanpa membedakan status sosial, jenis
kelamin, suku, bahasa, dll. Dalam lingkungan dimana informasi dan
pengetahuan memegang peranan penting bagi pengembangan
ekonomi dan sosial masyarakat, maka akses kepada informasi dan
penggunaan kebutuhan akan informasi ini harus diberikan kepada
setiap orang di setiap tempat. Bagi kita di Indonesia sebagai Negara
berkembang dimana ketersediaan infrastruktur komunikasi yang
minim maka kesempatan setiap orang untuk memperoleh informasi
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dan pengetahuan akan sangat terbatas. Pembentukan masyarakat
berbasis pengetahuan dan informasi masih merupakan sebuah
mimpi. Peran perusahaan telekomunikasi dalam hal ini Telkom
sangat diharapkan untuk mempersempit jurang informasi atau yg
popular disebut dengan ‘digital divide'. Tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa
operator telekomunikasi dalam hal ini diwakili oleh Telkom
mempunyai kewajiban sosial dalam hal penyediaan akses internet
bagi setiap orang sehingga tujuan pencapaian masyarakat berbasis
pengetahuan dan informasi dapat terwujud.
Di samping minimnya ketersediaan infrastruktur komunikasi di
setiap daerah, hal lain yang perlu mendapat perhatian adalah
pemenuhan isi daripada Internet itu sendiri utamanya muatan lokal.
Ini perlu dipikirkan sehingga begitu banyak masyarakat yg sudah
mempunyai akses internet, maka pemanfaatan internet sebagai
media pembelajaran dan pencarian informasi dan pengetahuan
dapat lebih maksimal. Sekarang ini sudah mulai banyak tumbuh situs
berbahasa Indonesia dengan berbagai corak dan ragam isi sehingga
setiap orang tidak akan kesulitan untuk memahami bahasa.
Masyarakat berbasis pengetahuan ditetapkan pemerintah
Indonesia sebagai misi kebijakan strategi nasional yaitu mewujudkan
masyarakat Indonesia yang cerdas, kreatif, dan kompetitif dalam
peradaban berbasis pengetahuan. Tahap implementasinya antara
lain melalui penguasaan pengetahuan, peningkatan kemampuan
pengambil keputusan untuk menyerap pengetahuan, menambah
anggaran pendidikan, meningkatkan kurikulum pro-pengetahuan,
dan membangun sistem birokrasi yang merangsang masyarakat
berkreasi dan berinovasi.
Untuk peningkatan investasi penelitian serta pengembangan
ilmu dan teknologi maka diperlukan pengelolaan pengetahuan yang
tepat. Pengelolaan pengetahuan (knowledge management) adalah
upaya bagaimana manusia dapat mengumpulkan aset pengetahuan
(knowledge asset) dan kemudian menggunakannya untuk
mendapatkan keunggulan kompetitif. Dengan demikian maka
teknologi informasi dan komunikasi sangat berperan besar dalam
membuat masyarakat menjadi pintar. Hal inilah yang merupakan
dasar bagi terciptanya masyarakat berbasis pengetahuan
(knowledge-based society). Upaya pemgembangan ilmu dilakukan
melalui pertukaran pengetahuan dengan mudah dan cepat yang
pada gilirannya akan membuat pengetahuan terus berkembang.
Sehingga pengelolaan pengetahuan merupakan suatu upaya untuk
menyebarkan, mempercepat pertukaran dan memanfaatkan
pengetahuan.
Dengan pengelolaan ilmu yang tepat di dunia pendidikan,
maka akan meningkatkan kualitas Sumber Daya Manusia. Kualitas
sumber daya manusia (SDM) sangat dipengaruhi oleh tingkat
pendidikannya. Melalui pendidikan, kegiatan penelitian, dan
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penulisan karya-karya ilmiah, akan membantu terciptanya suatu
masyarakat berbasis pengetahuan. Penulisan karya-karya ilmiah,
dan hasil penelitian tersebut tentunya membutuhkan suatu wadah
publikasi yang dapat mengakomodasi secara cepat, merata dan
mudah diperbarui. Hal ini dimaksudkan agar informasi ilmiah yang
terkandung di dalamnya dapat tersampaikan ke masyarakat luas
sebagai upaya pemberdayaan dan peningkatan mutu SDM
khususnya dalam dunia pendidikan.
Seiring dengan berkembangnya teknologi informasi dan
komunikasi, maka publikasi atau penyebaran informasi yang semula
melalui kertas (cetak/hard-copy) kini mulai berganti menjadi bentuk
elektronik (soft-copy). Perubahan teknologi ini membuka peluang
besar bagi penyebaran informasi ilmiah tersebut, terutama jika dapat
diakses secara online dan dibangun pusat informasinya. Pusat
informasi yang dibangun selain berfungsi menampilkan juga dapat
menampung kiriman karya ilmiah secara online dari user/pengguna
dengan syarat dan kondisi yang dapat diatur secara fleksibel.
Kemampuan dan kemudahan teknologi tersebut memberi
peluang yang sangat luas bagi terbangunnya pusat publikasi karya
ilmiah berbasis TIK atau akan kita sebut sebagai e-journal. Dengan
demikian, akan memberi peluang bagi peningkatan mutu sumber
daya manusia dengan memberi kemudahan dalam memperoleh ilmu
pengetahuan tersebut.
GREEN ICT: SUPPORT FOR AN ECO-EFFICIENT
ECONOMY
Kemajuan yang pesat dari teknologi informasi dan komunikasi (TIK)
mempengaruhi kegiatan ekonomi dan sosial. Kemajuan tersebut
berdampak positif pada cara mengelola dan menjalankan perusahaan
ataupun pemerintah. Akses yang meningkat terhadap TIK juga
mempengaruhi cara orang bekerja, belajar, dan berkomunikasi. Hal positif
yang didapatkan dengan memanfaatkan TIK:
 mengurangi biaya transaksi
 mengurangi kendala waktu dan ruang
 melakukan produksi masal dari barang dan jasa yang
customized
 menggantikan faktor produksi lainnya seperti kapital, tenaga
kerja, material atau bahan baku.
Berbagai hal positif dapat dicapai karena ilmu pengetahuan menjadi
elemen dalam TIK dan hal tersebut menyebabkan daya saing
menjadi hal yang penting. Karena dampak penggunaan TIK sangat
signifikan dan karena TIK bergantung pada network,
interconnectivity, interdependency, dan coordination yang efisien,
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maka TIK menjadi infrastruktur yang penting untuk ekonomi
berbasis pengetahuan.
Rising energy costs, an economic slowdown and
environmental awareness have introduced serious strategic
challenges to enterprises worldwide, prompting searches for
efficiency and cost reductions across the board, including in IT.
Enterprises that don't alter their ways and challenge their IT
organizations to operate in more ecological-friendly ways will miss
key opportunities to increase IT efficiencies and reduce costs via the
implementation of greener IT solutions.
There are a variety of new and existing technologies available
that aid in green IT, such as virtualization and more efficient
hardware that demand less power and cooling. However, changes in
processes and current infrastructure can also improve efficiency that
leverages existing infrastructure and culminate in not only a greener
environment, but an improved bottom line.
Developing an overall green IT strategy that identifies
opportunities for greater efficiency and areas that would benefit from
new technology or improved processes can be difficult without
visibility and transparency into the state of the existing IT
infrastructure. This article will discuss how organizations can develop
a green IT strategy through visibility into existing IT assets and state
of the overall IT environment.
Why Green ICT?
Information and Communication Technology systems (ICT)
should be a core element of any organization’s green strategy.
However, they are often not explicitly recognized or incorporated into
most sustainability plans. There is significant opportunity to capture
value by designing and implementing a sensible green element
within the ICT realm. ICT systems typically account for about 25
percent of direct electricity use in commercial office buildings, and in
energy inefficient buildings or locations with a high density of IT gear,
that figure may be as high as 60 percent to 70 percent.
On a global scale, some analyst reports have calculated that
ICT represents 2 percent to 2.5 percent of the total global carbon
emissions, equivalent to the global aviation industry. But, for the
more advanced and technologically-centered economies of the US,
Japan and Europe, the number is more likely on the order of 5
percent to 6 percent and growing at double-digit rates. The ICT
industry’s carbon footprint is expected to triple during the period from
2002 to 2020. Japan’s METI has forecasted that by 2025 ICT will
consume 20 percent of all electricity in Japan.
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Achieving the greening of ICT is a very viable and high-value
first step in any green strategy. The impact of a greener ICT is multifold:
• Smaller physical footprint (e.g. smaller and more modern
data centers)
• Lower carbon footprint (updated devices)
• Lower heating/cooling costs
• Compliance with government regulations
• Good marketing.
We should note that from a holistic view, “greening” IT is not
just about reducing direct power consumption. With a personal
computer, for example, 60 to 80 percent or more of the lifecycle
carbon footprint of the device comes in fact from the manufacturing
of the device. IT equipment and consumer electronics are very
energy and materials intensive in manufacturing, have short life
spans and become toxic ewaste at the end of their useful lives.
Achieving “true green” requires a methodical, process driven
approach to avoid “robbing Peter to pay Paul” and resulting in higher,
rather than lower, costs and greater emissions. The optimization of
green ICT resources requires thinking about the ITC process from
end-to-end and ensuring that value capture opportunities are
identified in every phase of their lifecycle.
Photo: smn 2010
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How to Go Green in ICT
The greening of ICT systems can be achieved in many
different ways, including:
• Improving usage of what you already have: maximizing
utilization of current IT assets and putting in place
disciplined asset management policies;
• Consolidating servers, data centers, storage into more
efficient physical plants and hardware;
• Using new technologies such as virtualization to improve
use of all hardware assets.
Generally, a combination of all the above is required to
achieve comprehensive results. This entails putting in place a plan
that identifies the sources of opportunities, defines the critical
challenges and success factors and tracks measurable progress
toward the defined goal in a timely fashion. Typically, such plans
require a “top down” approach and the executive leadership and
sponsorship of senior executives. The first step generally involves
the least amount of effort and spend and can achieve a substantial
outcome in a short time period and can be frequently driven from
within IT itself, with minimal big-bang oversight.
Zeroing In: Improve Asset Utilization
Improving asset utilization involves a multi-step process.
Step 1: Establish baseline inventory of all existing assets.
Step 2: Analyze current asset infrastructure and utilization, including:
• Power consumption ratings for servers, storage, etc.
• Physical age of existing assets (i.e. older assets are
less energy efficient)
• Total utilization load of current servers
• ower management setting policies for PCs and
monitors (e.g. are they on 24x7?)
• Printer availability and printing policies (e.g.
singlesided vs. dual-sided printing)
Step 3: Develop optimization goals and approaches for each of the
categories, including:
• Load consolidation on fewer servers; retirement of
older servers
• Power management guidelines for desktops and
laptops
• Upgrading of existing equipment to extend lifecycle
• Printing resource guidelines
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• Print device consolidation
• Data center operations, cooling and power supply
Step 4: Implement new policies through:
• Definition
• Communication
• Execution
• Tracking
• Enforcement
Step 5: Monitor results and adapt objectives and policies based on
outcomes.