Title: Applying design for sustainability in an ICT company

Authors: Matti Mottonen, Pekka Belt, Janne Harkonen, Harri Haapasalo, Pasi Kuvaja

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014, Finland. ' Department of Information Processing Science, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Finland

Abstract: Environmental awareness has been raised globally, and as a consequence, sustainability is increasingly under focus. Due to increased demand from end-users and tightened legislation, companies must seriously take sustainability into account. Typically, sustainability is attempted to address only after product realisation. However, best sustainability results can be obtained through earlier consideration, guiding relevant requirements directly to product development (PD). This paper analyses how a significant ICT company combines sustainability and PD with design for excellence practices. The results include a description of practical realisation of design for sustainability together with its main challenges.

Keywords: DfX; design for excellence; design for sustainability; ICT companies; information technology; communications technology; product development; environment; reliability; services; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSE.2010.030758

International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 2010 Vol.2 No.2, pp.180 - 193

Published online: 03 Jan 2010 *

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