(Sustainabilityenvironment.com) – Digital Sustainability Index, is the name of the new tool useful to measure the awareness of sustainability and the sustainable use of technological tools. The index, developed by the Foundation for Sustainability, showed that 26% of Italians orient their behavior and the use of digital tools with a focus on sustainability.
They are the so-called “digital sustainability“, a profile in contrast to the “unsustainable analog“, that is 31% of the population that does not use technological tools and does not have sustainable attitudes.
The objective of the tool is not only to measure digitalization or attention to sustainability but to understand the link that connects the ability to use digital as a tool for sustainability.
The design of the Digital Sustainability Index
The index was constructed from 3,600 interviews with a representative sample of the Italian population.
The results divide the population into four profiles.
The “unsustainable analog“, the most numerous representing 31% of the population. It is citizens and citizens who do not use digital tools or behave in a sustainable way.
The “digital sustainable“, is the opposite profile, which is 26%. This is the population group that consciously uses technologies to adopt sustainable attitudes.
In third place is the “unsustainable digital” (25%), who habitually use technological tools but have no attention to the sustainability of their work.
Last in terms of representativeness of “sustainable analog“: only 18% of respondents, in fact, although not using digital tools, assume sustainable behaviors.
The calculations were made by applying a coefficient, disi, to each of the profiles, which measures the propensity for digital use for sustainability.
What emerges from the Digital Sustainability Index
The objective of the index is to show the awareness of the usefulness of digital tools to assume virtuous behaviors. The practices and attitudes measured are the circular economy and the use of energy-saving tools or sharing platforms. There are also other criteria, such as fair commerce and other types of sustainable behavior.
Trentino Alto Adige ranks first, with a good rate of digitalization and a high coefficient of awareness of the role of technology in sustainability among its citizens. Molise follows, which has its own peculiar characteristics. Although the digitization index is among the lowest, the high awareness of digital citizens of the potential of technology as a tool for sustainability makes them climb the ranking. The profile of the region is radically opposed to that of Lombardy which, while enjoying a high level of digitalization, has little interest in sustainability among its citizens, who do not believe that technology can be a tool to improve this aspect of their behavior. Lazio is third, followed by Friuli Venezia Giulia and Sardinia. Tuscany is last, with Marche and Piedmont closing the ranking.