Towards a sustainable Internet of Things
With the rise of smart homes globally, it is anticipated that there will be over 29 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices in smart homes worldwide by 2032. Given that most of these devices are increasingly treated as disposable, ending up as eWaste in landfills prematurely (particularly in the Global South), how can we build ‘repairability’ into the Internet of Things?
This project evaluates the digital good that may result from building repairability into the IoT. It extends current focus in the UK to the Global South to understand cultural difference and inform the responsible and inclusive design of a Sustainable IoT.
Working with stakeholders in two culturally diverse locations (the UK and Malaysia), the project aims to create guidance that is inclusive and representative of people on both sides of the global digital divide created by eWaste. Using speculative design with user-centred research, citizens will help co-create design guidelines for more repairable, sustainable and equitable IoT consumption, thereby contributing to a good digital society.
The project aims to contribute to a more equitable global society, by marrying together the views of:
- the Global North: a key contributor to eWaste because of the high rate at which it consumes and discards technology and where repair is largely hobbyist in nature and a change in culture is needed); and
- the Global South: where the majority of eWaste is dumped, technology is consumed more circularly for economic reasons; and where repair is part of the culture.
At stakeholder level, the project will ensure recruitment of a diverse range of research participants to include a wide spectrum of responses in both countries (in terms of age, gender, socio-economic background, educational status etc.). By bringing together these voices through speculative design and human-centred evaluation, this project will reinforce the equitable and cross-cultural nature of participation and outcomes. This cross-cultural study is a first of its kind and aims to also add significant value and merit to the Digital Good Network’s wider research.
The project also aims to establish a legacy network spread across the two countries which would lay the foundation for future research that extends upon the themes of equity and sustainability towards a digitally good society.
Team
Dr Neelima Sailaja, Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham
Professor Andy Crabtree, Professor, School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham
Dr Marina Ng Kher Hui, Associate Professor – Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia
Read about our other projects