A new Vision of Software Sustainability and its Engineering: Reflections and Research Directions

A new Vision of Software Sustainability and its Engineering: Reflections and Research Directions

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  A new Visionof Software Sustainability and its Engineering Reflections and Research Directions Patricia Lago Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
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  The why…
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  The what Lago, P.,& Malavolta, I. (Accepted/In press). A new Vision on Software Sustainability and its Engineering. IEEE Software, 43(1), January 2026. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2025.3622804 A disclaimer ….
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  Software sustainability a definition,three facets (*) Lago, P. (2023). The Digital Society Is Already Here – Pity It Is 'Unsustainable'. In I. Vermeulen (Ed.), Connected World: Insights from 100 Academics on How to Build Better Connections VU University Press Amsterdam. Software sustainability is the preservation of the long-term and beneficial use of software, and its appropriate evolution, in a context that continuously changes (*) focus time context
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  Software sustainability The vision(part 1): how the three facets interact Lago, P., & Malavolta, I. (Accepted/In press). A new Vision on Software Sustainability and its Engineering. IEEE Software, 43(1), January 2026. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2025.3622804 1 4 2 3 Quality-driven continuous measurement detect “variations” Trigger: change in context Trigger: new decisions Advice: definition of sustainability boundaries (for each Q)
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  Sustainability Assessment Framework(SAF) Toolkit https://github.com/S2-group/SAF-Toolkit Architecting Software sustainability The way we see it (so far)...
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  Sustainability Assessment Framework(SAF) Toolkit Anjana, M. S., Lago, P., Devidas, A. R., & Ramesh, M. V. (2025). Energize sustainability: EnSAF for sustainability aware, software intensive energy management systems. Information and Software Technology, 178(107607). Architecting Software sustainability The way we see it (so far)...
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  Architecting Software sustainability Theway we see it (so far)... Sustainability Assessment Framework (SAF) Toolkit Fatima, I., Funke, M., & Lago, P. (2024). Providing guidance to software practitioners: A framework for creating KPIs. IEEE Software, 42(4), 68–78.
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  P. Lago, N.C. Fernandez, I. Fatima, M. Funke, and I. Malavolta, “The Sustainability Assessment Framework Toolkit: A Decade of Modeling Experience,” Softw. Syst. Model., 2024, doi: 10.1007/s10270-024-01230-9. ArXiv https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.01391v2 Software sustainability: The vision (part 2): software architecture to drive continuous sustainability assessment (Ideally) all 3 facets
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  Sustainability goals Measures (in Context) QualityAttributes and Features Architecture elements - I. Fatima and P. Lago, “Towards a sustainability-aware software architecture evaluation for cloud-based software services,” in ECSA 2024 D. Symp, Springer. - I. Fatima, P. Lago, V. Andrikopoulos, B. v.d. Waaij, “Using sustainability impact scores for software architecture evaluation,” in ICSA 2025, IEEE. Software sustainability: The vision (part 2): software architecture to drive continuous sustainability assessment Informed reasoning Design decisions
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  ➢ MEASUREMENT OFSUSTAINABILITY-RELATED METRICS ○ We rely on the availability of measurement tools ➢ STRENGTH IN EXPERIMENT DESIGN AND EXECUTION, but weakness in societal impact ○ We should commit to rigour, and accurate reporting ○ Synthesize lessons, share them broadly ➢ SW-ORIENTED STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS START TO EMERGE ○ We need concrete embodiments, e.g., use cases, measures Implications and Reflections for Software Engineering research and practice
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  ➢ FOR INFORMEDDESIGN DECISIONS, FOR MASTERING CHANGE ○ Simplicity is key for (sustainability) adoption ○ Solid competencies and skills ➢ QUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY-AWARE ARCHITECTURES ○ Requires research-practice collaboration ○ S-indicators are complex in nature ➢ SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT METHODS ○ Possible only at systemic level ○ We need to represent context and time Implications and Reflections for Software Architecture research and practice (work in progress) Patricia Lago & Joran Leest
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  In summary focus time context
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  14 Thank you Credits: slides,ideas and results are a collective effort with my bright and energetic colleagues in the S2 Group @Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam s2group.cs.vu.nl Icons: flaticon.com Images: dreamstime lagopatr www.patricialago.nl