ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR IT PROJECTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

The assessment of the environmental value of IT projects is one of the most active interdisciplinary topics in modern project management, located at the intersection of environmental impact assessment (EIA), green-IT engineering and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). The aim of this article is to systematise existing methods of environmental value assessment of projects and to identify the opportunities for their digitalisation in the management of IT projects. The research methodology is based on a structured literature review of 32 peer-reviewed publications (Scopus, ScienceDirect, MDPI, SpringerLink, 2014–2025) and a comparative analysis of seven international and national standards (ISO 14001:2015, ISO 14040:2006 LCA, GRI 300-series, ESPOO Convention, Equator Principles, KZ Environmental Code 2021, Concept Green Economy RK 2050). The results demonstrate four dominant clusters of environmental assessment methods — qualitative (Leopold matrix, checklists), quantitative (LCA, carbon-footprint), MCDA-hybrid (AHP-TOPSIS, PROMETHEE) and AI-based (machine-learning surrogate models, NLP for EIA documents) — and reveal that the digital Leopold matrix combined with expert-augmented AI agents shows the highest applicability for IT projects (combined coverage index of 0.86 and operational maturity of 0.71). The paper specifies methodological requirements for a multidimensional environmental value model intended for an AI-augmented decision-support tool in IT-project management. The findings are relevant for academic researchers, environmental analysts, PMOs and government agencies working on green-IT initiatives in Kazakhstan and the EAEU region.