Beyond the Buzzwords: Why Twin Transitions Demand Our Attention
Laura Zoboli (University of Brescia), Sarah Giest and Bram Klievink (University of Leiden)
Publisher’s note: This post concerns the main theme of Data for Policy 2025 (DfP’25) — Europe Edition, which will take place in The Hague, The Netherlands, on 12–13 June 2025. The submission deadline for abstracts, full papers and panel proposals is this week: 21st February, 2025.
The twin transitions — digital and green — are not just buzzwords; they represent the intertwined evolution of technological innovation and environmental responsibility, reshaping how societies pursue progress and sustainability. The digital transition, facilitated by advancements in AI, data analytics, and smart technologies, opens up unprecedented possibilities for efficiency and innovation. At the same time, the green transition, driven by ambitious climate targets and sustainable practices, aims to address pressing ecological challenges and fosters long-term resilience. At their interface, big data, more computing power and advances in complex models allow for better capture of complex ecological systems and thereby provide an evidence base for sustainability policies. Furthermore, the capability for better monitoring and incorporating more inputs (in frequency and diversity), allows for better monitoring and the (near) real time identification and analysis of potential anomalies.
Yet, these simultaneous transitions also bring significant risks and trade-offs that need careful navigation. Digitalization can drive efficiency, optimize production processes, and enable the dematerialization of goods and services, contributing to a more resource-conscious economy. However, these benefits are counterbalanced by risks such as rebound effects, where efficiency gains lead to increased consumption, and significant environmental costs. Furthermore, the high energy demands of digital technologies, the growing accumulation of e-waste, and the carbon footprint of emerging innovations like cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence highlight the tensions between technological progress and ecological sustainability. Thereby, the public sector plays a crucial role in guiding both the digital and green transitions.
We want to highlight three trade-offs specifically: energy versus emissions, regulation versus innovation, and inequality versus inclusion.
Starting with energy versus emissions, there is a potential clash with the urgent goal of achieving net-zero emissions and the expansion of digital infrastructures, like data centers that come with immense energy demands. Coming from a fossil-emissions-based economy, the digital economy offers models that can be sustainable. However, it does lead to increasing energy demands, and the digital economy’s markets provide for little incentives to use renewable energy (e.g. there are “market-based” emissions reporting, the official figures companies disclose, while ignoring “location-based” emissions — the actual carbon footprint of data processing at specific sites. This leads to the ironic situation that one of today’s key transitions may thwart the other.
Second, there is at times tension between regulation and innovation. This means that policies have to strike the right balance between encouraging innovation and upholding essential rights such as privacy, transparency, and fairness. Digital transitions show that with correct incentives, markets can achieve rapid transitions. This also means that governments need to continuously monitor and regulate certain energy markets in particular to create the correct incentives in the context of twin transitions. Past developments have shown that ‘when incentives are introduced, they tend to stimulate innovation and transitions’.
In terms of inequality versus inclusion, there is concern that the costs and benefits of the digital and green transitions are unevenly distributed. As the global economy increasingly relies on digital skills, 2.6 billion people still lack reliable internet access, while 760 million remain without electricity. At the same time, the shift to a green economy threatens the livelihoods of communities dependent on fossil fuel industries, highlighting the socio-economic disparities created by these transitions.
While these challenges are global, effective solutions must be tailored to regional contexts. From the EU’s Green Deal, AI Act and Data Act to policies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, responses to the twin transitions require both international collaboration and tailored approaches to local needs.
Data and Policy at the Nexus of Transformation
Data lies at the heart of the twin transitions, driving real-time insights, evidence-based policymaking, and cross-sector collaboration. It has the potential to bridge digital innovation and sustainability, empowering stakeholders to craft solutions that are both effective and inclusive. However, this potential also comes with risks: without robust governance, data can perpetuate biases, deepen inequities, and create inefficiencies that hinder progress.
Government policies can encourage innovation and the adoption of digital technologies that support environmental sustainability while simultaneously implementing regulations to mitigate their ecological impact. This includes promoting energy efficiency, expanding the use of renewable energy sources, and ensuring the responsible management of e-waste to balance technological progress with sustainability goals. The European Commission has prioritized the twin transitions, defining climate and environmental challenges as a ‘generation’s defining task’ while recognizing digital transformation as a ‘key enabler for reaching the Green Deal Objectives’.
Data for Policy in Action: European Data for Policy Regional Conference 2025
To reflect the increasing urgency of integrating digital and green transitions into policymaking, this year’s European Data for Policy Regional Conference 2025 (June 12–13, 2025) will explore “Twin Transitions in Data and Policy for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future”. Convening in The Hague, The Netherlands, this conference aims to provide a space where researchers, policymakers, and practitioners can address the pressing questions posed by these transitions. The conference will serve as a platform for debate, collaboration, and innovation — focusing not only on current possibilities but also on shaping a sustainable and inclusive future. Bringing together experts from diverse fields, the conference seeks to examine the role of data and policy in driving a future that is not only sustainable but also just and inclusive.
About the authors
Laura Zoboli is Assistant Professor of Commercial Law in the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Brescia. She is also an Area Editor (Focus Area 3: Focus on Policy & Literacy for Data) of the open-access journal Data & Policy at Cambridge University Press.
Sarah Giest is a Professor of Public Policy with a focus on Innovation and Sustainability at the Public Administration Institute of Leiden University. She has been developing an interdisciplinary research agenda and teaching on using a policy lens to look at technical, environmental and social solutions that shape sustainable societies. She is an Editorial Board Member and Area Lead (Focus Area 1: Digital & Data-Driven Transformations in Governance) of the open-access journal Data & Policy at Cambridge University Press.
Bram Klievink is Professor of Public Administration at Leiden University, with a special focus on Digitalisation and Public Policy. He has a strong fascination with the interface between digitalisation and government. His research is about how digital innovations challenge the incumbent practices and institutions of public governance, and how digitalisation might be used in novel governance arrangements for the digital age. His current research include several projects on the politics and use of big data and algorithms in a public governance context. He is an Area Editor (Focus Area 5: Algorithmic Governance) of the open-access journal Data & Policy at Cambridge University Press.
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This is the blog for Data & Policy (cambridge.org/dap), a peer-reviewed open access journal published by Cambridge University Press in association with the Data for Policy Conference and Community Interest Company.
