Learning from the Big Picture: Applying Responsible Innovation to the Net Zero Research Infrastructure Transformation (ARINZRIT)

UK research increasingly relies on ‘digital research infrastructure’ (DRI): digital technologies and computational facilities from laptops to high-performance computing and large-scale data archives. DRI has an energy and carbon impact as a result of performing computational work (emissions scope 1), the energy needed to drive them and how this is generated (scope 2), and their manufacture and disposal (scope 3). To explore the wider socio-cultural influences affecting DRI provision and use, 25 interviews were conducted across stakeholder groups of users, providers, commissioners, and senior management relating to DRI. The participants interviewed spanned multiple disciplines, institutions, and research councils. In our summary and full reports, we outline our key findings and offer recommendations for more sustainable DRI policy and practice. Our recommendations also demonstrate that interventions should not just be technical, but also to training, procurement and research culture.