VU Amsterdam Collaboration

VU Amsterdam Collaboration

As part of the SoftAWERE project we are planning a collaboration with Patricia Lago and Ivano Malavolta at the VU Amsterdamโ€™s sustainable software design lab (VU). This page is documenting the shared tasks on which we are intending to collaborate.

Evolving the best practice guidelines (WP1)

We have finalized a first version of the best practice guidelines for sustainable software design, architecture & development. We would like the VU to engage in the guidelines:
  • Review & provide feedback
  • Expand the best practice guidelines with own research findings, references to previous work, existing evidence
  • Commit to making the best practice guideline a shared publication of German Environmental Protection Agency, Oeko Institute, VU Amsterdam and SDIA and support publication

Evaluating the test results from the measurement lab (WP2)

As part of the project, we are executing measurements of various test subjects (open-source software libraries). For each library we measure the energy consumption during the execution of unit and/or functional tests. The list of test subjects is already defined. We would like VU Amsterdam to jointly:
  • Review the results of each measurement, in conjunction with the library itself, and come to a conclusion/thesis on the efficiency of each library, or to the insufficiency of the measurement approach
  • Contribute to/co-author the report that evaluates the energy measurements for each library and draws conclusions, shortcoming or further research needs
  • Contribute to the observation of anomalies, e.g. why does one library use more energy than another, reviewing the code to find the sources of anomalies

Participating in the label evaluation process (WP2)

As part of the project we will evaluate if an energy-label for software libraries is desirable, feasible, and drives desired behavioral change. This evaluation will consist of discussions, workshops between SDIA, UBA & potentially VU, and a written report & policy recommendation. We would like to collaborate with VU:
  • Participating in the workshops to discuss the feasibility, desirability and impact of a energy-efficiency label for software libraries
  • Participate in the design and development of such a label, potential criteria or indication correctness, verification strategies, etc.
  • Co-author a report on the results of the discussions & thinking around the label, with key recommendations on how/if a label should exist, how it should be brought to the market, how it should work and a thesis on the impact it could have