Adam Coles, Opencast’s Head of Sustainable Services, explained: “This year’s GSF hackathon focused on its impact framework, a way to compute and report the environmental impact of software applications.
“There were several categories and we decided on Beyond Carbon, where we would look at how to increase awareness that digital services can have an impact that goes beyond global warming. We decided to develop a plugin for a risk scorecard, designed to evaluate software based on its software carbon intensity and software water intensity – so our scorecard measures both carbon and water impact.
“Our win was a fantastic result and testament to the hard work and insight of everyone on the team.
“We introduced a red/amber/green (RAG) rating system to make the environmental impacts of software more accessible to a broader audience, including non-technical stakeholders.
“This system was motivated by the realisation that, while the concept of a carbon footprint is widely understood, the significant impact of water usage in software development is less recognised.
“Taking part in the hackathon was not just about the competition; it was also a learning opportunity for our team. We had to conduct extensive research on water consumption in datacentres and power generation which really broadened our understanding of the concepts involved.”
As well as winning the hackathon, Opencast is hoping the system the team designed will have a practical benefit for its clients.
Adam added: “We’ve gained valuable experience in a product we hope could apply to client projects. There is also potential for extending our RAG plugins to cover additional sustainability targets including the impact of embedded water use – we’re interested in including a coefficient for the water stress levels in different countries.
The hackathon was a valuable step on Opencast’s ongoing journey towards more sustainable software development. It highlighted the need for comprehensive tools that help developers and companies understand and minimise their environmental footprint.
“We're excited about the possibilities this opens up for future projects and the broader impact it could have on the tech industry's approach to sustainability.”
