Internet Society Foundation Funds nDEE to Advance Use-Inspired Research
March 2024 (Washington, D.C.) —
The Internet Society Foundation (ISOC) has awarded $500,000 to the Network on the Digital Economy and the Environment — an initiative of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the Yale School of the Environment, and the University of California, Berkeley Center for Law Energy and the Environment (CLEE) — to explore how use-inspired research can make research on the environmental impacts of digitalization and emerging digital technologies actionable for governments, business, NGOs, and consumers.
“Getting research on the energy and environmental impacts of digital technologies into the hands of users is crucial,” said Jordan Diamond, President of the Environmental Law Institute. “While our understanding of those impacts is increasing, it’s often not framed in a way that is easily usable by policy makers, business managers, investors, and advocacy groups. ELI is pleased to continue the partnership with UC Berkeley’s Center for Law Energy and the Environment and the Yale School of the Environment in this effort to bridge the gap between research and action.”
ISOC’s funding allows the Network on the Digital Economy and the Environment to capitalize on its ongoing projects to catalyze, co-design, and disseminate high quality research on the rapidly growing energy and environmental impacts of the digital economy. This grant builds on over six years of funding from the Alfred P. Sloan, Patrick J. McGovern, and National Science Foundations (NSF) and will enable:
Development of a framework and specific strategies to support use-inspired research applied to the environmental impacts of the digital economy
Issuance of a planning grant designed to test the framework
Convenings to engage end-users on their research needs and to identify opportunities for future funding of high-impact research by governments and philanthropies
Provision of other resources to decision makers, such as targeted briefings and a database of resources, including an on-line bibliography, covering research relevant to the digital economy and the environment
Hiring of a program director for the nDEE
The initiative will continue to support and build on the expertise of the NSF-funded Research Coordination Network (RCN), which now includes 50+ researchers from around the world active in studying the impact of the digital economy on the environment. The network will be expanded to include researchers from underrepresented regions of the world, and a team of researchers from UC Berkeley will examine the potential role of use-inspired research on initiatives focused on greening the internet in California.