Terminology
The definitions provided in the following list reflect the consensus within the SUSTAIN-6G consortium at the time of the publication of the D2.1 Sustainability baseline, Use Cases, and Baseline Requirements.
These terms may be revised in the future if needed.
| Term | Definition | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment |
Impact assessment : a study of what the harmful effects of a planned action would be on a particular place, activity, or group of people, or a report in which the results of such a study are given. | Cambridge Dictionary |
| Eco-design | The integration of environmental aspects into the product development process, by balancing ecological and economic requirements. Eco-design considers environmental aspects at all stages of the product development process, striving for products which make the lowest possible environmental impact throughout the product life cycle. | See https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/glossary/eea-glossary/eco-design UNEP. 2001. Cleaner production: a guide to information sources. |
| Effect | “Effect" refers to the result or consequence on the environment, economy or society that follows from ICT existence or usage. | Note: Effects can be short term/long term, intended/unintended, reversible/irreversible, desired/undesired, direct/indirect, etc. |
| Enablement | Enablement is the positive second order effect covering environmental, societal and economic pillars. | Note: See also 'avoided emissions'. Parallel concepts are avoided emissions, positive second order effects, handprint and abatement ITU-T definition was widened to other environmental aspects as well as societal and economic aspects on 12.6. Is always about positive – second order effects – covering environmental, societal and economic aspects. The Enablement Effect - External Affairs |
| Evaluation | Evaluation is the process of computing quantitative information or assembling qualitative assertions of characteristics of a certain design and is linked to KPIs or KVIs. | https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/glossary https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/library/cert-rmm-glossary-of-terms/ Evaluation is the process of computing quantitative information of some characteristics of a certain design – linked to KPIs |
| First order effect | This is the direct economic, societal or environmental effect associated with the existence of an ICT based solution, and generic processes supporting the deployment and operation of the ICT based solution. These could be positive and/or negative for a stakeholder. | Effect is recursively used. Proposal is to use outcome in the definition. Note: Examples of first order effects include, the raw materials acquisition, production, use and end-of-life treatment stages. Note: First order effects are related to the technology deployment choice. |
| Impact | Impact refers to the effect activities have on sustainability values. Wider long-term effects and influence on society, environment, and economy. | https://impactmanagementplatform.org/impact/ https://uni-eco.umontpellier.fr/media/uni-eco-toolbox-general-sdg-impact-assessment-tool-guide-2018.pdf |
| Induced effects | Induced effects are the reduction or increase in emissions that occurs outside a solution's lifecycle or value chain but resulting from the use of that solution. | ITU-T L.1480 Note: See also avoided and added emissions. Second order effect is a parallel concept. |
| Key Performance Indicator (KPI) | Quantitative indicators for measuring the technology components and technical enablers of a UC throughout its lifecycle. | See “KPIs” in https://infoveave.com/kpi-library/top-10-telecom-kpis-to-track. Align with capabilities and metrics in ITU-R. |
| Key Value Indicator (KVI) | Key Value Indicator (KVI) is a qualitative assessment or quantitative metric used to observe the extent to which first order effects and second order effects align with the identified key values. | Note: With reference to the three sustainability pillars, KVIs guide design, deployment, operations, usage and end-of-life treatment of ICT solutions, by observing: 1) the extent to which ICT solutions align with the Key Values (proactive perspective) AND 2) the extent of the effects of ICT solutions (reactive perspective). |
| Key Values (KV) | Key Value refers to principles or qualities that individuals or groups deem important, desirable, or intrinsically good that may be addressed or impacted by ICT. | |
| KVI target value | Estimates/targets regarding the envisioned impact of a UC outcome or of a technology. KVIs should (or could?) refer to a baseline. | See https://hexa-x.eu/ 6G IA Societal Needs and Value Creation sub-group (SNVC SG) |
| Method/ Methodology | Method : a particular procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, especially a systematic or established one. Methodology : a system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity. | Oxford Dictionary |
| Platform | A platform is a coherent ecosystem comprising hardware, software, and tools for validation, evaluation, and verification that enables end-to-end (E2E) integration, experimentation, and monitoring of 6G technologies. Platforms may include multiple testbeds and support PoC implementation. They can be purely software-based, hardware-based, or hybrid, and are designed to support the integration of different technologies. | |
| Requirements | “Any item, technique, component, specification, regulation, etc., that is judged to be useful or necessary for the satisfaction of stated needs towards the achievement of a goal." | https://5gmed.eu/d2-1-definition-of-5gmed-use-cases-irt-m4/ |
| Scenario | A broader description of a context within which a system, product, technology, service is used: environment, background, circumstances of use, users, and vision of a future desired state. Scenarios can encompass multiple use cases or interactions and provide context for understanding the users' needs, behaviours, motivations. Examples: agriculture e-health / telemedicine, energy / smart grid. | “Context scenarios” in https://www.kristensunny.com/post/use-cases-user-stories-and-context-scenarios-when-to-use-each “Scenario (computing)” in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenario_%28computing%29 Alternative suggestion is to use the definition in UML. |
| Scope 1 emissions | Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources | Reference: [BCB+11] |
| Scope 2 emissions | Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy consumed by the reporting company | Reference: [BCB+11] |
| Scope 3 emissions | All other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain | Reference: [BCB+11] |
| Second order effect | This is the effect induced by the use and application of ICT based solution which includes economic, societal or environmental changes. These could be positive and/or negative for a stakeholder. | Effect is recursively used. Proposal is to use outcome in the definition. Note: Examples of second order effects include reduced GHG emissions from reduced travel due to the use of ICTs, more efficient agriculture (e.g., less fertilizer/water consumption) thanks to ICT solutions, increase of video streaming usage due to its ease of use, social media Note: Second order effects target the intended purpose of use of ICT technology in the vertical sector. Second order effects also consider broader effects that the technology might trigger in society that we do not have full control over. (added on 30.5.) |
| Sustainability / Sustainable development | Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. | United Nations (SDGs); Brundtland report 1987 |
| Sustainability pillars | Sustainability pillars are: --environmental sust. --social sust. --economic sust. Environmental sustainability Refers to the responsibility to preserve natural resources and the balance of global ecosystems towards the well-being of the planet, present and future generations. Refers to the responsibility to preserve natural resources and the balance of global ecosystems towards planet well-being for present and future generations. Refers to the responsibility to preserve natural resources and the balance of global ecosystems towards the human well-being and planet’s health in the present and future. | See https://hexa-x-ii.eu/ Note: The term “pillar” is meant to indicate that the chosen set of attributes associated with the area of interest are essential to that area. Please also consider the general notes Also note that we use “social sustainability” instead of “societal sustainability”. Note: This definition aligns with the broader sustainability framework for 6G development, where social sustainability represents one of three pillars (alongside environmental and economic sustainability). The “direct impacts” correspond to first order effects, those associated with the existence and deployment of ICT infrastructure itself (such as manufacturing, installation, and operation). The “indirect impacts” correspond to second order effects, changes induced by the actual use and application of ICT services in society. Social sustainability could be assessed through Key Value Indicators (KVIs) that would observe the extent to which both first and second order effects align with identified social values. The approach recognizes ICT systems have dual roles: minimizing negative social impacts from the technology itself (Sustainable ICT ambition) while maximizing positive contributions to social outcomes in other sectors (ICT for Sustainability ambition). <----> Social versus Societal – explanation and examples for a common ground The two words refer to two different dimensions of society: "social" refers more to the level of interactions and relationships; "societal" refers to the level of structures and systems. Social relates to interpersonal relationships, community interactions, and group dynamics. Typically used in contexts involving individuals, groups, and networks, such as social behaviour, social inclusion, social mobility, social norms, and of course, social policies. In this sense, it captures better the micro level as well as the policies addressing that level. Societal refers to larger systemic structures (law corpus, governance and institutions, economic and productive systems) and broad-scale societal impacts. It is often used to describe macro-level trends, transformations, or long-term effects on societies as a whole, such as societal resilience, societal challenges, societal sustainability, and societal values. |
| Sustainability aspects | Sustainable 6G: refers to the ambition to minimise the direct negative sustainability value outcomes, i.e. the footprint. 6G for Sustainability: refers to the indirectly induced contribution (benefits and challenges) of 6G to the various aspects of sustainability in vertical sectors, with the ambition to maximise positive sustainability value outcomes. | |
| Sustainability dimensions | Six combinations of sustainability pillars and sustainability aspects. | |
| Technical enabler | The technology components / systems or networks needed to deliver the key values for a UC. | 3GPP definitions |
| Testbed | A testbed is a physical or virtual environment designed for experimentation, validation, and evaluation of network technologies. These environments include various infrastructure elements such as radio access networks, core networks, edge/cloud resources, user equipment devices and other relevant elements. | |
| Use Case (UC) | Specific description of an interaction between a system and its users, or multiple systems / users within a scenario. Outlines the usage of a system, product, service, technology to achieve a specific outcome, with details on deployment and user actions. Focus on functionalities and interactions, detailing the sequence of events from the user's perspective, and requirements measurable by key performance indicators. | “Use case” in https://www.saasworthy.com/blog/what-are-use-cases “Use case modelling” in https://guides.visual-paradigm.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-use-case-modeling/ An alternative suggestion is to use the definition in UML |
| Validation | The process to check whether a certain design is appropriate for the purpose and meets the requirements and constrains. The outcome of validation is the assurance that a product, service, or system meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. Validation is linked to requirements specification. It answers the question “Are we building the right system?” | https://www.softwaretestingclass.com/difference-between-verification-and-validation/ https://visuresolutions.com/blog/requirements-validation/ Validation is the process to check whether or not a certain design is appropriate for the purpose and meets the constrains (requirements) – obviously linked to the requirements specification. Validation is the assurance that a product, service, or system meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. It often involves acceptance and suitability with external customers. Contrast with verification. |
| No split to outcome and goal | High-level human values as goals, like United Nation Sustainability Development Goals (UN SDGs) or subsets. | See https://hexa-x.eu/ 6G IA Societal Needs and Value Creation sub-group (SNVC SG) |
| No split to outcome and goal | The positive and negative impacts of the technology to the values as goals. Possibly positive and negative from the use of the technology and negative from its deployment. That is, values directly and indirectly impacted by the deployment and use of the technology. | See https://hexa-x.eu/ |
