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Education in Green ICT and Control of Smart Systems : A First Hand

Experience from the International PERCCOM Masters Programme

Article in IFAC-PapersOnLine · January 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.08.114

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Education in Green ICT and Control of Smart Systems : A First Hand Experience from the International PERCCOM
Masters Programme
Kor Ah-Lian*, Rondeau Eric**, Andersson Karl***, and Porras Jari****, Jean-Philippe Georges**
*Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK (email: A.Kor@leedsbeckett.ac.uk)
**University of Lorraine, CRAN UMR 7039, BP 70239, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, FRANCE
(email:firstname.name@univ-lorraine.fr)
***Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden (email: karl.andersson@ltu.se)
****Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland (email: jari.porras@lut.fi)

Abstract: PERCCOM (PERvasive Computing and COMmunications in sustainable development) Masters is the
first innovative international programme in Green ICT for educating and equipping new IT engineers with Green IT
skills for sustainable digital applications design and implementation. After five years of running the PERCCOM
programme, this paper provides an assessment of skills and employability in the context of Green jobs and skills. The
paper ends with a list of recommendations for the development of environment related education curricula.

Keywords: Green ICT, Environment Control Systems, Green Jobs, Green Skills, Green Economy,
Sustainable Development

1. INTRODUCTION sustainability awareness. Two broad categories of learning

The increased proliferation of new academic programmes in objectives to support this goal are to: (1) develop eco-friendly
sustainable development is primarily justified by the need to digital services (on energy efficient ICT infrastructures)
create a new category of occupations commonly known as through optimized energy efficient data processing, storage
Green Jobs. This is a response to UN and EU 2030 Agenda and transportation. This subsumes under the term Greening of
for Sustainable Development (UN, nda) that is a plan of ICT where details and overview of the terms could be found
action for people, planet, and prosperity that encompasses 17 in Pattinson and Kor (2014); (2) develop digital services to
Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets. The United environment control systems (see IFAC TC 8.3) in various
Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development sectors (e.g. smart transportation, smart buildings, smart grid,
(2005-2014) aimed to integrate sustainable development smart logistics, etc… - see details in GESI (2008)). This
principles and practices into all aspects of teaching and approach is typically known as Greening (or enabling) by
learning for a more sustainable society and environment (UN, ICT which aims to mitigate pollution through the reduction of
2014). UNESCO developed a Teaching and Learning for a carbon footprints, and energy use across a range of sectors
Sustainable Future (UNESCO, nd) programme to support (e.g. power, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture,
UN’s initiative. This programme outlines modules building, service and consumer – details see GESI (2012)).
corresponding to four themes namely: Theme 1 – Curriculum The crux in the Smarter 2030 report (GESI, 2015) could be
Rationale; Theme 2 - Sustainable Development Across the summarized as follows: “ICT has the potential to enable a
Curriculum; Theme 3 – Contemporary Issues; Theme 4 – 20% reduction of global CO2e emissions by 2030, hold
Teaching and Learning Strategies. The strategy for emissions at 2015 levels and effectively decouple economic
sustainable development programme is to equip learners with growth from emissions growth”. The report discusses an
knowledge, competences, skills, and capacity in sustainable assessment conducted for eight economic sectors (i.e.
development (UN, 2005; UNECE, nd). Such type of mobility and logistics, manufacturing, food, buildings,
education programme aims to promote mental paradigm shift energy, work and business, health, and learning) reveals an
towards a safer, healthier, and more prosperous world to estimated annual generation of $11 trillions of economic
support a better quality of life (UN, 2005) and sustainable benefits by 2030 due to Greening (or Enabling) by ICT. On
future (University World News, 07/09/2018). Higher the other hand, ICT footprint (measured as a percentage of
Education Institutions play a pivotal role in supporting UN’s global emissions) is predicted to decrease over time (i.e. 1.25
Education for Sustainable Development initiative and Gt CO2e in 2030 or 1.97% of global emissions (Smarter 2030
consequently, an increasing number of universities are report); 1.27 Gt CO2e in 2020 or 1.27% of global emissions
offering degree and certificate programmes in sustainable (Smarter 2020 report); 1.43 Gt CO2e in 2030 or 1.43% of
development (ibid). They are invited to join UN Higher global emissions (Smart 2020 report). To reiterate, the initial
Education Sustainability Initiatives (UN, ndb) where the goal of the PERCCOM Masters programme was to train new
United Nations University provides replicable sustainability Green ICT engineers and decision makers for promoting
in action use cases (University World News, 07/09/2018). sustainability in digital sectors. However, in this paper, we
In this context, seven years ago (i.e. 2012), a new Joint aim to analyse the vocation of PERCCOM Alumni to
European Masters in Pervasive Computing and appreciate the extent this initial goal has been realised.
COMmunications for sustainable development (PERCCOM) This paper is organised as follows: Section 2 presents a
was funded by Erasmus+ programme (PERCCOM, nd; literature review on green jobs; Section 3 describes the
Porras et. al., 2016). The primary goal of PERCCOM PERCCOM Masters programme; Section 4 discusses the
Masters programme is to provide world class ICT education results of the analyses of PERCCOM Alumni vocation (from
with integrated sustainable design environmental
Cohorts 1 to 4); Section 5 provides conclusions and critical support to policy makers in the formulation of effective
perspectives of green jobs. policies and development of national green jobs assessment
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ON GREEN JOBS using assessment methodologies developed by the Green
Literature reviewed for this paper is coded into the following Jobs Assessment Institutions Network (GAIN) (ILO, Aug
categories: Green Jobs; and Green Skills. 2018; ILO, Jul 2017). Overview of the methodologies could
be found in here (ILO, Feb 2013). Cedefop (April, 2013)
highlights the need for a better coherence and alignment
amongst education (or training), employments and policies
(i.e. climate and energy). Next, we shall look at Green Jobs
statistics and trend. According to ILO (2018), by 2030, 24
million new jobs will be created (and 6 millions will be lost)
globally if right green policies are in place. The number of
green jobs in Europe is estimated to be 4.2 millions (in the
year 2014). Green jobs could be coded into broad categories
such as environmental protection (e.g. prevention, reduction,
Fig. 1a: Green Jobs Fig. 1b: Shades of Green Jobs (ILO, or elimination of pollution or environmental degradation) and
(ILO, 2016a) 2016b) resource control and management (e.g. preservation,
2.1. Green Jobs maintenance, safeguard against depletion of natural
According to ILO, green jobs is the pivot of sustainable resources) (Eurostat, 25th Sept 2018) or following sectors:
development (ILO, nda) that aim to preserve or restore the energy (e.g. energy mix, electric vehicles, etc…); ecosystem
environment (World Watch Institute, 2008; ILO, 2016a). services (e.g. fishing, farming, forestry, etc…) (ibid); built
However, OECD (2014) highlights that green jobs are not environment (e.g. smart meters, retrofitting, etc…)(World
guaranteed to be good and decent jobs. Note that ILO (2012) Economic Forum, Jan 2016). UNEP (2011) has listed annual
has defined decent work “as opportunities for women and green economy investment by sector while CNBC (21 Aug
men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of 2018), ranked green jobs that are growing in popularity in the
freedom, equity, security and human dignity”. ILO has US and they are: Environmental Engineer; Wind Turbine
strived to promote greening of enterprises and green decent Technician; Environmental Scientist; Recycling Worker;
jobs to: enhance energy and resource efficiency; limit GHG Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Installers.
emissions; minimise waste and pollution; protect and restore 2.2. Green Skills
ecosystems; mitigate effects of climate change; enable OECD (2014) define green skills as “skills needed to adapt
adaptability to climate change (UNEP, 2008; ILO, 2016a). products, services and processes to climate change and the
ILO (2012) estimates at least half of the global workforce related environmental requirements and regulations”. Green
(i.e. ≈ 1.5 billion people) is affected by the transition to a jobs and green skills are essential for an effective transition to
greener economy. This shift to a greener economy would low-carbon economies which have to be well managed as
provide a significant opportunity to create green jobs, well as contribute to equal decent job opportunities for all
improve social inclusion as well as maintaining a sustainable (ILO, 2015). OECD (May, 2015) has conducted a research
global economy path. Thus, greening of economies will help project on “Boosting skills ecosystems for greener jobs” that
enhance sustainable natural resources control, increase focuses on the analysis of skills dimension in the transition
energy efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance resilience while and findings reveal that skills necessary for the transition to a
addressing inequalities (ILO, 2015). However, OECD (June green economy are not distinctly “green skills” but rather
2017) highlight the fact that ‘the size of the overall job more appropriate technical skills. Categories of skills needed
turnover created by green growth is likely to be relatively for green economy are: (i) General skillset (Consoli and
small compared to overall labour movements”. Green jobs colleagues (2016)) – high level cognitive skills; technical
could be depicted by Venn diagrams shown in Figure 1a (i.e. skills; specialised and generic green skills; and generic skills
Employment in production of green products and services (e.g. problem-solving skills, resilience, etc…); (ii) Specific
and/or Employment in environment friendly processes) (ILO, skillset – skills to support resource efficiency; skills to
2012) and the different shades of green jobs concept is support low carbon industry; skills to support climate
depicted in Figure 1b. OECD (June 2016, Feb 2018) resilience; skills to manage natural assets (HM Government,
emphasises that green growth policies will drive a change of 2011). One of the recommendations brought forward by
employment in terms of increasing the creation of the number Cedefop (2015) is to provide specific tertiary training
green jobs depicted in Figure 1a, and destruction of some (targeted at architecture and engineering students) to bring
decent jobs with large environmental footprints (i.e. ‘brown’ about enhanced performance at system level (e.g. cities) and
sectors that are replaced with green activities. According to processes (e.g. industry). On the other hand, Cedefop (2010)
Worldwatch Institute (2008), the green innovation, design, highlights the need to revise and upgrade the skills of existing
and technology sector is most likely to retain and create new workers. As an example, for the strategic European “Build
green jobs. This is possible if it is aligned to one of priorities Up Skills” Initiative (European Commission, 2011-2015), it
of OECD’s green growth policies (OECD, 2018) that is aims to stimulate continuing and further education/training in
related to the provision of eco-innovation support and the building sector to increase the number qualified workers
diffusion of green technologies through an enhanced across Europe for high performance or zero-energy buildings.
education. The ILO Green Jobs Programme (2016b) offers According to Cedefop (February, 2012), green skills building
will require a revamp of existing curricula, qualification environment for students from different countries (with
standards and training programmes, as well as retraining of multicultural diversity) to collaborate on projects (e.g. student
educators. In 2014-2015, green jobs training and capacity contests, code camp, etc…). Traditionally, each PERCCOM
building activities have significantly expanded and cohort comprises approximately 18 students hailing from at
diversified (ILO, 2016c). However, according to Cedefop least 12 different countries across the globe. To reiterate
(2010), it is imperative to anticipate skills needs and based on embedded Green IT skills in the programme aims to address
a survey conducted by World Economic Forum (Jan 2016), both environmental and societal impacts of ICT. Specific
majority of the surveyed countries (i.e. 22 out of 27) have courses delivered in PERCCOM include new knowledge and
established platforms to anticipate skills needs. OECD (May, skills development related to sustainable development. Issues
2015) emphasises the need to map skills supply to demand explicitly considered are: energy, environmental impact (e.g.
through skills needs assessment (ILO, 2015) as well as instil pollution), natural resources, ethics, cost benefits analysis,
appropriate green economy mindset in workers (beyond the etc… Green Concepts such as Lifecycle Accounting and
issue of skills) that could shape a sustainable future. Based Environmental Management (e.g. ISO 14000 series, (ISO,
on a survey conducted by World Economic Forum (Jan nd)), Circular Economy (Ellen MacArthur Foundation,
2016), a majority of the surveyed countries (i.e. 21 out of 27) 2017), Biomimicry (Benyus, 1997) (Drouant, 2014) are
reveals that skills mismatches are major obstacles to a green reviewed, critically analysed, and applied to practical
economy. The latest UN Environment Management Group examples. In addition, PERCCOM students undergo training
Nexus Dialogue is held to discuss the “Greening with Jobs” that involves the analysis of trade-offs between performances
transition to environmental sustainability (UNEMG, Oct and sustainability of ICT systems. Such training will equip
2018). It aims to provide the following: (i) a common them with eco-friendly technical know-how, and ground
understanding of a just transition; (ii) establish a global them in corporate environmental responsibility so that they
platform for knowledge and practices sharing, foster support will know how to design, develop, and implement efficient
of public and private stakeholders’ support; (iii) and explore yet sustainable IT solutions to deal with environmental and
potential financial support and mechanisms ILO, Oct 2018; social impacts. Students will acquire knowledge skills and
UNEMG, Oct 2018). The outcome of the discussion is 10 key knowledge on ICT as an enabler for a sustainable future
messages (UNEMG & ILO, Oct 2018) that are relevant to the (including cleaner environment) (aligned to GESI 2008,
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN, nda) and 2012) and as solutions to address 21st century challenges
Paris Agreement on Climate Change (UNFCC, nd) to guide (GESI, 2015) in the following domains: energy, building,
policy support, future research, partnerships and advocacy food, mobility and logistics, work and business, and
(ILO, Oct 2018). The crux of the messages addresses the manufacturing. They will also learn how to analyse trade-offs
following: (i) profound impact on economy and society; (ii) between negative and positive sustainability impacts of ICT.
promotion of job equality; (iii) resilience and adaptability to For example, when they develop controllers for reducing the
imminent changes; (iv) technologies and market as drivers of environemental impact of a system, the ICT-enabled
change; (v) responsibility of government for appropriate controllers themselves will have direct emissions
policies and governance systems; (vi) promotion of Additionally, due to students’ diverse countries of origins,
democratic systems for participation and dialogue; (vii) they will be able to provide first-hand account of climate
involvement of youth as actors of change; (viii) innovative change effects on their respective parts in the world.
funding mechanisms; (ix) establishment of a knowledge Organisation of the academic semesters is as follows: (i)
sharing platform; (x) governmental implementation reporting Semester 1 - students start the programme at University of
(UNEMG & ILO, Oct 2018). Lorraine (courses delivered relate to network, green ICT,
3. PERCCOM MASTERS PROGRAMME automatic control for environment-related applications,
The PERCCOM Masters programme is jointly developed by holistic design, and French culture); (ii) Semester 2 - students
five European Universities located in France, Sweden, move to Lappeenranta University of Technology (courses
Finland, UK, and Germany. Its primary goal is to create a are: software engineering, sustainability, and Finish culture.
new international ICT programme that prioritises green IT Semester 2 ends with 2 weeks in St Petersburg with lectures
skills and competences building with a view of a holistic on control and management of smart cities and coding; (iii)
approach to integrated digital infrastructures and services Semester 3 - Lulea University of Technology hosts Semester
design. Other than inculcating environmental awareness, the 3 and provides courses on Wireless mobile networks, Internet
programme aims to promote multicultural diversity and equip of Things for controlling environment systems, Green
the students with multi-cultural competences. Through this datacentres and Swedish culture; Semester 4 - dedicated to
programme, students will have first-hand experience, and masters theses proposed by academia or companies in
better appreciate local cultures, way of life, legislations, and PERCCOM consortium. All the thesis topics are either on
corporate cultures in at least three European countries in the Green ICT or on Greening by ICT. PERCCOM Masters has
course of their study. Some of the planned activities (other the Erasmus Mundus brand name and is funded by Erasmus
than the academic courses) for every cohort of students are +. Majority of students receives scholarship covering both
language courses and cultural visits (e.g. castle, museums, tuition fees and life costs.
sports events, culinary events, etc…). Additionally, each 4. PERCCOM MASTERS GREEN JOBS AND
cohort of students is selected not only based on academic GREEN SKILLS
merits but also their countries of origin. This means that the The analysis of green skills and green jobs are based on the
PERCCOM programme provides a rich and invigorating following: an investigation on PERCCOM master theses and
internships undertaken by students during their final completing their PERCCOM Masters (note: 85% of all
semester; survey conducted on seventy PERCCOM Alumni PERCCOM cohorts are from non-European countries). These
(i.e. Cohorts 1 to 4) to investigate whether their current figures raise an ethical issue regarding brain drain since under
vocation is in IT sector, a green job, or research. developed and developing countries will need more experts for
their sustainable development initiatives.
4.1. Masters Thesis Feedback
Figure 3 shows another imbalanced results where more than
Master thesis topics provide the first opportunity for students 50% of PERCCOM Alumni found jobs in Northern Europe
to validate their Green ICT skills. During the 5 years of (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Netherlands). This
PERCCOM programme, a total of 88 research topics have observation is interesting to assess which European countries
been proposed by 13 Universities in 10 different countries. would profit from EMJMD (Erasmus+) programme. The
The interesting observations are as follows: possible explanations are:
- Green ICT is an international and global issue; - Two semesters are organised in Sweden and Finland. This
- Green ICT a diverse range of topics with special focus on one of demonstrates their capacity to attract PERCCOM graduates.
the following pillars of sustainable development: Profit pillar, - English is a common language spoken in these countries. Thus,
Pollution pillar, and People pillar. For example, in Germany, this facilitates the integration of PERCCOM Alumni into their
the topics are more technical and focuses more on the Profit societies because they are mainly Anglophone.
pillar than the People pillar in Finland. This observation is - The salary in these countries is higher than the rest of other
relevant because Green ICT caters for students’ preferred European countries.
orientation (i.e. Profit, Pollution, or People focus) when choosing
their future careers.
- Proposed research topics aim to address local climate change
related challenges. Several examples are systems for controlling
and management of: river flooding (University of Chittagong,
Bangladesh); smart city waste (ITMO, St Petersburg); outdoor
pollution (Universities in Melbourne, Australia). Other examples
are: home automation systems to reduce carbon footprint
(Lappeenranta University of Technology and Harz University of Figure. 2. A Distribution of Figure. 3. A Distribution of PERCCOM
PERCCOM Alumni Vocation (n=70) Alumni Vocation by continents (n=62)
Applied Sciences)
- Numerous Industrial-University collaborative research topics
have been proposed, particularly in France and Sweden. Some
examples are: 5G wireless networks (Ericsson, Sweden); SDN
and NFV (InfoVista, France); Energy efficient networks and
software (Orange, France). It clearly shows that Green ICT is not
only an academic but business concern.
Thus far, a total of 88 master thesis results have been
published in 48 papers in conferences, journals and book
chapters while 19 theses are in progress (final PERCCOM
Figure. 4. Number of jobs found by
cohort). PERCCOM Alumni by European Country
Figure 5. Distribution of PERCCOM Alumni
in Green Jobs (n=58).

4.2. Post PERCCOM Vocation Survey Feedback Finally, to date, Ericsson has employed 13% of PERCCOM
The second analysis is focused on the vocation of Alumni. This shows that ICT skills of PERCCOM Alumni
PERCCOM Alumni. A survey is conducted on seventy are highly relevant to their company needs.
PERCCOM Alumni (i.e. Cohorts 1 to 4) to investigate
Figure 5 shows the results of the question “Is your job related
whether their current vocation is in the IT sector, a green job
to Sustainability?” A total of 21% of PERCCOM Alumni
or research. This is followed by investigating on their
agree that their ICT jobs have a direct impact on
application of green skills in their current jobs. Figure 2
sustainability. This figure seems to be reasonable considering
reveals that: 40% of the alumni are in academia (i.e.
the fact that sustainability is a new trend in ICT. However,
Academic, Research, or pursuing a PhD degree; 44% are in
75% of these positive responses include PERCCOM Alumni
the IT sector (i.e. software development or engineering, IT
who are currently pursuing PhD programmes and have
service, IT systems, network engineering, IT consultancy, IT
confirmed that Green ICT is a popular research topic.
security, IT management, data engineering); 16% in the non-
Additionally, the infusion of Green ICT in companies is at its
IT sector (e.g. business and data analysis, management,
infant stage and research topics are more oriented towards
customer care, other, etc…). Findings are as follows:
Greening by ICT rather than Greening of ICT. This is
- A majority of PERCCOM alumni continues to doctoral level.
There are two possible explanations: the selection procedure for supported by the fact that a majority of Green jobs leans more
PERCCOM students is rigorous and thus, the PERCCOM towards developing smart applications rather than developing
Masters programme serves as a stepping stone to a doctoral solutions for mitigating environmental impact of ICT itself.
programme; the proposed PERCCOM Green ICT masters Another comment is some PhD topics are industrial-led (e.g.
research topics are high level (note: evidence is in the number of Orange) and this evidences their new concern for the Green
published work), cutting edge, relevant and applied (note: some ICT challenge. In the same figure (i.e. Figure 5), a total of
are industry-led). 79% (i.e. 57%+22%) of responses reveal that their jobs are
- All the students easily find an ICT job due to the shortage of ICT not relative to sustainability. This is not a surprise viewing
competences in the labour market. An observed evidence is 84%
the acute shortage of ICT skills in Europe. PERCCOM
of PERCCOM Alumni (Figure 3) remain in Europe after
Alumni are employed primarily based on their ICT rather
than Green ICT competences and skills. A total of 57% of resource) consumed during software updates, bug fixing,
PERCCOM Alumni claim that their jobs are not directly versioning, testing etc… Thus, systems engineering content
linked to sustainability. This figure is rather alarming despite should always be integrated in Green education. Systems
the fact that all PERCCOM Alumni are made aware that ICT engineering approach provides an overview of the entire life
has de facto an impact on the environment. Even though their cycle of developed solutions in including their end of life
jobs have no direct link to sustainability, their company (recycling) phase. Finally, holistic approaches are suitable for
activities would certainly have carbon footprints. This seems analysing the trade-offs between performances of developed
to imply that PERCCOM Alumni have not been proactive in solutions and their impact on environment. Typically, in
the application of their Green ICT competences and skills. IFAC TC 8.3 on “Modelling and Control of Environmental
However, about 21% of the alumni indicate that their job- System”, contributions mainly focus on the design of
related activities include computation optimization and controllers for the benefits of the environment without
software deployment for energy consumption reduction. On considering the negative environmental impact of the
the other hand, 22% of PERCCOM Alumni perceives an controllers (e.g. energy consumption and carbon footprint, air
indirect relation between their job and Green ICT. This pollution, visual pollution, recycling,…).
implies that though Green ICT is not the main indicator Lesson 4: “Developing green education is for saving the
driving their professional activity, the relation between ICT planet and not (necessary) for economy”. The justification
and sustainability has been duly considered. for a new Green education programme is to create a new
green economy with new green jobs. This would address
5. CRITICAL DISCUSSIONS means to mitigate pollution, preserve natural resources, etc…
PERCCOM Masters is an innovative and international The Green ICT PERCCOM Masters is not devoted to the
programme in Green ICT. Based on the findings discussed in development of new jobs. However, it entails the evolution of
Section 4, we draw 5 main lessons for developing green new green skills that consider new inputs (e.g. Quality in
education in ICT and in other domains: Sustainability) produced by the environment. Additionally, it
Lesson 1: “Green jobs are not solely based on Green Skills” would be impractical for a company to deliver Green and
All PERCCOM Alumni easily find jobs either in companies Brown ICT services in parallel. If this were to occur than,
or academia because they have a solid ICT training which both traditional and Green ICT are seen as separate silos. To
corresponds to necessary ICT skills. A company prioritises reiterate, this is the case depicted in Figure 5 where 57% of
traditional ICT competences to expertise in sustainability. PERCCOM Alumni view their jobs as having “no direct
This implies that new training in sustainability ought to be Green ICT relation”. However, Green ICT approaches ought
traditional training with embedded sustainability to meet to underlie all existing ICT services and this should be
green economy market. reinforced for the next generation of students. As a matter of
Lesson 2: “Greening education is not at the expense of fact, PERCCOM ought to have infused Green concepts in
developing experts for a specific domain”. Adding new their enterprise even if their job is not clearly labelled as
sustainable competences in ICT Masters programmes is Green.
feasible because it is not counterproductive with traditional Lesson 5: “Developing green education is developing new
ICT training. This is supported by the survey results that way of thinking in engineering”. Basically, engineering is
show PERCCOM Alumni easily find ICT jobs. However, mainly focuses on hard and not soft skills. Engineering
sustainability ought to be a metric that needs to be considered pathways considers skills in mathematics, physics, chemistry,
for assessing ICT solutions. Additionally, it is recommended etc… Typical designed engineering solutions are mostly
that it be reinforced as an ICT best practice. It should be tunnel-visioned without considering the environmental, social
included as a code of conduct of energy efficiency for ICT nor ethical aspects of the solutions. For example, some ICT
solutions (just as in data centres) that will prescribe general engineers code software without taking into consideration of
rules to ICT engineers for measurement, assessment, and data privacy and governance issues. Green education is an
optimisation of a solution. This idea is illustrated in Rondeau excellent way to widen students’ perspectives (i.e. consider a
et. al. (2017), where an optimised Quality of Service and solution and its relationship to an ecosystem or environment).
costs in a network architecture depicts trade-offs for Cultural elements included in the PERCCOM curriculum
sustainability and performances. Greening mainly means would help produce new generations of engineers that are
developing goods practices of engineering. It could be more open, adaptive, and who appreciate multi-diversity.
beneficial to conduct a comparative analysis for approaches Such soft curricular content seems to have made the
adopted by students with and without green training in the programme more attractive to female students viewing the
designs, implementation, and rationale of their engineering fact that all PERCCOM cohorts consist of approximately
solutions. 35% female students.
Lesson 3: “Holistic approaches are fundamental pre- As a summary, the discussion for this paper could be
requisites for green jobs”. A holistic approach is essential organised according to the following points:
when an Engineer needs to design an artefact or a system. Discussion 1: As previously discussed, PERCCOM aims to
This will help the Engineer understand the interaction exploit the use of ICT for sustainable development to meet
between the artefact (or system) with its environment. Thus, UN and EU 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN,
green engineers would have to consider environmental nda). It adopts a holistic approach to seamless integration of:
constraints (and impacts) in their designed solutions. As an digital infrastructures and services design; theories and
example, in order to convert software code champions to practice; technical curriculum design with underpinning
Green ICT specialists, they have to be mindful of energy (and
environmental considerations (i.e. Greening of ICT and engineer is to propose optimised solutions with reduced ICT
Greening by ICT) As an example is the incorporation of the resources, easy maintenance, reduced costs while delivering
following content in the delivery of PERCCOM programme high quality of services to clients (or users). However,
(e.g. MSc. Systems Engineering): ICT Systems, Corporate optimisation is one of biomimicry principles that respects an
Social Responsibility; Circular Economy and Biomimicry for eco-matured system (Benuys, 1997). Thus, optimisation is
ICT; General Environmental Standards, etc… As there are viewed as a nature inspired strategy towards sustainable
numerous academic programmes on sustainable solutions. In Rondeau et. al. (2017), an optimised Quality of
development, it is recommended that we pause and critically Service and costs in a network architecture well depicts trade-
reflect on their specific competences building and also review offs for sustainability. However, some ICT engineers might
whether their associated sustainable development find it cumbersome having to observe environmental
methodologies are holistic and seamless. constraints in the course of their work and consequently,
Discussion 2: Education with embedded sustainability resist the adoption of green ICT practices. In order to address
ought to target concrete and specific practical as well as this, to reiterate, it is imperative to intertwine ICT and
applied skills and competences. Several examples are as sustainability so that sustainability is seamlessly embedded in
follows: Material Science/Engineering Experts ought to be operations, business models, and strategies.
recycling experts; Electrotechnical Expert should be Discussion 4: According to ILO (2018), climate change
renewable energy experts; ICT experts should be an expert in mitigation could slightly reduce the proportion of woman in
one or more of the following areas - e-waste, green radio total employment due to typically male-dominated green
emission, energy management, etc… In this paper, we shall economic sectors (e.g. renewables, manufacturing,
define two phrases for Green Jobs: Greening with Jobs (i.e. construction, etc…). However, the PERCCOM programme
creation of new jobs for green economy that requires new seems to have an approximately equal proportion of female
skills and competences) and Greening of Jobs (repurpose of and male. Thus, it is recommended that green economy
existing decent jobs for sustainable development that requires training programmes be made attractive to both female and
evolution of existing skills and competences). We shall take male in order to address gender inequality in newly emerging
Smart Buildings as an example which have to be compliant to green economic sectors. ILO (ndd) emphasises the
EU Directives on energy performance of buildings (European importance of roles played by women as agents of change
Parliament and of the Council, May 2010) and energy and thus, it is recommended that the agenda on sustainable
efficiency (European Parliament and of the Council, Nov development policy include inclusion, gender equality, and
2012). They aim to improve energy efficiency, reduce non-discrimination.
operation costs, increase safety, productivity, and occupants’ Discussion 5: Undeniably, the demand for high-tech skills
quality of life (see GESI 2008, 2012, 2015). Smart Buildings is increasing high due to the advent of ICT and smart
encompass the following components: (i) intelligent building technologies that pervades all sectors (see GESI 2012, 2015).
management; (ii) data analysis tools; (iii) communication It is estimated that the number of IT practitioners in the EU
protocol design; (iv) control and automation systems labour market will grow from 8 millions in 2015 to 8.7
(involving Internet of Things, IoT); (v) energy harvest and millions in 2020 (eLeadership, 2015). This is for non-green
recycling. This means the Smart Building sector could entail IT job shortages and could thus have impact on the high
the following Greening with Jobs (for component (v)) and proportion of PERCCOM Alumni in non-green jobs/research
Greening of Jobs (for components (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv)). (depicted in Figure 3) and not being able to apply their
Evidently, the latter category of jobs take precedence and this acquired green skills in their current vocation. This highlights
forms a concrete basis for advocating green structural change the important role organisations have to play in promoting
(ILO, ndd), which involves redefinition of existing jobs or Greening with Jobs (see Discussion 2) and developing a
retraining as stipulated in ILO (ndc). platform for the implementation of green ICT strategies, and
Discussion 3: A dichotomy of green and brown jobs in the policies for a greener economy. ILO (2016c) has emphasised
ICT sector cannot be advocated (note their respective the need to guide organisations in promoting environmental
impact on energy efficiency has been discussed in Garrett- sustainable economies and enterprises. Additionally, it will
Peltier, 2017). If such a distinction exists, then the challenge be vital to rethink the definition of Green Jobs as Greening of
raised is the rationale behind organising ICT departments into Jobs and Greening with Jobs (see Discussion 2) where the
Green ICT Departments and Non-Green (or brown) ICT latter could subsume ICT as an enabler for a green economy.
departments. Such a dichotomous partitioned structure is OECD (May 2015) maintains that the skills required for the
undeniably impractical because green ICT is one of the transition to a green economy are not uniquely ‘green skills’
bedrocks of sustainable development. It is recommended that but more of “professional/ technical, management,
all workers in the ICT sector be grounded and equipped with innovation, communication, and entrepreneurial skills. This
sustainability skills and competences. This would see a implies the need for a convergence of diverse skills for an
seamless intertwine of ICT and sustainability. Effective effective and fruitful transition. ILO (2018) recommends a
management of a global environment policy calls for a legal framework for providing incentives for greening the
holistic approach to a synchronised interplay of diverse economy while maintaining ensuring that decent work legal
activities in different sectors (see Discussion 1). Another standards. However, we recommend an integrated green and
question raised is “Is an excellent ICT engineering without decent work legal framework (as in Greening of Jobs and
green skills or competences detrimental to the planet?” In Greening with Jobs presented in Discussion 2). ILO (2018)
Rondeau et. al. (2017), the traditional role of a good ICT has conducted a research on the challenges and drivers of a
green transition. Although some countries surveyed have Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2017). Concept : What is a Circular
Economy? A Framework for an Economy that is Restorative and
successfully integrated skills development environmental Regenerative by Design,
policies, a majority of them has not established concrete www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept
linkages between sustainability plans and skills policies. European Commission. (2011-2015). Evaluation of the BUILD UP
Skills Initiative under the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme,
Thus, this calls for an urgent need of policy coherence at the https://ec.europa.eu/easme/sites/easme-
national level that needs to be cascaded down to the regional site/files/bus_evaluation_final_report.pdf
European Commission. (August 2013). Public Employment Services
and organisational level. ILO (2012) has warned that the and Green Jobs,
success of green economy hinges on the right policies and ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14107&langId=en,
institutions capable of implementing them. European Parliament and of the Council. (May 2010). Directive
2010/31/EU of The European Parliament and of The Council of 19
5. CONCLUSIONS May 2010 on the Energy Performance of Buildings, eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-
PERCCOM is the first Masters programme on Green content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32010L0031&from=EN
education in digital sectors in the world. The positive European Parliament and of the Council. (Nov 2012). Directive
feedback we receive after 5 years of existence reveals that the 2012/27/EU Of The European Parliament And Of The Council of 25
October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives
new generation of students are very keen to pursue such type 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC
of education programme. However, survey results expose the and 2006/32/EC, Eurostat. (29th May 2017). Employment in the
general lack of Green IT exploitation in companies that Environmental Economy. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-
eurostat-news/-/EDN-20170529-1?inheritRedirect=true,
PERCCOM Alumni work in. The underlying reason could be Eurostat. (25th Sept 2018). Environmental Economy –Statistics on
that in Europe, there is an acute shortfall in qualified Employment and Growth, ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php?title=Environmental_economy_%E2%80%93_
automatic control system and ICT engineers. Thus, Green statistics_on_employment_and_growth, accessed date: 21/01/2019.
ICT expertise has not been given any pre-eminence in the Garrett-Peltier, H. (2017). Green versus Brown: Comparing the
ICT industry. Today, some sectors such as Datacenters, Employment Impacts of Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and
Fossil Fuels Using an Input-Output Model, Economic Modelling,
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are directly impacted by energy costs for feeding and cooling https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2016.11.012 GESI. (2008).
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