Green Software Engineering Practices: Familiarity, Skills and Understandability among Mid-Bachelor ICT students

Abstract

The need for greener software engineering is apparent due to the increase in energy consumption and carbon emissions in the ICT sector, which pose significant challenges to environmental sustainability. By integrating green practices into the skillset of ICT students, they can contribute to sustainable development in the field. To understand what green software engineering skills mid-bachelor level ICT students already possess, and what they lack, this empirical research presented 154 green software engineering practices to 40 participants in a survey, which asked about their familiarity, ability to implement (skills), and understanding of each practice. Results implicate weakest knowledge and skills in server-side, system- and technology-specific practices, which are further described with vague acronyms that cause ambiguity. Reflections on contributions to the local context and implications for further research are discussed.

Keywords: Sustainability, Green ICT, Software Engineering, Education.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005040