Inspecting sustainability in the software industry : guidelines for improved engagement

Abstract

Sustainability continues to be elevated in significance within the software industry; however, it has not yet been widely adopted in everyday software development. This thesis examines how sustainability is communicated by software companies and how academic research addresses sustainability awareness and practices in the software industry. According to an empirical study of 125 Finnish software companies’ websites, sustainability is rarely mentioned and is mostly addressed in terms of environmental aspects. A complementary literature study reveals that while academics regard sustainability as a multifaceted concept, practitioners frequently lack clear guidance on how to incorporate it in practice. Based on these findings, this thesis suggests a set of lightweight yet practical guidelines to assist software companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, in engaging with sustainability more effectively in their day-to-day development activities.