The current pressure of human activities on the earth system has led to the gradual questioning of certain practices. The scientific literature reckons digital technology to have an essential role to play in alleviating our impact on the environment, while simultaneously being part of the problem. The introduction of more environmentally-friendly technologies is necessary, to ultimately replace harmful ones, yet without supplementing them. The goal of this research is therefore to better understand the role that digital technology and data can play in increasing environmental sustainability on an organizational level. Corporate mechanisms behind the reduction of carbon emissions as well as other environmental indicators are particularly considered.

• How can organizations leverage digital technology and data to improve their level of environmental sustainability?
• What are the challenges and obstacles companies experience in adopting digital technology for environmental sustainability, and how can they address them?
• What differentiate a successful corporate environmental project to an unsuccessful one and how can their impact be measured?

• Best-practice for the adoption and implementation of corporate carbon reduction mechanism
• Framework detailing the transition towards a environmentally-friendly approach to conduct business

• Project Owner: Virginie Cauderay
• Project Collaborators from Academia:
  • Thomas Haskamp, Hasso Plattner Institute
  • Ina Sebastian, MIT Center for Information Systems Research, United States: Ina Sebastian

Project Period:

2023 - 2026

Seeking:

Empirical data on corporate environmental projects; Sustainability/ESG-focused corporate initiatives; Interviews with e.g. Chief Sustainability Officers

Thesis Topics:

Feel free to get in touch with Virginie Cauderay if you are interested in writing a thesis as part of this project

Kotlarsky, J., Oshri, I., & Sekulic, N. (2023). Digital Sustainability in Information Systems Research: Conceptual Foundations and Future Directions. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 24(4), 936-952.

Körner, M. F., Michaelis, A., Spazierer, S., & Strüker, J. (2023). Accelerating sustainability in companies: A taxonomy of information systems for corporate carbon risk management.