Software must take responsibility for its environmental impact

Metadata

Creators:: Max Schulze
Website:: sdialliance.org
Title:: Software must take responsibility for its environmental impact
URL:: https://sdialliance.org/blog/software-needs-to-take-responsibility-for-the-environmental-impact-it-creates-through-the-infrastructure-it-requires
Category:: #article

Page Notes

Highlights

software needs to take responsibility for the environmental impact it creates through the infrastructure it requires. A responsibility that can only exist through transparency. →hyp.is

Software needs to make at least two things transparent: 1) the power consumption it is responsible for, 2) the embedded emissions in the underlying infrastructure →hyp.is

Many digital companies either ignore the issue or only focus on the electricity aspect, with the majority opting to create an alternative narrative in which digital technology will always save more CO2 and energy than it uses. This is obviously not the case, as highlighted within a recent study from the Borderstep Institute (CliDiTrans). →hyp.is

The SDIA has already released an open framework, together with a comprehensive methodology on how to make the energy and resource consumption of software visible to consumers and businesses. However, regulation is required to accelerate the movement towards transparency and towards customer choice. →hyp.is

With the support of the German government, the SDIA is working on the necessary tools to help software developers understand their energy and resource usage (SoftAWERE). →hyp.is

It all starts with creating transparency on environmental impact and resource usage. The technologies already exist to enable a climate-neutral digital infrastructure, what is missing is the impetus to trigger change. Transparency is that trigger. →hyp.is