Meeting Report on ITU-T FG-AI4EE—ICT Applications Using Artificial Intelligence in Climate Change Countermeasures and Their Standardization Trends

1. Environmental impact of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies

Society 5.0 [1] proposed by the Japanese Cabinet Office aims to achieve economic growth and solve social issues in parallel by using a system that closely integrates cyberspace and physical space. Information distribution using artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data, etc., is intended to enable a high quality of life. Natural disasters due to climate change have also been causing substantial damage worldwide, so it is necessary to develop effective methods for environmental protection using information and communications technology (ICT). In particular, AI and other emerging technologies, such as blockchain, edge/cloud computing, and fifth-generation mobile communication systems (5G), are expected to help solve such environmental problems by enabling near-future environmental prediction and visualization of meteorological phenomena. However, the energy consumption of AI and other emerging technologies is also expected to have an environmental impact due to the increase in the size of applications and amount of calculation, which is similar to that of current services and applications. Furthermore, AI consumes a large amount of energy not only when analyzing a large amount of data collected from sensors and system logs but also during pre-learning and tuning. Therefore, to minimize the environmental impact of using ICT, a method is required for evaluating and measuring the environmental efficiencies with respect to both ICT performance and environmental impact, which have not been defined by existing international standards and/or guidelines in the environmental field.

2. Purpose of establishing FG-AI4EE

Within the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) under the United Nations (UN), telecommunications carriers and ICT vendors are developing ITU-T Recommendations for guidance to solve various environmental issues regarding ICT in Study Group 5 (SG5) of the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). The methodology for assessing the environmental impact of the ICT sector has been completed as Recommendation ITU-T L.1450. In addition, Recommendation ITU-T L.1451, which was developed in 2019 with contributions from NTT, defines the method of assessing the aggregated positive environmental impact of ICT in other sectors. Since the quantitative evaluation of ICT’s potential contribution to environmental protection has progressed, a short-term Focus Group on Environmental Efficiency for AI and other Emerging Technologies (FG-AI4EE) was established in May 2019 to conduct a preliminary study called “Environmental Efficiency for AI and other Emerging Technologies.” FG-AI4EE started its activities to promote a global dialogue on the environmental efficiency of AI and other emerging technologies.

Emerging technologies are expected to improve work efficiency and expand potential applications in various fields but consume a large amount of energy during installation and operation and increase environmental impact. To achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), methods and global evaluation standards are needed to evaluate and measure the environmental impact of solutions that use emerging technologies. FG-AI4EE is expected to function as a platform for clarifying the standardization requirements for achieving the SDGs.

3. Overview of the first FG-AI4EE meeting

The first FG-AI4EE meeting was held in Vienna (Austria) from December 11 to 13, 2019. A workshop of the AI4EE Forum and a meeting of the U4SSC (United for Smart Sustainable City) index thematic group were held in conjunction with the FG-AI4EE meeting. Unlike the ITU-T SG5 meeting, the FG-AI4EE meeting involved not only telecommunications-related parties but also other entities: international organizations such as UN and government-affiliated organizations, and academic institutions such as universities and think tanks. About 30 participants attended the meetings in person, including two of the authors (Mr. Kondo and Mr. Sugimoto), and about 15 attended remotely from around the world.

There were two sessions in the AI4EE Forum. The first session was held to explore the possible environmental impact of AI, and the second was devoted to discussing use cases for assessing such impact. During the forum, the necessity of AI and the goal of FG-AI4EE were shared among all participants. At the FG-AI4EE meeting, there were discussions regarding 1) management team, 2) working group (WG) structure, 3) terms of reference (ToR), and 4) FG deliverables to be developed.

4. Changes in social environment after the first FG meeting

Social systems worldwide have had to adapt to the global spread of COVID-19. Changes include the increase in communication traffic caused by the transition to telework and online education, promotion of telemedicine, increase in online shopping and home deliveries, and increase in food disposal due to the closure of restaurants and schools. These changes will result in not only benefits but also considerable disadvantages in terms of environmental impact. To create a sustainable smart city, sustainable economic activities must be maintained while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from using ICT.

The NTT Group has proposed the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) toward 2030 with multiple pillars of technological developments, one of which is “a dramatic improvement in energy efficiency in ICT infrastructure” [2, 3]. IOWN must be achieved so that the environmental impact of ICT can be minimized. IOWN should enable ICT to be used to avoid or minimize any damage caused by future global crises as well as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

For the sustainable development of enterprises worldwide, the environmental impact of ICT services will need to be evaluated accurately and appropriately and various social issues will need to be solved by using IOWN from the perspective of environment, society, and governance (ESG) management considering the environment and society.

5. Summary and future activities

Although emerging technologies such as AI are expected to improve work efficiency and expand business possibilities in various fields, they consume a large amount of energy during installation and operation, which in turn leads to increased environmental impact. To achieve the UN SDGs, it is essential to develop methodologies for evaluating and measuring environmental impact and international evaluation standards. Most proposals at the first FG-AI4EE meeting were for energy efficiency and climate change, and few proposals were for a circular economy including measures for e-waste (electrical and electronic waste). Since ICT plays an important role in contributing to the SDGs, FG’s activity should make enterprises and organizations aware of ESG management, as well as share best practices worldwide and develop international guidelines. While continuing to investigate the activities of this FG so that IOWN can simultaneously help solve environmental problems and various social issues, NTT laboratories will continue to contribute to the international telecommunications community by sharing the results of its ICT and environmental research and developments through this FG activity.

References

	Xiaoxi Zhang Senior Research Engineer, ESG Management Science Group, Resilient Environmental Adaptation Research Project, NTT Space Environment and Energy Laboratories. She received a B.S. and M.S. in social engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2007 and 2009. Since joining NTT in 2009, she has been engaged in research on risk-based management of telecommunication infrastructures. She is currently researching methods of assessing the environmental and economic impact of ICT use. She won the Distinguished Service Award from the Telecommunication Technology Committee in 2020. She is a member of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE).
	Kazuhiro Takaya Senior Research Engineer, Supervisor, Zero Environmental Impact Research Project, NTT Space Environment and Energy Laboratories. He received a B.E. and M.E. in electrical and electronic engineering from Okayama University in 1993 and 1995 and received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Kyoto University in 2019. He joined NTT Telecommunication Networks Laboratories in 1995. Since then, he has been engaged in the study of electromagnetic compatibility of communication systems. He received the Communication Society Activity Achievement Award in 2015 for his contributions as a secretary of IEICE Technical Committee on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMCJ). He received the Encouragement Award in 2017 from the ITU Association of Japan for his contributions relating to ITU-T SG5. He is a Vice-chairman of ITU-T SG5. He is a member of IEICE.
	Yoshihiro Kondo Senior Expert Engineer, IOWN Business Development Business Unit, Network Innovation Business Headquarters, NTT Advanced Technology Corporation. He received an M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinoi, USA, in 1990 and 1994. After he worked for OKI Electric Industry Co., Ltd., where he developed optical access network systems, he joined NTT Advanced Technology in 2006. Since then, he has been working on standardization of multiple areas such as environmental and energy-efficiency-related issues, access network systems, and home network systems. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
	Yoshinori Sugimoto Engineer, IOWN Business Development Business Unit, Network Innovation Business Headquarters, NTT Advanced Technology Corporation. He received a B.S. and M.S. in information and communication engineering from the University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, in 2003 and 2005. Since joining NTT Advanced Technology in 2005, he has been engaged in research on high-speed data transmission in the Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching network, and Service OAM (Operations, Administration, and Maintenance) in Metro Ethernet Forum, etc. He is currently researching the role of ICTs in tackling climate change. He is participating in ITU-T FG-AI4EE.