On the Presence of Green and Sustainable Software Engineering in Higher Education Curricula

Nowadays, software is pervasive in our everyday lives. Its sustainability and environmental impact have become major factors to be considered in the development of software systems. Millennials-the newer generation of university students-are particularly keen to learn about and contribute to a more sustainable and green society. The need for training on green and sustainable topics in software engineering has been reflected in a number of recent studies. The goal of this paper is to get a first understanding of what is the current state of teaching sustainability in the software engineering community, what are the motivations behind the current state of teaching, and what can be done to improve it. To this end, we report the findings from a targeted survey of 33 academics on the presence of green and sustainable software engineering in higher education. The major findings from the collected data suggest that sustainability is under-represented in the curricula, while the current focus of teaching is on energy efficiency delivered through a fact-based approach. The reasons vary from lack of awareness, teaching material and suitable technologies, to the high effort required to teach sustainability. Finally, we provide recommendations for educators willing to teach sustainability in software engineering that can help to suit millennial students needs.Comment: The paper will be presented at the 1st International Workshop on Software Engineering Curricula for Millennials (SECM2017

Environmental Management Information Systems: A Conceptual Overview and Review of Vendors

Organizations need relevant and specific information systems to operate their carbon emissions, energy use, and other green activities to support its management of sustainability initiatives and related accounting and other reporting requirements. Green information systems (IS) and environmental management information systems (EMIS) thus become necessary for monitoring and controlling activities and procedures regarding environmental concerns. In the IS scholarly community, we have not yet given full attention to carbon management and environmental management IS, despite our increasing efforts in research around green information systems. In this paper, we aim to introduce the concepts of environmental management information systems by discussing some of their common software characteristics, such as whether support for ISO 14001 is provided. We provide an overview of a collection of such green and sustainable information systems and will discuss thoughts on directions for conducting IS research on these topics at the conference

Evolution of smart grid assessment methods: science mapping and performance analysis

ABSTRACT The field of research related to smart grid (SG) assessment methods is broad and fragmented owing to the contribution of the various disciplines and approaches involved. This presents difficulties in obtaining useful and unbiased information for future studies. Hence, a full review of the contributions could provide a comprehensive critical perspective. In this article, SciMAT software is used to determine the evolution of this research field through a systematic review of the literature based on 331 original research articles. In addition, hidden issues and their development in this field have been identified for the period 2009–2020 to produce strategic diagrams of the thematic evolution and performance indicators of the research field. The results show that SG assessment methods are important topics, and the research field demonstrates an evolutionary trend that has not yet reached a maturity stage in each of the SG-related research topics. The most important topics, such as electric power transmission networks and environmental impact, are highlighted, with a particular interest in the transmission of electric power, application of photovoltaic systems, and life cycle analysis

Transportation Life Cycle Assessment Synthesis: Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series

The Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series is a set of narrated, self-advancing slideshows on various topics related to environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). This research project produced the first 27 of such modules, which are freely available for download on the CESTiCC website http://cem.uaf.edu/cesticc/publications/lca.aspx. Each module is roughly 15- 20 minutes in length and is intended for various uses such as course components, as the main lecture material in a dedicated LCA course, or for independent learning in support of research projects. The series is organized into four overall topical areas, each of which contain a group of overview modules and a group of detailed modules. The A and α groups cover the international standards that define LCA. The B and β groups focus on environmental impact categories. The G and γ groups identify software tools for LCA and provide some tutorials for their use. The T and τ groups introduce topics of interest in the field of transportation LCA. This includes overviews of how LCA is frequently applied in that sector, literature reviews, specific considerations, and software tutorials. Future modules in this category will feature methodological developments and case studies specific to the transportation sector

Raising awareness for potential sustainability effects in Uganda: A survey-based empirical study

Copyright © 2019 for this paper by its authors. In July 2019, we ran the 3rd International BRIGHT summer school for Software Engineering and Information Systems at the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The participants developed a group project over the course of the week, which included the application of the Sustainability Awareness Framework. The framework promotes discussion on the impact of software systems on sustainability based on a set of questions. In this paper, we present the educational evaluation of the Sustainability Awareness Framework in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results indicate that the framework can provide supportive guidance of the societal and environmental challenges in the given context

Green BPM as a business-oriented discipline : a systematic mapping study and research agenda

Green Business Process Management (BPM) focuses on the ecological impact of business processes. This article provides a systematic mapping study of Green BPM literature to evaluate five attributes of the Green BPM research area: (1) scope, (2) disciplines, (3) accountability, (4) researchers and (5) quality control. The results allow developing a research agenda to enhance Green BPM as an approach for environmentally sustainable organizations. We rely on a dichotomy of knowledge production to present research directives relevant for both academics and practitioners in order to help close a rigor-relevance gap. The involvement of both communities is crucial for Green BPM to advance as an applied, business-oriented discipline

From integration to fusion: the challenges ahead

The increasing complexity of numerical modelling systems in environmental sciences has led to the development of different supporting architectures. Integrated environmental modelling can be undertaken by building a ‘super model’ simulating many processes or by using a generic coupling framework to dynamically link distinct separate models during run-time. The application of systemic knowledge management to integrated environmental modelling indicates that we are at the onset of the norming stage, where gains will be made from consolidation in the range of standards and approaches that have proliferated in recent years. Consolidation is proposed in six topics: metadata for data and models; supporting information; Software-as-a-service; linking (or interface) technologies; diagnostic or reasoning tools; and the portrayal and understanding of integrated modelling. Consolidation in these topics will develop model fusion: the ability to link models, with easy access to information about the models, interface standards such as OpenMI and software tools to make integration easier. For this to happen, an open software architecture will be crucial, the use of open source software is likely to increase and a community must develop that values openness and the sharing of models and data as much as its publications and citation records

Skills and Knowledge for Data-Intensive Environmental Research.

The scale and magnitude of complex and pressing environmental issues lend urgency to the need for integrative and reproducible analysis and synthesis, facilitated by data-intensive research approaches. However, the recent pace of technological change has been such that appropriate skills to accomplish data-intensive research are lacking among environmental scientists, who more than ever need greater access to training and mentorship in computational skills. Here, we provide a roadmap for raising data competencies of current and next-generation environmental researchers by describing the concepts and skills needed for effectively engaging with the heterogeneous, distributed, and rapidly growing volumes of available data. We articulate five key skills: (1) data management and processing, (2) analysis, (3) software skills for science, (4) visualization, and (5) communication methods for collaboration and dissemination. We provide an overview of the current suite of training initiatives available to environmental scientists and models for closing the skill-transfer gap

Enhancing Finite Mathematics with Global Awareness

This paper describes the project of modifying the course, Finite Mathematics, to meet a Global Awareness course requirement. The components of the revised course are described, including topics, in-class activities, and student evaluation methods, along with a summary of the results of a general education assessment of the course

The global hydrology education resource

This article is a selective overview of a range of contemporary teaching resources currently available globally for university hydrology educators, with an emphasis on web-based resources. Major governmental and scientific organizations relevant to the promotion of hydrology teaching are briefly introduced. Selected online teaching materials are then overviewed, i.e. PowerPoint presentations, course materials, and multimedia. A range of websites offering free basic hydrology modelling software are mentioned, together with some data file sources which could be used for teaching. Websites offering a considerable range of general hydrology links are also noted, as are websites providing international and national data sets which might be incorporated into teaching exercises. Finally, some discussion is given on reference material for different modes of hydrology teaching, including laboratory and field exercises