| Abstract | Understanding the role of property rights in managing Information and Communication Technology devices, primarily computers, is fundamental to addressing resource waste and achieving digital inclusion and sustainability goals. Although ICT device acquisition, use, and disposal are predominantly governed by individual property, reuse ecosystems demonstrate significant benefits. In such ecosystems, diverse actors collaborate to recover discarded ICT devices, refurbish, maintain and deliver them at minimal environmental and economic cost to vulnerable populations.
Based on Common-Pool Resources theory, this thesis introduces a model that applies a community property approach to govern the reuse of ICT devices, using the bundle of rights framework to organise and manage reuse ecosystems. Building on the eReuse initiative, developed through action- research by a multistakeholder community involved in computer refurbishment for social inclusion in Spain, it captures patterns of collective action, classifies participants by roles, and maps the property rights underpinning their interactions, ensuring fair relationships within the ecosystem. To assess the suitability and application in Ibero-American contexts, the model was evaluated in three reuse ecosystems in Argentina and Uruguay. Results indicate that, although local adaptation is often needed, the model works in practice and shows strong potential to inform the governance design in culturally aligned ICT reuse ecosystems.
The model is operationalised through two digital tools, DeviceHub and Workbench, which facilitate the tracing of property changes in devices throughout their life cycle, while also collecting detailed usage and performance metrics. In eReuse, it was found that approximately 46% of discarded and donated devices could be reused, highlighting the premature recycling of functional equipment due to criteria such as accounting or software obsolescence. Data collected through these tools also enables more precise estimation of impacts and supports the creation of indicators for comparing digital inclusion strategies across various regions and scenarios. The results show that the CO2 equivalent efficiency of reusing devices ranges from 30% in areas with a higher proportion of renewable energy to 5% in regions dependent on fossil fuels, when compared to new devices. This underscores that reuse is not inherently efficient but is instead dependent on contextual factors. Furthermore, these findings emphasize the need for more granular data to refine these estimates and gain a better understanding of the full impact of ICT reuse in different contexts.
Finally, this governance model was tested through practical case studies in real-world contexts. Our results demonstrate that the success or failure of reuse depends on the sociocultural context and barriers such as ensuring long-term maintenance and usability, which are more effectively mitigated in servitised reuse ecosystems, where maintainers and ICT agents ensure device performance in the face of rapid technological change. These insights contribute to bridging the gap between sustainability goals and ICT governance, highlighting the role of digitally enabled reuse ecosystems in fostering equitable, low-carbon digital transitions and generating local employment opportunities.
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