Information and communication technology (ICT) and the internet have shaped and changed society dramatically in the last few decades. Social structures are changing as a result of a shift in behaviour towards living our lives increasingly online, as is the way we work and do business. This move to a 'network society' is changing the ways citizens and states interact.

Currently, contributing between 2-3% to global greenhouse gas emissions1, the ICT sector is a growing source of energy consumption and environmental pollution. Conversely, these technologies also hold many of the solutions for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and increased energy and resource efficiency in other sectors. Hence, there is an urgent need for all sectors and their governance mechanisms at every level to become ICT-aware and for the ICT sector to become more ecologically aware, so that negative impacts can be minimised and the enabling powers of ICTs can be leveraged.

According to the council of the EU's ambitious new strategy plan – the European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015 – members have been mandated to increase the use of e-government services to 50% of EU citizens and 80% of EU businesses by 2015, through the use of Cloud and service-oriented architectures. Cloud computing is set to become the next major trend for public sector computing in the EU due to its apparent potential for cost effectiveness, energy efficiency and more efficient use of resources and labour.

With the increasing use of technologies like the Cloud, several issues have recently become the focus of discussion. Since the legal frameworks and measurement systems that were used for the industrial economy no longer apply in the new digital economy, the issues of data security and privacy are under scrutiny, but there is also the less apparent issue of growing storage demands, and the resulting growth in energy consumption and pollution. Worldwide data storage is growing at the staggering rate of 60% per year, with around one zettabyte of storage now being used globally, which is estimated to increase to 35 in 2020.2 Data centres and the telecommunications network are set to see their emissions grow, on average, 7% and 5% respectively each year between 2002-2020.3

The recent announcement of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regarding the introduction of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) is an example of how important it is for organisations to incorporate sustainable thinking into internet governance policies. The effective expansion of the internet that will result from the new domain name system coming into operation in 2012 will herald a whole new era for the internet. The changes that will result are complex and unpredictable in nature.

One possible implication is that the increase in the number of gTLDs from 22 to an effectively unlimited amount will result in a growing demand for data storage and energy consumption by organisations and individuals.

While Cloud computing has been heralded as a greener and more cost-effective solution for organisations with growing data storage needs, it must be used appropriately. The level of energy consumption and the source of the energy itself should not be ignored. Cloud computing in itself is not a magic bullet and will not solve all the negative impacts of ICT and internet usage.

The ICT and internet sectors are rapidly changing and evolving sectors, with far reaching current and future socioeconomic and environmental impacts. The issues outlined highlight the importance of continuous research and active dialogue between the public, private and ICT sectors at all levels in dealing with the move towards Cloud computing and other such complex problems.