University College Dublin ICT4S Conference Hub
Prof Michela Bertolotto, Rupert Bowen, Assoc Prof Damian Dalton, Assoc Prof John Dunnion, Dr Antonella Ferrecchia, Asst Prof Diego Gari, Dr Yibrah Gebreyesus, Assoc Prof Henry Mcloughlin, Assoc Prof Hadi Tabatabaee Malazi, Abhay Vadher
Profile/Interests
UCD Sustainability Strategy
The Breaking Boundaries: Strategy to 2030 report presents the key elements of UCD’s development strategy plan to 2030
The strategy reflects a dynamic and engaged university that is global, inclusive and sustainable, delivering positive transformation through mutually reinforcing research, educational and engagement actions and a commitment to excellence.
Key Sustainability-focuses objectives:
- A leader in knowledge generation, learning and action across the sustainability agenda, with carbon emissions reduced by 51% and on track for net zero by 2040.
- Delivering integrated supports and using data, AI and other digital technologies to enhance all our activities.
- Firmly established among the top 20 universities in the EU.
“UCD is Ireland’s global university, an inclusive community and a driver of positive action for sustainability, and these attributes will be evident across our actions.”
The UCD Sustainability Plan to 2030 outlines the core sustainability objectives and implementation details that will drive the university as an international leader and exemplar in sustainability practices and principles.
“Sustainability is a core value of UCD’s diverse community of staff, students and alumni and they are contributing effectively to achievement of environmental, societal, cultural, economic and governance goals for sustainability.”
“The UCD Sustainability Plan is designed to be flexible and easily updated over time, with annual reporting and prioritisation. Through collaboration with students, staff and external partners, we will integrate sustainability into everything we do.”
UCD School of Computer Science Strategy plan
With over one thousand students on its Dublin campus, the UCD School of Computer Science is the largest computer science department in Ireland. The School offers a 4-year BSc Honours degree in Computer Science, Masters degrees for both computer science graduates and conversion students, and 4-year Structured PhD programmes. Our courses cover the principles and practise of computer science encompassing programming, algorithm development, and data science. All teaching is informed by state-of-the-art research conducted within the School. In short, our programmes are Software-Focused and influenced by the research of the many EU-funded research projects in which is the School is actively involved.
The School has topped the rankings for computer science research in Ireland for many years and has over 400 postgraduate students working on the latest topics in computer science. We host the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, the UCD Centre for Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Investigation, and the SFI Centre for Research Training in Machine Learning, amongst others.
School of Computer Science Sustainability Action Plan
1.Energy
Monitor all I.T equipment utilisation, productivity, energy consumption and emissions footprint over entire equipment life-cycle (Manufacturing, operations and recycling).
Use I.T management tools to generate performance metrics and KPI’s in accordance with the EU’s EED (Energy Efficiency Directive), to consolidate usage, increase server efficiencies and inform operational policies and strategies.
Highlight concepts of energy efficient s/ware and internet use.
2.Source Renewable Energy
Where possible operate compute intensive tasks during low-demand/low cost/low carbon periods in the national grid.
3.Mobility
Encourage students to use public transport or car-sharing and highlight their positive environmental and economic advantages. Publicise the advantages of Zoom etc over physical travel.
4. Facilities
Retire inefficient I.T equipment with more cost-effective versions. Reduce and recycle all consumables and obsolete electrical equipment and batteries.Publicise in public areas of the school achievements being made through the school’s sustainability actions.
5. Waste Minimisation and Recycling
Maintain a full inventory of all I.T resources. Evaluate the carbon footprint of all I.T equipment in the context of its full life-cycle from procurement to recycle/disposal within a circular economy methodology.
6. Value Chain
Minimise the carbon footprint all operations and explore innovative ways and projects to off-set emissions.
7. Influencers (Beyond Campus Operations)
Deliver courses to students and staff that cover the principles of
- Climate change
- UN SDGs
- Principles of sustainability and the circular economy.
- Determining and reducing their personal and work-environment carbon footprint.
- The environmental, social and economic impact of computing.
- Publicising and highlighting achievements of the School in all aspects of sustainability using performance metrics and KPIs.
8.Formation of a School Sustainability committee to:
- Be inclusive of all staff and students.
- Guide, coordinate and implement a sustainability strategy for the School in accordance with the broad objectives of UCD’s sustainability plan.
- Review means and methods of educating staff and students in sustainability, and encouraging and supporting a sustainability agenda throughout the School.
- Coordinate and implement UCD’s sustainability policy in its curriculum.
In 2025, the School launched its Carbon-Neutral Initiative by 2027 to be achieved by monitoring, measuring and reducing as far as possible all its scope 1,2 and 3 emissions. These emissions are associated with its national and international student and staff travel, equipment procurement, school administration, and the full life-cycle carbon-footprint of its computing assets and cloud operations. Offsetting projects will cover unavoidable residual emissions.
Student participation and engagement is encouraged through a student sustainability committee and the introduction of an new on-line 6 hour sustainability course that will become mandatory in time for all students to take. Furthermore, the new UCD Computer Science Sustainability website will be designed by students and professional designers.
School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Dublin, D04 N2E5, Ireland
Event List
10
Jun 2025
Keynote: The Evolving Data Centre: Energy and Sustainability
Professor Jon Summers, Data Centres at Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Sweden
With the evolution of digital infrastructure, data centres face increasing energy demands, complex cooling challenges, and sustainability pressures. This keynote examines the key drivers reshaping data centres, emphasizing energy efficient computing and advanced cooling technologies, whilst considering sustainability. In addition the presentation touches upon operational challenges, focusing on enhancing efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and adapting infrastructure to support future digital ecosystems.
10
Jun 2025
Keynote: The Need for a Paradigm Shift - Reshaping Sustainability Policy
Professor Benno Werlen, University of Jena, Germany
With the current authoritarian developments in world politics the UN Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals are in danger of being lost. A new paradigm shift in sustainability from the nature-culture logic to a culture-nature nexus, and from the top-down to a bottom-up path to societal transformation is required as proposed by The Jena Declaration (TJD). The TJD calls for a new strategy to achieve sustainable living everywhere. respecting cultural and regional specificities and aesthetics in dealing with nature.
11
Jun 2025
Keynote: Improving Energy, Carbon and Water Efficiency in Data Centres for AI
Dr Paolo Bertoldi, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Major points of the keynote address:
- AI offers a huge potential to drive innovation in many sectors from smart cities and autonomous vehicles to healthcare, scientific research, etc.
- AI requires additional power and therefore data centres’ global energy consumption will increase.
- It is essential that cooling, hardware, software and algorithms are as efficient as possible.
- For software and algorithms, there is the need to develop metrics to capture the efficiency.
- Additional power and energy demand must be met by green and renewable energy, otherwise CO2 emissions will increase. Lack of green power may result in investment in fossil fuels power generation.
- Waste-heat reuse and supporting the electricity grid with flexibility and balancing capacity is also essential.
- Attention to water consumption and trade off with efficiency.
- In addition to EU and national policies, also local authorities and communities could also impose local efficiency, renewable and water requirements when granting building permission for new data centres, benefits to local communities are a must
11
Jun 2025
Keynote: Learning from the Guardians: Ethical Design with Indigenous and Rural Communities
Professor Nicola Bidwell, Charles Darwin University, Australia and Rhodes University, South Africa
Indigenous people comprise only 5% of the world’s population, yet they protect an estimated 80% of earth’s biodiversity. My talk will reflect on how technologies to support communication can disrupt practices in Indigenous and rural communities that sustain life and ways to work with communities to design more sensitively.
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