Exploring Assessment Criteria for Sustainable Software Engineering Processes

• Published in: 2024 IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society (ICSE-SEIS) pp. 107 - 117
• Main Authors: Wahler, Michael, Seyff, Norbert, Ramirez, Maria Susana Soriano
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: ACM 14.04.2024
• Subjects: assessment; Collaboration; Companies; criteria; Focusing; Industries; Knowledge engineering; Software; software engineering; Software measurement; sustainability
• ISSN: 2832-7616

It is our duty as software engineers to understand our contribution towards sustainability and ultimately assess and improve the sustainability of the software engineering (SE) processes we apply. However, commonly established criteria for such an assessment are currently lacking. In this experience report, we share insights from our investigation into the sustainability of software engineering processes, focusing on a collaborative project with an industry partner. Our research delves into lessons learned while exploring this critical issue. Our contribution lies in the introduction of an initial framework, which includes assessment criteria as the core element, and on the results of using this framework to assess the software engineering process of our industry partner. By sharing our experiences and findings, we aim to contribute to the understanding of sustainable software engineering practices and stimulate dialogue on how software engineering can address societal and environmental challenges. Our work underscores the significance of adopting sustainable practices and encourages the software engineering community-in both academia and industry-to embrace a proactive role in advancing sustainability for society.CCS CONCEPTS* Software and its engineering → Software development process management; Collaboration in software development.Lay Abstract. It is important for software engineers to understand the effects of their work on sustainability. This also includes understanding the sustainability of the software engineering processes used and figuring out how to make them more sustainable. The problem is that currently, it is hard for software engineers and software companies to understand how sustainable their software engineering process is. There is a lack of criteria and established assessment frameworks that would allow that. In our experience paper, we talk about what we have learned from our efforts in establishing the first version of such a framework. Key contributions include identifying a set of criteria for the assessment and performing a first assessment in an industrial setting. We want to share what we have learned so that others can understand how to make software engineering processes more sustainable. The results are relevant for both researchers and practitioners.