Building a 'Green Data' Future: how a human-centric approach to data and nudges can help fight climate change

Abstract

A defining feature of digital transformation is the sensorization of everything and the concomi-tant creation of vast amounts of data covering every aspect of social and economic life. It is unfortunate that the value of this vast data pool has not been fully leveraged in tackling climate change and other environmental challenges facinghumanity. This article suggests that this failure is a product of the closed and siloed character of the mod-ern data ecosystem in which some stakehold-ers deem the collected data as their proprietary asset and have little incentive to share it with those interested in creating new value from such data, including, for example, by developing inno-vative technologies relevant for tackling climatechange. This article argues that a user-held data model, in which data are reconceptualized as the property of the users who generate it, might better unlock or activate the 'green value' of these data and, by doing so, facilitate the creation of innovative green technologies. This paper focuses on three settings where a user-centric approach to data might use-fully contribute to achieving these environmental goals, namely, facilitating green lifestyles, fos-tering sustainability in green cities and building green innovation ecosystems. Based on the fore-going discussion, this article concludes by iden-tifying some normative principles that might be useful to guide regulatory interventions in this context.