Creating a sustainable future

Resource efficiency and sustainability are playing an increasingly important role in mobile communications and the Internet of Things (IoT). With the Green ICT hub at Fraunhofer IIS, we want to pool together the expertise of twelve Fraunhofer Institutes with a view to implementing energy-efficient IoT systems using new technologies such as intelligent sensor platforms, edge computing and AI. With the systematic environmental assessment of ICT ecosystems as a service for businesses, we intend to reduce their carbon footprint via so-called hardware ecodesign and promote and advance sustainable digitalization. The energy consumption of components while in operation and on standby is to be designed so as to save battery power by means such as energy harvesting, wake-up modules and the adjusted distribution of data processing throughout the ICT chain. As an active water sports enthusiast, marine pollution and the melting of the polar ice caps are the issues that are driving me to do what I can for climate protection in my professional capacity.

It never ceases to impress me how versatile X-rays are and how many different disciplines can benefit from them. For instance, X-ray technology helps us in the recycling process to distinguish hazardous substances from other materials. We are very well able to detect alloys containing lead, for example, or wood that has been treated and therefore contaminated, by virtue of differences in their material density. These substances must be reliably separated out before the recycling process in order to prevent them from contaminating the remaining materials to be processed, as this would render them useless for the purposes of environmentally friendly recycling. As a Fraunhofer researcher, it is a win-win when my work not only leads to new insights that benefit science and our industrial partners, but also represents a step toward greater sustainability for us as a society.

Digitalization expands people's scope for action and improves their quality of life. To this end, solutions must be developed that are focused on people’s needs and that train, motivate and engage them. This is what we mean by social sustainability. Using data-based methods, including techniques from behavioral and social research and mathematical optimization, we analyze and optimize not just processes but also working and user environments from the perspective of people – within companies, but also in public spaces. For example, we use co-creation approaches in public innovation labs in order to involve all relevant social groups in the development of innovative new solutions. We investigate what employees need if they are to work with new technologies in a healthy and motivated manner. Mathematics and analytics can be used to organize workflows in a way that accommodates people’s needs – such as software software that plans shifts not only to save time, but also to avoid monotony. All these things make people more content. And that is what motivates me personally.

Under the heading “Sustainability at Fraunhofer IIS,” we deal with our responsibility and our objectives as an organization and employer: that is to say, our corporate responsibility. We put together a team and evaluated our institute based on the “LeNa – Sustainability management in non-university research organisations” guidelines. We scored well: in many areas for action, we are either well or very well positioned. But we want to do even better. That is why we are developing participatory formats in consultation with institute management to which all employees can contribute and bring their ideas to the subject at hand – climate-friendly mobility, for instance. Sustainability is very important to me personally. It heartens me to see the determination with which Fraunhofer is approaching this topic. It is our responsibility to bequeath a world to our children and grandchildren in which they can live well, in peace, and in good health.