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Models of Sustainable Software: A Scoping Review

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  • Jakub Swacha

    (Department of IT in Management, University of Szczecin, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland)

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play a double role in the strife for sustainable development goals, as both an enabler of green solutions and a cause of excessive consumption. While the primary focus of sustainability-related research is on the hardware aspect of ICT, its software aspect also deserves attention. In order for the notion of green and sustainable software to become widespread among practitioners, models are needed, both to be used as a reference on how to develop sustainable software, and to check whether given software or its development process is sustainable. In this paper, we present the results of a scoping review of literature on sustainable software models, based on 41 works extracted from an initial set of 178 query results from four bibliographic data providers. The relevant literature is mapped using five categories (model scope, purpose, covered sustainability aspects, verification or validation, and the economic category of the country of research), allowing us to identify recent trends and research gaps, which can be addressed in future work.

Suggested Citation

  • Jakub Swacha, 2022. "Models of Sustainable Software: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:1:p:551-:d:717953
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Gopalakrishnan Sriraman & Shriram Raghunathan, 2023. "A Systems Thinking Approach to Improve Sustainability in Software Engineering—A Grounded Capability Maturity Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Igor Kotenko & Konstantin Izrailov & Mikhail Buinevich & Igor Saenko & Rajeev Shorey, 2023. "Modeling the Development of Energy Network Software, Taking into Account the Detection and Elimination of Vulnerabilities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-40, July.
    3. Samar Hussni Anbarkhan, 2023. "A Fuzzy-TOPSIS-Based Approach to Assessing Sustainability in Software Engineering: An Industry 5.0 Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Alzoubi, Yehia Ibrahim, 2025. "Hardware security modules for sustainable energy systems: Targeted review," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).

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