My take on - The Green Software Foundation (GSF) meetup London March 2023 -

I attended an exciting meetup/event last week run by The Green Software Foundation (GSF) and hosted by Mastercard; The GFS is an organisation that aims to promote the development of green software by creating an ecosystem and community, educating and standardise, providing tools, and best practices for software developers that aim to reduce the Carbon and overall environmental impact of Software development.?

Meet-up event overview.

On March 23rd 2023, the Green Software Foundation held an event that focused on the need for software developers to become more aware of the carbon emissions that are abstracted from their work, for example, when developing software and utilising hardware. One of the key takeaways from the event was the need for standardisation in calculating carbon emissions in software development and that giant steps have been made over the recent months and years to provide a helpful way to measure carbon emissions.?

The SCI score, or Software Carbon Intensity score, is a metric used to measure the carbon emissions of software systems. It represents the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emitted per unit of activity or work performed by a software system. #greensoftware?#greensoftwarefoundation #virtuslab

About SCI calculators

?A SCI calculator/Tool has been developed to calculate the carbon footprint of software systems. However, the SCI calculator is not widely used due to the difficulty of obtaining the data needed to calculate carbon emissions. More work needs to be done to enable broader adoption; This may be due to a lack of awareness about the tool/metrics or a lack of understanding of the importance of measuring the carbon footprint of software systems. Typically challenges associated with using the SCI calculation process are due to the real-world complexity of obtaining accurate data on energy consumption during software development and operations. The GFS has developed a carbon-aware SDK in C# to help developers calculate carbon emissions more efficiently, …...which is super cool!?

Content of discussions?

The event also highlighted the importance of the open-source software community in the equation and how this more expansive open–source community can support the goals of the GSF. However, calculating carbon emissions in open-source software development can be pretty challenging!

One aspect of this event that I appreciated, as highlighted by both the speakers and GSF founder, Asim Hussain, is the emphasis on solutions rather than problems in the talks. It was evident that the speakers put considerable thought and effort into expanding practical ideas that add value to the green software field. This demonstrated genuine concern about the eco problem and commitment to making a positive impact.

We heard from Goldman Sachs. Sarah Hasu and Liya Mathew, about the journey into greener software development processes at Goldman Sachs, how "far they have come" and "how far they still have to go" There is undoubtedly great work happening and it's great to see the community at GS growing.

Daniel Vaughn from Mastercard provided insights into the general approach to green software development in his role and the broader mission vision of his and Mastercard. It is great to see that project/career incentives are generally becoming aligned with Environmental, Social, and Governance "ESG" in mind.

Chris Adams Green web foundation. Discussed the growth of the positive narrative around sustainability and action. He provided some interesting background information about the growth of the not-for-profit group called Green Web Foundation.

Takeaways?

Reaching an SCI score of zero may not always be feasible, as even the most energy-efficient software products will inevitably have some carbon emissions associated with their development, deployment, and usage. Furthermore, when similar approaches are adopted across businesses and an individual's life, it can lead to more significant opportunities to reduce carbon footprints. By embracing sustainable practices such as energy-efficient hardware and software, renewable energy sources, and reducing waste, individuals and businesses can help to mitigate their carbon emissions and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Although SCI scores are not commonly published, developers can use calculators to assess their software's carbon footprint. However, the actual process is complex and involves several dependencies. Despite these challenges, decreasing one's carbon footprint can still have a favourable impact.

In conclusion, green software development is becoming increasingly important as the world approaches sustainability. The Green Software Foundation and other organisations are working to create standards, tools, and best practices for developers to reduce the carbon footprint of their software systems. With the support of these organisations, things are looking a little brighter; also, when industry giants like #goldmansachs and #Mastercard get involved in showing the way, this, I am sure, can only be a positive thing!

The closing statement by Asim Hussain was impactful. He highlighted that just 3% of a community taking action could lead to meaningful change. Hence, if 1 million software developers integrate emissions reduction measures in their daily work, it can significantly contribute towards making software development more sustainable and, consequently, lead to a positive global impact.

Helpful links:?

https://greensoftware.foundation/projects

https://github.com/Green-Software-Foundation/carbon-aware-sdk

https://www.meetup.com/gsf-london/

Thanks to?

Asim Hussain , Executive Director & Chairperson, Green Software Foundation.

Daniel Vaughan , Manager, Product Architecture, MasterCard

@linkedin.com/in/greenhsu123 Sarah Hsu VP, Goldman Sachs, Green Software Training Project Chair, Green Software Foundation.

Liya Mathew , SRE Analyst, Goldman Sachs.

@linkedin.com/in/mrchrisadams Chris Adams Executive Director, Green Web Foundation.

And special thanks to Barry Chandler , Founder at OurTechLegacy.org, for spending the evening with me, I enjoyed the insightful conversation, and I look forward to hearing more about your organisation ? #virtuslab