Miljömässig hållbarhet inom mjukvaruutveckling: En enfallsstudie om mjukvaruutövares uppfattningar på ett IT-företag i Sverige

Sammanfattning

The ICT sector’s greenhouse gas emissions are comparable to those of the aviation industry, and the actors within the sector have a responsibility to reduce these in order to help combat global warming. A relatively new area of concern is the climate impact of software due to energy consumption. For example, AI has been acknowledged as an emissions-hungry technology because of the large computational power it requires. Over the past decade, studies have proposed tools and methods to address this issue. However, research shows that environmental sustainability within software development is largely overlooked in practice, partly due to a lack of awareness. Therefore, it is important to explore software practitioners’ perceptions of the subject. By doing so, factors that may hinder or promote environmentally sustainable software practices can be identified and brought to light. These can then be considered in the creation of relevant interventions. This study aims to examine how software practitioners at an IT company in Sweden perceive environmental sustainability in the context of software development. In order to do this, a qualitative single-case study is adopted. The views of seven participants are collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study concludes that the participants associate environmental sustainability within software development with both the climate impact of work processes and the software itself. They also recognize software’s potential as a tool for promoting broader climate efforts. Furthermore, participants demonstrate some knowledge of how the climate impact of software development can be reduced. Despite this, they also acknowledge that environmental sustainability is not actively addressed in their current workflows. Related to this, several perceived challenges and opportunities that could affect its adoption are highlighted, such as a lack of awareness and clear information. Finally, participants believe there are benefits to environmentally sustainable software practices, though their opinions on its broader importance differ. Some consider it important, while others are more skeptical.