FairTEC, Responsible and Sustainable Technology

FairTEC, a collaboration of Fairphone, /e/, Commown, TeleCoop, WEtell, and Phone CO-OP have come together to create sustainable and ethical integrated smartphone solutions.

This will be a centralised proposition that will enable people to rent or buy a fair smartphone, a more sustainable sim card, and use an operating system that ‘respects their personal data’. People will be able to visit the FairTEC website and pick a combination of sustainable products, an example being ‘buying a Fairphone with /e/OS pre-installed and a phone Co-op sim card’.

FairTEC’s goals

The pandemic has ramped up the world’s necessity for the use of technology, but many people do not realize the negative societal and environmental impact of this digital dependence. As FairTEC states, large companies and conglomerates are promising a future of green sustainable tech, but the initiative should be taken now to offer solutions and services that limit the industry’s impact on the world and change behavior societally.

Fairer, sustainable technology does not just relate to devices and must also include companies adopting more eco-friendly business models/practices.  FairTEC’s goals are to reduce the impact of smartphone production by emphasizing “modular and repairable design that integrates ethically and responsibly sourced materials”. They also want to adopt a more privacy-friendly operation system that does not harvest data and sell them as a set to big companies, prompting unwanted advertisement, etc.

They also want to adopt mobile prescriptions that care for “the climate, user data security and is a fair and transparent service”. Finally, they want to choose a longevity-based economic model and allow for longer life cycles for devices and their parts.

Eva Gouwens, CEO at Fairphone states: “We’re proud to be part of an initiative that makes a positive impact on the technology industry. In an age where we’re all more dependent on technology than ever before, the sector needs to encourage responsible and sustainable solutions and services so that we limit our impact on society and the environment.”

She also said, “We want to provide Fairphone users with phones that are not only sustainable but that make an overall positive impact on the world, whether that’s with an operating system that protects privacy, a more sustainable mobile subscription or a service leasing model that takes us one step closer to a circular economy.”

Marion Graeffly, TeleCoop’s co-founder said “At TeleCoop, we think digital technology should be used for the common good to combat its negative environmental and social impact. With this objective in mind, we think partnerships with projects that share these values are key to supporting and developing that vision. We joined and helped establish FairTEC because we think of a telecoms operator as the digital gateway that has a key role in creating a new path for the industry.”