After seven years of working in the tech industry, the concept of ‘sustainability’ in software engineering first resonated with me in 2021. Until then, my thoughts on sustainability were confined to images of a green earth and eco-friendly decisions. However, I soon realized that ‘sustainability’ transcends being merely a buzzword. It is a silent revolution unfolding within the lines of code we write, where every tiny decision holds the potential to contribute to a healthier society.
Sustainability is not a single, uniform concept but a complex and multifaceted commitment to protect, preserve and enhance the world we live in. According to Forbes (2022), 90% of business leaders think sustainability is important and 60% of companies have a sustainability strategy. Many organizations usually attempt to project their sustainability goals and targets, and the concept of sustainability is gradually gaining traction in the software engineering field.
In software engineering, sustainability involves creating software solutions that address today’s challenges without compromising the capacity to meet future needs. Some software practitioners look at this as creating maintainable systems, while others think about it as longevity and reduced energy consumption. These variations in interpretation have led researchers to identify different dimensions of sustainability in software engineering: technical, economic, environmental, individual, and social. The technical dimension relates to code quality, and the long-term durability of software products. The economic dimension concerns profitability and financial stability. The environmental aspect relates to the responsibility of IT systems to preserve the natural environment, the individual dimension considers the impact on individual human beings, and the social aspect relates to the impact of software on communities and societal wellbeing. However, the focus in discussions about sustainability in software engineering typically revolves around the technical and environmental dimensions, and the equally critical social dimension doesn’t receive as much attention as it should.
It is time to shift our gaze beyond the usual green metrics and energy-efficient servers and focus on creating software products that are not only energy efficient but socially and ethically responsible. This would involve not just mitigating risks like privacy breaches or social isolation but actively contributing to societal well-being, promoting equity and inclusivity, and enhancing community connections.
Following me on this journey, my series of articles will shed more light into the significance of the often overlooked and underexplored aspect of sustainability — social sustainability. By understanding the importance of social sustainability, we can collectively encourage a shift in how software is developed. This is not just about building technically sound or environmentally efficient products, it is also about infusing ethical and social responsibility into the development process. It’s a call to action for the industry to ensure that while solving one problem, we do not create another by overlooking the social and ethical dimensions of technology. It also means that users and consumers of these technologies would become more informed about the principles of social sustainability, and continue to drive the demand for ethically responsible software that is not just functional but also socially responsible and inclusive.
Finally, software developers would come to see their role as more than just writing codes, but also as opportunities to be architects of social change. Tech companies and software professionals would learn about tools and practices that have been evaluated and tested through randomized controlled experiments conducted by Dalhousie Software Engineering Laboratory (DalSEL) (and others) to create software that positively impacts society.
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