As the world’s IT system temporarily grinds to a halt, it’s maybe time for a brief pause to reflect on our reliance on the digital realm. Not least the constant deluge of data that we rely upon even as we are drowning in it. *(see below for the data on that!)
Somehow the systems we created to ‘help us’ have led to a collective dependency that puts our systems in control of us. The original spark of curiosity that led to the collection and interpretation of data has been overwhelmed by the provision of metrics, measures and disclosures from every direction – so much so that there’s no space for the curiosity any longer.
In sustainability, the demand for data is insatiable. And its production generally leads to demand for more. With the additional processing and interpretation required, there’s little room to renew curiosity, or to work out what to do about it. Perhaps that’s why the sophistication of climate models is leading to greater refinement of precisely how much we’re in trouble, but seems to be falling short of triggering the commensurate actions to address the problem.
Let’s be fair: it’s not the data that is the problem – data-degrowth isn’t a panacea (although we are storing up an unprecedented storage problem). The real risk that we have become desensitised to it. Data is all around us, and it will always be possible to ask for more rather than lean into the more ambiguous reality of why people don’t seem to be doing something about the underlying issue.
So much work in sustainability these days has been overrun by data that people complain that disclosure can feel like the boring humdrum of compliance. That’s far away from the feeling I had in my early career, recognising the power of transparency to help inform insights that could trigger positive change. And it is a whole world away from the unlimited space of curiosity, imagination and renewal that most people who want to make a difference are motivated by.
But it seems that there is an inescapable gravity pulling into more production, as if this alone will lead to the insights that inspire the right response. “If only we knew X…” starts the conference addresses on sustainability challenge. “…Then what would you actually do and how would you go about it?” comes the response in the thought bubble in my head
So while I hope that global IT systems don’t melt down altogether, I do wonder what a little break from swimming in the sea of data might do to reinvigorate curiosity, generate some better questions, and figure out what best to do with the plentiful insights we already have about what the world needs most.
*for those who wanted the data on the data 😉 we’re expecting to have about 175-200 Zettabytes (Zetta = a Trillion-billion)… about 3 times as much as in 2020. When I asked ChatGPT this morning to predict where we’d be by 2050, it said 32,000 ZB – expecting the same exponential growth rate as in the pre-AI era.. hmmm? 🤔