Software sustainability as a quality metric

In the era of growing environmental awareness, the IT sector faces a new challenge: how to reconcile technological innovation with environmental sustainability? The upcoming W3C guidelines on web sustainability are set to redefine industry best practices, emphasizing the reduction of emissions and the integration of environmental impact as a critical factor in application design.

This presentation aims to:

- Introduce accounting practices for sustainable software
- Present emerging tools and standards for creating more eco-friendly digital products
- Demonstrate how to integrate these practices into existing automated testing and quality assurance processes

Why is this presentation crucial now?

- Regulatory compliance: As environmental regulations evolve, companies must quickly adapt to stay competitive.
- Competitive advantage: Consumers are increasingly mindful of environmental impact, making sustainability a market differentiator.
- Technical innovation: Integrating green practices drives innovation, leading to more efficient and high-performing solutions.
- Social responsibility: The IT sector plays a key role in combating climate change, and every developer can make a difference.

By combining green software testing practices with established QA methodologies, we can not only improve code quality but also significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our digital products. This talk will provide practical tools to begin this journey towards a more sustainable digital future.

Transcript

1. Emilia-Romagna, Ravenna, Sept. 2024 / fullo
2. GHG & Climate Change https://www.geopop.it/aumenta-il-numero-di-fenomeni-meteorologici-estremi-in-italia-nel-2023-oltre-il-20-in-piu/ / fullo
3. / fullo 3.9% of GHG but it is estimated to growth up to 5% by 2025 and 14% by 2040 ICT carbon footprint is 39.9 billion tons, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666389921001884 https://internethealthreport.org/2018/the-internet-uses-more-electricity-than/
4. Francesco Fullone Software sustainability as a quality metric / fullo
5. TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE coping with sustainability complexity Sustainability is the capacity to endure. Meet[ing] the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (UN, WCED, 1987: 43) / fullo
6. TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE coping with sustainability software complexity Technical Debt + CyberSecurity + Infrastructure Resilience Impact on the environment + E-waste + Energy Consumption Accessibility, Usability and Inclusion + Business Impact on stakeholders / fullo
7. Environment / fullo
9. / fullo 1 2
10. climateproductleaders.org
12. 5.27 Define Performance and Environmental Budgets W3C Sustyweb: https://w3c.github.io/sustyweb Setting targets and limits regarding your product or service is important for keeping a sustainable mindset. Using budgets, you can declare the remits of which you will work within to ensure your emissions do not fall outside (and monitor your progress through development). Success Criterion - Environmental Budget (Machine Testable) The product team has defined, baselined, and documented clear sustainability and environmental budget criteria that cover the page, user-journey, and digital service levels and metrics (such as a CO2.js score) that are approved by relevant product stakeholders. Success Criterion - Performance Budget (Machine Testable) Tools such as a performance budget exist to determine the maximum size (goals) your app or website can weigh to reduce the data transfer and HTTP request impact (using metrics like Google Lighthouse).
13. / fullo https://www.sitigreen.it/ https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/co2-js/ https://aremythirdpartiesgreen.com https://www.fruggr.io/
14. / fullo
17. https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/understanding-the-latest-sustainable-web-design-model-update/
19. / fullo
20. / fullo Too much effort Why bother?
21. / fullo Reduce the emission is Financial Efficient https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140988321005156
22. / fullo THE ACTION PLAN learn about our emission model identify our actual and define desired maturity define sustainability core values define OKRs and experiments communicate each progress and create a sustainability culture
23. PICK YOUR PILLAR Francesco Fullone https://linkedin.com/in/fullo francesco@darumahq.it / fullo
24. https://www.bettersoftware.it