Reliable environmental data to inform digital design and policy decisions

naKnow is a collaborative initiative producing open scientific knowledge and environmental data on key digital components, to support informed decision-making across the digital value chain.

Research-based and methodologically transparent

Fully open access and open data outputs

Publicly supported initiative, designed as a long-term commons

Understand the scope of naKnow

Strengthening environmental knowledge on digital components.

Environmental considerations related to digital technologies are becoming increasingly central to industrial strategies, public action, and regulatory frameworks. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), in particular, is widely used to evaluate environmental performance and to inform design choices, investment decisions, and policy orientations across the digital sector. To be effective, LCA-based assessments rely on robust, transparent, and well-documented environmental knowledge. For many fundamental digital components, however, this knowledge remains unevenly structured, difficult to access, or insufficiently harmonised across actors. This situation limits the comparability of results and weakens their consistent use in decision-making processes.

Strengthening shared environmental knowledge on digital components is therefore essential to :

Hand with cpu
  • Improve the robustness of LCA results
  • Enable meaningful comparisons
  • Support more consistent decisions across the digital value chain

naKnow’s mission is to make high-quality environmental knowledge on digital components openly and sustainably available, in order to strengthen the robustness, transparency, and usability of environmental assessments.

Produce openly accessible scientific knowledge on key digital components

Deliver open environmental datasets suitable for reuse by public authorities and practitioners

Facilitate informed decision-making for non-expert and expert stakeholders alike

Roadmap Graph

What naKnow delivers.

An open online knowledge base documenting

  • Manufacturing processes
  • Value chains
  • And environmental assumptions for selected categories of digital components
  • Silicon wafers and derived components (CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD)
  • Printed Circuit Boards (PCB)
  • Displays
  • Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
  • Optical components, including receivers and lasers

All datasets and knowledge produced within naKnow are :

  • published as open resources and open data, using formats compatible with European practices
  • intended to support reuse by public platforms, including environmental reference databases.

Review of scientific and technical literature

Modelling of manufacturing processes and global value chains

Laboratory analyses to support and refine assumptions

Transparent documentation of uncertainties and limits

naKnow does not promote specific technologies, products, or industrial actors. Its role is to document, analyse, and make data available.

naKnow brings together partners from research, industry, and expert organisations, under the supervision of public authorities involved in the project’s steering.

Clear roles and responsibilities
Documented review processes
Transparency on decision-making and outputs

naKnow brings together partners from research, industry, and expert organisations

is supported under the Econum call for projects, as part of the France 2030 initiative.

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This contact form is intended for organisations and experts wishing to contribute, follow the initiative, or better understand its scope.

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