Workshop on Information Technology and the Environment, Washington, DC, Fall 2003

这笔拨款计划于2003年秋季在华盛顿特区资助一个关于信息技术与环境之间关系的研讨会。研讨会将由耶鲁大学林业与环境研究学院的工业生态中心与伍德罗·威尔逊国际学者中心和国际工业生态学会联合召开，并将以最近一期的《工业生态杂志》（JIE）、《电子商务、互联网与环境》为基础。信息技术被誉为自主改善环境的源泉，却被谴责为将迫使社会使用更多煤炭的能源大户。新兴的研究开始使专家的理解超越对立的主张。这项研究并不广为人知，它提出了新的挑战和研究需求。讲习班将以特刊的研究为核心，审查和更新有关专题的现有知识，例如通过增加使用电子服务“非物质化”对环境的影响；远程办公;电子商务对零售业的影响；透过互联网及软件代理商推动绿色市场的机会；通过产品标签改善产品管理和回收的机会；使用新兴无线技术的分布式信息系统也能提供更好的环境情报。该讲习班将提供一种继续和更新由《社会科学杂志》特刊推动的工作的手段。更广泛地说，研讨会将评估和扩展对资讯科技和环境的新认识。它还将把研究人员和主要资助机构聚集在一起，讨论和制定一套有针对性的研究重点。演示将被录下来，并用于准备在线学习模块。该杂志的特刊将在网上发布。将根据讲习班编写一份关于研究优先事项的简短文件。

This grant proposes to fund a workshop in Washington, D.C. in Fall 2003 on the relationships between information technology and the environment. The workshop will be convened by the Center for Industrial Ecology at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in association with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the International Society for Industrial Ecology and will deliberately build on a recent special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology (JIE), AE-commerce, The Internet and the Environment.Information technology has been heralded as source of autonomous environmental improvement and decried as an energy hog that will force society to Adig more coal. Emerging research is beginning to move expert understanding beyond opposing assertions. That research is not widely known and it poses new challenges and research needs. Using the research from the special issue as a nucleus, the workshop will examine and update current knowledge of topics such as the environmental implications of Adematerialization" through increased use of electronic services; telecommuting; e-commerce's impact on retailing; opportunities for catalyzing green markets via the Internet and software agents; opportunities for improved product management and recovery through product tagging; and better environmental intelligence from distributed information systems using emerging wireless technologies. The workshop will provide a means of continuing and updating the work catalyzed by the special issue of the JIE. More broadly, the workshop will assess and extend the emerging understanding of IT and the environment. It will also bring together the researchers and key funding agencies to discuss and develop a set of targeted research priorities. Presentations will be videotaped and used to prepare an on-line learning module. The special issue of the JIE will be made available on-line. A short paper on research priorities will be produced based on the workshop.