Administrations will be able to rely on a general eco-design repository to create lighter digital services that consume less resources.
The Dinum, which participates in the inter-ministerial “Eco-responsible digital” mission, wants to reduce the consumption of IT and energy resources and tackle the problem of obsolescence of user equipment and network or server equipment. It is launching a general reference system for the self-design of digital services, which is accompanied by a preliminary self-assessment tool, called “NumEcoDiag”.
79 criteria
The repository is based on 79 criteria covering strategy, architecture, UX/UI, content, front-end and back-end as well as service hosting.
Since 75% of the environmental impact of digital technology is concentrated in the equipment manufacturing phase, the standard ensures, for example, that the digital service can be used on terminals that are five years old or more.
More generally, it takes into account the entire life cycle of services, from design to recycling of equipment. “The reflection extends to the use of technologies, aiming, directly or indirectly, to extend the life of digital equipment and to reduce the consumption of computer and energy resources of terminals, networks and data centers” , says Richard Hanna, MiNumEco project manager at Dinum.
Ultimately, it will help administrations to design “more eco-responsible” digital products and services, whether they are websites for online procedures or mobile applications.
A unifying subject
By creating clear and detailed documentation, Dinum wishes to facilitate access to it for businesses and IT departments.
“The eco-design of digital services goes beyond the purely technical subject. To be effective, it must federate, transcend the organization and integrate into a global strategy”, explains Olivier Joviado, co-pilot within the Dinum of the interministerial mission “Eco-responsible digital”, which publishes the repository.
The repository was co-constructed for a year with administrations, companies, associations and universities. It was also submitted to a public consultation to collect nearly 300 opinions and more than 1,100 votes on the various criteria proposed.
A self-diagnosis tool called NumEcoDiag is offered in parallel, to allow each administration to analyze the level of eco-design of its digital service with regard to the 79 criteria referred to therein.
The general eco-design reference system is part of the government’s “Digital and Environment” roadmap for 2021. The latter provided for the development of an environmental assessment methodology for digital services, with a first version of a environmental display in April 2021 and a consolidated generic database at the end of 2021.