Sustainable Software and Planned Obsolescence close the 3rd Sustainable Digital Transformation Conference

Montevideo, November 28, 2024. 

On the second day of the III Sustainable Digital Transformation Conference, topics such as Sustainable Software Engineering—applied at Sofis Solutions through the GreenCode project—and measures to prevent planned obsolescence in interface design were addressed.

In the previous article, we highlighted some of the topics discussed on the second day of the III Sustainable Digital Transformation Conference. In this edition, we delve into: “Applications of Sustainable Software Engineering at Sofis Solutions – The GreenCode Project”, “How to Prevent Planned Obsolescence in Interface Design”, and finally, “#GreenSofis – Plan 2025 and New Standards.”

GreenCode: a Code Project for Sustainability

The third afternoon session was led by Octavio Aguiar and Facundo Lima, Software Engineering Assistants at Sofis Solutions. In their presentation, they addressed applications of Software Engineering at the company and introduced the GreenCode project.

Facundo Lima began by explaining the concept of Sustainable Software Engineering, which focuses on developing systems and applications in an environmentally responsible manner. He also shared practical examples of how code affects energy consumption, including aspects such as data storage and management, as well as code obsolescence over time.

Next, he presented Sofis Solutions’ GreenCode project, which aims to ensure the implementation of Sustainable Software Engineering practices throughout the entire development lifecycle. He also emphasized the creation of knowledge, materials, and tools that enable adherence to these practices, with a focus on code sustainability and maintainability.

How GreenCode is Implemented

The project relies on optimizing algorithms, efficient use of resources, elimination of redundancies and unnecessary queries, code refactoring and maintenance, as well as continuous monitoring of energy consumption.

Meanwhile, Octavio Aguiar discussed the tools used in GreenCode, designed to facilitate sustainable code monitoring and optimization. Among the most notable, he mentioned: AWS CloudWatch, Google Lighthouse, and SonarQube.

In particular, Aguiar emphasized SonarQube, which allows analysis of code quality and evaluation of key metrics, in addition to offering recommendations for software improvement. He noted that using SonarQube together with EcoCode makes it possible to generate technically high‑quality, environmentally friendly applications. EcoCode is the plugin that Sofis Solutions has started integrating into SonarQube for Java projects, and soon it will be available for other programming languages.

Planned Obsolescence in Interface Design

In the fourth presentation, Néstor Menjívar, a web designer at Sofis Solutions, explored the topic: “Planned Obsolescence in Interface Design.” He explained the concept of planned obsolescence, provided examples, and detailed how to avoid it when designing interfaces.

Menjívar highlighted that planned obsolescence is an action—whether intentional or unintentional—that causes products to become nonfunctional after a certain period. Examples include mobile phones released annually, accompanied by software updates designed to optimize features only available on newer models.

He also pointed out that as technology advances, interfaces can quickly become obsolete. This significantly impacts user experience and digital sustainability. In terms of sustainability, this phenomenon increases electronic waste, as users often replace fully functional devices with newer models. This generates more e-waste and incurs high energy consumption associated with interfaces that are not optimized.

To conclude the presentations, Sofis Solutions’ General Management closed the third edition of the Sustainable Digital Transformation Conference. During the closing, a summary of the talks from both days was shared, along with updates on the #GreenSofis project and the sustainability objectives set for 2025.