Defining the Role for Information Systems in Environmental Sustainability Measurement

Information Systems scholars have played a limited role in addressing the problem of environmental sustainability, resulting in calls for our community to become more actively involved in tackling this critical problem. One of the most significant hurdles standing in the way of progress is measurement. Sustainability measurement represents a complex issue requiring the expertise of many different fields. We propose that sustainability measurement principles, which represent adopted rules or methods for conducting measurement in practice, provide an important mechanism for building the necessary linkages between disciplines, while at the same time moving us forward in protecting our global environment. In this paper we outline eight essential measurement principles and provide illustrative examples of how IS can support and embody these principles. We conclude the paper with research directions in relation to the potential role of IS in sustainability measurement

From policy-driven to practical implementation:big data opens up a new research paradigm for sustainable development

1可持续发展及面临的难题可持续发展是世界对发展道路的审慎选择,也是我国的基本发展战略。随着全球资源枯竭、环境恶化的日益严重以及人类文明的演进和对生态保护理念的不断深化,可持续发展已经成为全球共识,对这一领域的研究也越来越热,日渐深入。实现可持续发展的关键是如何制定合理的、能够平衡环境、经济和社会需求的复杂决策。然而自然、社会、经济系统本身的高度复杂性、动态性以及不确定性使得实现这一最优或近似最优的决策成为一个巨大的挑战。目前,可持续发展战略的实

Big data and computational sustainability

可持续发展是国际社会共同关注的焦点问题。然而,如何从现有的政策驱动落实到技术驱动是切实实现可持续发展的瓶颈问题。近年来,新兴的计算可持续性研究,成为解决该难题的一个有效途径和一个新的研究热点。大数据时代的来临为计算可持续性研究带来了机遇,同时也带来了问题复杂性、计算效率、方法可扩展性等新的挑战。针对国内对计算可持续性需求的紧迫性而目前尚未开展相关研究的现状,文中首先介绍了计算可持续性的重点研究内容和主要任务。其次,分析了在大数据时代,运用计算机及信息科学的技术来提高管理和分配自然资源的必要性和有效性,以及计算可持续性研究面临的机遇与挑战,并通过具体案例说明基于数据驱动的计算可持续性在大数据环境下发挥的关键作用。最后,从技术发展和实际应用的角度探讨了未来计算可持续性的一些研究方向。The sustainable development has attracted many attention worldwide.However,one of the biggest problems in sustainable development is the practical implementation of existing policies.Computational sustainability,as a new research field,will become an effective tool to address the aforementioned problem.The advent of the big data era brings many research opportunities to computational sustainability,but also poses many challenges,such as computational complexity,modeling complexity and scalability.This paper,systematically introduces the research topics and tasks in computational sustainability,and discusses the use of information technology to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of managing and allocating natural resources in big data era.Case studies illustrate that data-driven solutions of computational sustainability play key roles in a big data environment.Finally,future research directions of computational sustainability from both the technical and practical application perspectives are discussed.国家自然科学基金(61503313); 江苏省社会安全图像与视频理解重点实验室创新基金(30920140122007)资助项