ImpactIApp
Application Life Cycle Assessment, at scale.
From a one-off Life-Cycle Analysis to day-to-day decision-making regarding a portfolio of several thousand applications.
This is an innovation project aimed at combining the scientific rigour of LCA with the practical realities faced by businesses, and tailoring it to their application portfolios, taking into account the widespread use of AI services.
A research–industry consortium
Understand. Compare. Act.
We connect the rigour of life cycle assessment with the realities of digital teams. Our aim is to inform decisions about design, use and maintenance.
Traceable data
Connect application inventories, observations and infrastructure measurements. Document sources, collection periods and data quality.
AI within the scope
Training, inference and shared resources: distinguish what is measured, estimated or still unknown when assessing a service.
From data to decisions.
.01
Collect and harmonise
Connect inventories, monitoring tools and technical measurements. Retain the source, units and quality of each data point.
.02
Model and allocate
Link services to applications and shared resources. Make allocation rules explicit and limit double counting.
.03
Assess and interpret
Calculate impacts over a defined life cycle, compare scenarios and translate findings into documented opportunities for action.
Five partners. Complementary scientific and industrial expertise.
The consortium brings together application modelling, infrastructure instrumentation and environmental assessment.
Programme coordination, automation and integration into the ServiceNow ecosystem.
Decisions we aim to support.
“Measurement alone is not enough: the aim is to inform decisions about design, use and maintenance.”
Our guiding principle
ImpactIApp — a collaborative innovation project
Help validate the methodology.
Do you manage an application portfolio or services that use AI? Let’s discuss your data, constraints and the decisions you need to inform.
Frequently asked questions.
What is ImpactIApp?
An innovation project bringing together five partners to develop a method and technical framework for life cycle assessment of applications and application services across portfolios.
What does LCA mean?
Life cycle assessment examines multiple environmental impacts within a defined scope and for a defined function. It goes beyond carbon emissions or electricity consumption alone.
Is artificial intelligence included?
Yes. The research considers training where relevant to the scope, inference and associated infrastructure. Rules for allocating impacts to services need to be made explicit.
Has performance already been demonstrated?
Scaling the methodology and enabling dynamic updates are research objectives to be validated. Assumptions, uncertainties and partial findings must remain visible.
Who is involved in the project?
The consortium brings together Aguaro, CEA, LS2N — Nantes Université, Easyvirt and EVEA. Their complementary roles are outlined in the Consortium section.
What will the findings be used for?
They aim to inform design, use and maintenance choices, compare consistent scenarios and identify the main sources of environmental impact.
How can we contribute to validation?
Digital teams can share their portfolio context, available observations and constraints. The form helps prepare an initial discussion about possible validation activities.
How will data be used?
Data scope, access conditions, confidentiality and arrangements for sharing findings must be agreed before any experimentation. No automatic compliance is assumed.
