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La Poste, sustainable development and Web Accessibility

All those and all those who went to Salon Planète Durable (from 2 to 5 April in Paris) have observed the presence of the La Poste group whose stand was located at the entrance visitors. Everyone has seen a large booth showing signs of the axes of sustainable development policy of the La Poste group focused on the accessibility of their websites. Here below the pictures of the stand and the panel entitled "How to develop equal opportunities? "( the text of the panel is recalled in a note ):

This type of communication by a large corporation on the link between digital and sustainable development is likely to be repeated. It is therefore interesting to explain the nature of this relationship and why the digital access is a very special place.

Sustainable development: an environmental concept to a method of decision making

Here is a chronological list of the foundation stages of the concept of sustainable development (information extracted from the page on the sustainable development of Wikipedia ):

• 1968: creation of the Club of Rome brings together personalities from the public, academia and industry concerned with the limits of the global economic model and its negative impact on the planet and people.
• » (titre en français du rapport : « Halte à la croissance ? Rapport sur les limites de la croissance »). 1972: published by the Club of Rome report The Limits to Growth known as the "Report Meadows" (French title of the report "Limits to Growth? Report on Limits to Growth"). This is the first important study highlighting the dangers of ecological economic growth of populations due to pollution, depletion of arable land and depletion of fossil fuels. The report creates controversy by its main proposal: zero growth .
• 1979: the philosopher Hans Jonas conceptualizes environmental concern of the first Earth Summit (1972) in his book "The Principle of Responsibility": "For the first time in the history of mankind, the man's actions could be irreversible. "
• 1987: a definition of sustainable development proposed by the World Commission on Environment and Development in its report "Our Common Future" ( Brundtland Report ).

  Sustainable development is development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Two concepts are inherent in this notion:

  • the concept of "needs", and more particular the essential needs of the poor, who should be given the highest priority, and
  • the idea of ​​limitations imposed by the state of technology and our social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future.

• 1992: at the second Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the concept of "sustainable development" is formalized in the 27 principles of the Rio Declaration and Action Plan Agenda 21 (chapters 40 and 115 proposals) signed by more than 150 nations. Its original definition, focused primarily on preserving the environment and the safe consumption of nonrenewable natural resources, is amended by the definition of the three pillars that must be reconciled in a sustainable development perspective:
  1. preservation of the environment,
  2. economic viability,
  3. social progress.

  We find this definition of sustainable development through its three pillars in the following diagram:

• 1997: at the Third UN Conference on Climate Change, signed the Kyoto Protocol which aims to restrict the emission of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. It has been ratified to date by 172 countries with the notable exception of the United States. It entered into force in February 2005 and ends in 2012.
• 2005: Environmental Charter proclaimed in 2004 was introduced into the French Constitution in March 2005. This text, in Article 6 that

  Public policies should promote sustainable development. To this end, they reconcile the protection and enhancement of the environment, economic development and social progress.

A pragmatic implementation of a sustainable development policy is derived from article 6 of the Charter of the Environment: any decision should incorporate the impacts on environmental, economic and social.

On the digital, the question of its overall impact on the environment is regularly debated. But there is a second approach: how digital can help (especially) companies achieve their sustainability goals.

The digital service of sustainable development in companies

Here below is a list of digital applications within the scope of actions for sustainable development (warning: the impact on sustainable development of each digital use can be assessed differently depending on its use and the method of calculating local or global. The following list only presents the application of digital technology that potentially can act positively):

• Dematerialisation: the digital saves paper usage, cost of transportation and final processing time information such as online reporting of income and the electronic invoice.
• regional digital development: the installation of broadband Internet access on the entire territory allows rural areas to maintain economic activity and thus their population. The digital part so as to avoid urban concentrations of pollution sources and social pressures.
• teleworking and video conferencing: a consequence of the regional digital development, are given the opportunity to work remotely, ie avoiding the displacement of motorized transport which are in fact a source of pollution. Videoconferencing can in some cases replace physical meetings.
• sharing and interoperability: sharing technological solutions (ie share with each other to prevent redevelops what already exists) and make them interoperable (ie they can run on any computing environment and not an individual) are within the principles of sustainable development.
• databases and indicators: to measure the success of a policy, indicators are required. By allowing the archiving of information, databases allow their treatment, thereby establishing specific indicators of sustainable development.
• access and sharing of information: digital provides access to information that may have a positive impact on sustainable development such as control over the Web in the temperature of his house and car sharing Web services. Thus, the digital information makes it available to all (but it must still be coded in an accessible way ...).
• Accessibility: social progress is one of the three pillars of sustainable development. Diversity is a source of business value. But to allow people with disabilities, older people or people of different cultures can use the same tool digital work (Intranet, Extranet, Internet), it is necessary that it meets the accessibility guidelines of the W3C / WAI . Other benefits of digital accessibility are within the scope of sustainable development: development of a single digital source, decrease the bandwidth used to carry electronic information, decreased time to search for information, decrease in work maintenance ...

The analysis of the impact of digital technology on sustainable development policies is brought to be structured. The recent publication of the Report on Information Technology and Sustainable Development (March 11, 2009) is also in this direction.

Notes

• Note 1: the text on the panel "How to develop equal opportunities? "Is as follows. "Respecting the diversity of our customers. Post reinforces the equality of its products and services. It takes into account sensitive populations and adapts to their needs. In 2012, 100% of websites dedicated to the customer will be available "silver level" for people with visual disabilities. "( see note 2 on earnings for all of the Web Accessibility )
• Note 2: having been responsible for the repository AccessiWeb used as reference in this communication the La Poste group, I must say it can make the Web accessible to all and not just the visually impaired.