Emerging digital technology will shape the future in new and unimaginable ways - it’s the driving force behind the scientific-, industrial- and consumer-revolution. Digital technology is one of the keys to solving our most pressing problems, be it the distribution of resources, social mobility or climate change.

Today, the expansion of the digital economy already poses challenges for the environment. By the beginning of 2030, data centers are estimated to account for up to 13% of global electricity consumption. Inside data centers, home of the computers that power the digital economy, the inefficient use of equipment is creating unnecessary waste and costs. On a global average, eight out of ten servers are idling while still consuming energy.

Limiting the expansion of digital technology is not an option. We believe we need to adapt the underlying digital infrastructure, reducing its environmental impact to zero, making the massive growth sustainable while ensuring it remains open & accessible.

Overview
Established in 2019 and co-based in Germany and the Netherlands, the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance e.V. (SDIA) is a nonprofit network that aims to drive collaboration across industries to enable a thriving digital ecosystem without negative impacts on the environment through competitive and sustainable digital infrastructure.

With its network of more than 65 members and partners, SDIA works to make the infrastructure powering the digital economy sustainable, while ensuring it remains open and accessible to everyone. Its Roadmap to Sustainable Digital Infrastructure by 2030 (https://sdialliance.org/roadmap) is the primary mechanism that enables all stakeholders from across the value chain to connect, benchmark, and deliver sustainability. It is meant to offer a holistic, systems-thinking approach to solving the challenges facing ICT sustainability, ranging from energy supply and data centers, to fiber-optic networks and software.