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KTP R4 2022-23 Adopting a Circular Economy Business Model for Resource Efficiency in ICT industry (ACE4ICT)

People Involved

Profile image of Dr. Sushma Kumari

Dr. Sushma Kumari S.Kumari@hull.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer and Programme Director- MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Education Lead Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Project Description

Techbuyer, winner of the Queen's award, is an innovative ICT company specialised in enterprise IT for the system-level data centre sector. It now seeks to use its expertise in data centre refurbishments to move into B2B electronic devices such as PC and laptops that will require component-level analysis.

A typical laptop manufacturing produces 331kg of CO2 emissions. Early routine maintenance typically extends the use cycle of 3 to 5-year-old computers to at least 9 years. However, a barrier to the repair and reuse electronic products is the lack of information and efficient decision systems to allow people to make an informed choice. State-of-the-art focuses on energy efficiency and life cycle monitoring in system-level analysis and not on integrative approaches using real-time analytics at the component level. ACE4ICT will examine metrics for Circular Economy including resale, recycling, refurbishing, repair, and upgrade opportunities. It will facilitate Techbuyer customers to identify equipment use and best solutions based on verifiable data, making product life extension part of the mainstream practice and improving resource efficiency.

ACE4ICT innovations will be: (i) machine intelligence and real-time analytics offering instant decision-making capabilities supporting circularity by extending the life of a product; (ii) an innovative use case of technology for the Circular Economy at scale; (iii) cutting-edge research underpinning real-time analytics, AI, and the Circular Economy. This innovation will allow Techbuyer to expand their revenue in circular ICT to contribute to the 35% revenue growth in the next five years and support significant growth in the secondary ICT market in the UK.

The key objective of this proposal is to develop a reliable Circular Economy-based DSS using real-time component monitoring. ACE4ICT addresses two grand challenges prioritised by the UK government, AI and Data, and Clean Growth.

Project Acronym ACE4ICT
Status Project Live
Value £178,476.00
Project Dates Jul 3, 2023 - Jul 2, 2025
Partner Organisations Techbuyer Limited

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