As the first activity on the SDIA roadmap, our work on the Digital Environmental Footprint (DEF) brings together the right expertise and the right connections to develop an open methodology for evaluating the digital environmental footprint of digital products and services. With this methodology, we aim to raise the bar: create transparency about the environmental impacts of software and its infrastructure, enable providers of digital products and services to reduce their environmental impact, and allow consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. Additionally, developers, architects, and software providers in general can gain insights into where the environmental 'hotspots' are in their products.

Our paper titled “Creating a digital environmental footprint: a Life Cycle Assessment Approach" documents what we, the Alliance, know today and outlines a path toward a standardized methodology.

We have chosen to build on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology — the life cycle assessment — as it offers a holistic view of the environmental impact of digital products and services (software). By defining a clear taxonomy of the value chain, an innovative approach to digital resource primitives, and converting these digital resources into their environmental impact, we are one step closer to assessing the ecological footprint of digital products and services.

The LCA also allows comparisons between different products and services and can, for example, help customers choose the most sustainable option. It is capable of covering many aspects of the complex digital value chain. Existing standards already define the basics of the LCA methodology and its quality requirements. Part of this can be a verification process in which an independent body reviews the results, contributing to the creation of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

We acknowledge that digital products and services, along with their supply chain, are incredibly complex. Currently, there is little data or tools to accurately measure the ecological footprint of digital products and services. By providing a new, clearly defined taxonomy and a framework for describing the complex value chain, we are creating a shift in perspective that we believe will move us forward.

Determining the ecological footprint of a digital product is useful. But it raises new questions: Who causes the environmental impact within the value chain, and who is responsible for its reduction? Our taxonomy has the additional advantage of creating a simplified representation of roles and responsibilities along the value chain.

The SDIA community is working together to advance the thinking behind the software LCA methodology. A mathematical approach to converting digital resources into energy consumption has already been published. For the development of the digital environmental footprint methodology, the SDIA has established clearly defined principles as an overarching, independent approach to quantifying environmental impact:

• Transparent: Methodology, framework, and calculations must be open and accessible to all stakeholders; digital products and services are empowered to create transparency about their own ecological footprint.

• Trustworthy: All gathered and reported information must be verifiable and scientifically substantiated to ensure trustworthiness.

• LCA Approach: Utilize existing LCA methodology and collaborate with science to adapt existing frameworks for application to digital products and services.

• Open Standard: Create an open standard that is freely accessible and competitively neutral for all stakeholders.

• End-to-End: Make the entire ecological footprint visible across the supply chain and life cycle of digital products and services for all parties involved.

• Open Source: Methodology, tools, and frameworks should be part of society's collective wealth to support the reduction of the entire environmental impact of the digital sector.

• Impact Oriented: Focus on reducing energy, resources, and emissions rather than mere efficiency, to combat the climate crisis by minimizing the environmental burden caused by the digital economy.

We want companies to feel empowered to conduct their own life cycle assessments of their software independently and encouraged to share this information with their customers — to improve together and create a more sustainable future.

List of Relevant Environmental Impact Indicators for Software

We have selected the relevant environmental impact indicators from the Life Cycle Assessment framework for digital resource primitives from the standard EN15804+A2 (adopted from the construction sector), including:

• Environmental Impact Indicators

• Resource Usage Indicators

• Waste Indicators

• Output Flow Indicators

The full overview is available as a separate reference document.