Pad (Jun 2024)
From the Cloud to the Ground. A Data-Driven Research to Build Informative Heritage about Data Centres’ Energy Footprint
Abstract
By adopting a critical stance towards our technocentric times, the article reflects on the impact of contemporary digital transformation and infrastructures in the broader environmental and climate crisis debate, analysing the Internet’s energy footprint. The Internet is often perceived as an intangible and weightless service, as represented by the popular Cloud metaphor. This common belief has generated a knowledge gap in users’ minds: no correlation exists between digital activities and their footprint on our planet. However, the Internet is a massive network of infrastructures consuming vast resources, contributing significantly to global warming. The article aims to bridge this gap using data visualisation as a research method and design output. It summarises data-driven research with a twofold output: mapping the known and unknown aspects of the Internet’s energy footprint to support transparency and future reflections and identifying visual strategies in the design field for communicating complex information. The research promotes an open-data approach, highlighting the pivotal role of data in understanding the connections between human behaviour, technology, and the environment. Additionally, this type of research has the potential to influence public awareness, engagement, and policy-making, emphasising its broader implications for fostering a more sustainable digital future.
