Technology Solutions for Circular Economy: Comparison
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Please note this is a comparison between Version 2 by Nora Tang and Version 1 by Konstantinos Demestichas.

The concept of circular economy (CE) is becoming progressively popular with academia, industry, and policymakers, as a potential path towards a more sustainable economic system. Information and communication technology (ICT) systems have influenced every aspect of modern life and the CE is no exception. Cutting-edge technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, internet of things, virtual and augmented reality, and blockchain, can play an integral role in the embracing of CE concepts and the rollout of CE programs by governments, organizations, and society as a whole. There are many ICT solutions found in the literature, which can pave the way towards a CE. The categorization of these solutions can be done either from a technological perspective (e.g., communications, computing, data analysis, etc.), or from the viewpoint of the main CE concept(s) (i.e., reduce, reuse, recycle and restore) that each solution is most relevant to. ICT solutions related to data collection and data analysis, and in particular to the Internet of Things, blockchain, digital platforms, artificial intelligence algorithms, and software tools, are amongst the most popular solutions proposed by academic researchers. Also, greater emphasis is placed on the “reduce” component of the CE, although ICT solutions for the other “R” components, as well as holistic ICT-based solutions, do exist as well. Specific important challenges impeding the adoption of ICT solutions for the CE also exist, especially related to consumer and business attitude, economic costs, possible environmental impacts, lack of education around the CE, and lack of familiarization with modern technologies being found among the most prominent ones.

  • ICT
  • Circular Economy
  • IoT
  • Big Data
  • Blockchain
  • Artificial Intelligence
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