Slide between screens to have a look inside your smartphone:
What's behind your click?
(In this example, you send a Whatsapp message to a contact.)
Your message goes to a relay antenna...
Antenna 4G
It is transmitted to your Internet service provider...
Server of your Internet Service Provider
Then the signal crosses the ocean through submarine cables...
(The Whatsapp service would be hosted in San José in the USA.)
Your signal finally reaches the Data Center server of the service in question...
Data Center
The server processes your click and sends your message to the recipient.
This data in turn crosses the ocean through submarine cables...
These data are transmitted to the recipient's Internet service provider...
They arrive on the recipient's Internet box...
Internet Box
And (finally) the recipient receives his message on his terminal.
Laptop
Thus the message you sent to your contact (for example from your region), has travelled thousands of kilometers before reaching him thanks to a whole chain of machines.
NB: If your message is sent to several recipients,multiply the return path of the data by the same amount.
Digital technology is far from being immaterial!
The manufacturing of all these terminals, servers and boxes consumes many resources and energy...
And each of these terminals, servers and boxes consumes energy to operate and be used.
The digital sector relies on physical facilities that consume energy (4% of global consumption) and resources (more than 50 different metals) for their manufacture and use.The impact of digital technology on the environment is real.
Let's design digital services that are more frugal, more sustainable, more respectful of the user and the environment.
