• News
• Best Paper Award for Borderstep at ICT4S 2026

After several years, Borderstep returned to the International Conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S) in person in 2026. The conference provided a special occasion for celebration: Dr. Severin Beucker and Simon Hinterholzer received the Best Paper Award for their scientific contribution. They are both experts in the field of Digitisation and Green IT.

How does the expansion of data centers affect energy consumption, efficiency, and sustainability?

The award-winning paper, “Data center boom: Learnings from data derived through the Energy Efficiency Directive on the sustainability of European data centers”, examines the sustainability performance of European data centres based on data collected under the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). The study provides new insights into how the rapid expansion of data centre infrastructure is affecting energy consumption, efficiency and sustainability, and highlights implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders.

“We are very honoured and grateful to the organising committee, the reviewers, and the wonderful ICT4S community,” said Dr. Severin Beucker following the award ceremony.

The paper will soon be published in the official conference proceedings. Borderstep also will make it available on the website.

ICT4S is the world’s leading scientific conference dedicated to the relationship between information and communication technologies and sustainable development. Researchers from a wide range of disciplines come together to explore how digital technologies can contribute to addressing environmental and societal challenges while also examining and reducing the sustainability impacts of digitalisation itself.

Extensive research expertise in the field of sustainable digitalisation

The award highlights Borderstep’s long-standing expertise in the field of sustainable digitalisation. For many years, the institute has conducted research on the environmental and climate impacts of digital infrastructures. This includes data centres, communication networks and digital technologies that support the energy transition. Borderstep researchers currently work on several projects for the European Commission. They focus on data centre sustainability, assessment and labelling schemes, minimum performance standards, and methodologies for evaluating the climate and sustainability impacts of digital infrastructures.

The Best Paper Award recognises outstanding scientific contributions. It underlines the importance of robust data and independent research for shaping a sustainable digital transformation.