International Journal of Information Technology

Vol. 28 No. 1 2022

Editorial for

International Journal for Information Technology (IJIT)
Special Issue on Green AI

Sustainable development involves achieving growth without harming the environment or compromising societal well-being. Governments worldwide are placing greater emphasis on protecting the environment through regulating carbon emissions and pledging to reach carbon neutrality. Many businesses are also publishing environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports to disclose their impact on the environment and showcase their social responsibility.

Sustainable technological innovations are crucial to achieving our goal of a sustainable future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various industries and will be a key driving force in the future economy. AI is increasingly being used in decision-making by providing recommendations in many aspects of life such as finance, healthcare, and retail. There is great potential in using AI to encourage individuals to lead a sustainable lifestyle. At an organizational level, ESG reporting is challenging due to the lack of standardization. A knowledge graph can represent and organize the ESG-related documents and data sources in a structured and coherent manner for further processing.

With the greater adoption of technology, there is a growing need to ensure the process of technology development and deployment is sustainable. The current trend in AI is to build large models trained on big data without regard for the carbon emissions produced. A critical component of technology infrastructure is the data center, which is responsible for storing, processing, and managing data. Data center electricity consumption and carbon emissions have sky-rocketed in recent years due to the rising demand for computing power.

This special issue contains papers covering topics on green AI, green recommendation, green data center, and ESG knowledge graph. On behalf of the IJIT Editorial Board, I wish that this special issue can provide our readers with insight into the forefront of sustainable AI research and inspire more thinking into how AI can be conceived, designed, and/or implemented to have positive environmental and societal impact.

Yours Sincerely

Sam Liew, Special Issue Editor