Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Sustainability Management Software

Abstract

Companies have made considerable progress in assessing the sustainability of their processes and products, including the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. However, it is surprising that little attention has been given to the sustainability performance of software products. For this article, we chose a case study approach to explore the extent, to which software manufacturers have considered sustainability criteria for their products. We selected a manufacturer of sustainability management software on the assumption that they would be more likely to integrate elements of sustainability performance in their products. In the case study, we applied a previously developed set of criteria for sustainable software (SCSS) using a questionnaire and experiments, to assess a web-based sustainability management software product regarding its sustainability performance. The assessment finds that despite a sustainability conscious manufacturer, a systematic assessment of sustainability regarding software products is missing in the case study. This implies that sustainability assessment for software products is still novel, corresponding knowledge is missing and suitable tools are not yet being widely applied in the industry. The SCSS presents a suitable approach to close this gap, but it does require further refinement, for example regarding its applicability to web-based software on external servers.

An Investigation of Green Software Engineering

“…Server consolidation involves re-ducing the number of physical servers in a data center by consolidating multiple applications onto a single server [41]. Virtualization involves creating multiple virtual servers on a single physical server, allowing for more efficient use of hardware resources [42]. By reducing the number of physical servers in a data center and optimizing the use of IT equipment, carbon emissions can be reduced.…”

Sustainable Accessibility: A Mobile App for Helping People with Disabilities to Search Accessible Shops

“…The environmental and social dimensions of sustainability are specifically addressed in the present article. Moving onto the solution space, the difference between “sustainable in software” and “sustainable by software” can be highlighted [11]: the former refers to whether the mobile application itself is sustainable, whereas the latter points out at whether using the mobile application has a positive effect on sustainability. The mobile application developed has a potential impact on both areas: (i) “sustainable in software”; a sustainable process was followed to develop the software, and the product is energy-efficient (i.e., the mobile application targets the environmental dimension of sustainable development); and also (ii) “sustainable by software”; the purpose of the software is to help people with motor disabilities (i.e., the mobile application focuses on the social dimension of sustainability).…”