Danwatch has investigated the supply chain of servers bought by European universities and found that whilst young European students enjoy a break in their studies during the summer, tens of thousands of Chinese students are sent by their schools - many of them forced, on irrelevant internships to the assembly lines of electronic factories to produce servers and other ICT equipment for the world's biggest brands. Interns work 10-12 hours a day, six days a week for 3-5 months producing equipment that later will end in universities across Europe.

This report provides an insight of labour issues in the ICT industry, focusing on occupational health and safety issues and freedom of association, compounded by cases from South Korea and China. There are many ways to address these issues – informing and organising among workers, governments of production countries implementing their labour laws, etc. Social responsible public procurement is a new, untried way for institutional consumers on the buying end of the supply chain to exercise influence by using their purchasing power.

The report "The ICT sector in the spotlight. Leverage of public procurement decisions on working conditions in the supply chain" examines the complex production system of the ICT sector, maps extensively its key stakeholders and producer countries, and analyses the leverage of public buyers to change the abusive labour conditions in the industry.