Green-Software-Foundation / policy-wg

Engaging with external bodies and campaigns, commenting on existing or proposed policy related to green software as well as creating our own policy proposals.
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[Project] GSF Policy Radar #81

Open mrchrisadams opened 8 months ago

mrchrisadams commented 8 months ago

This my first submission on behalf of the Policy WG. I've since scaled back the scope of this to just focus on creating a "policy radar". I'm using this as fancy term for a shared calendar of coming policy events like new laws being passed, open consultations, and so on in key regions for members of the Green Software Foundation.

Working Title: GSF Policy Radar

Related issues or discussions:

Please list all related issues so that we can see the originating conversation, e.g. Green-Software-Foundation/projects#10 or https://github.com/Green-Software-Foundation/discussions/discussions/5

Tagline:

A shared view of developing policy landscape, to help GSF members navigate coming regulations on greening software.

Abstract:

A regularly updated calendar highlighting the new regulations related to greening software and emissions/impact reporting, as well as their potential impacts on the practice of building ,and operating software services. The goal is to help readers and contributors engage constructively at a policy level, in line with the values outlined in the Green Software Foundations manifesto - Minimise Carbon, Maximise Trust, Engage with Empathy, Be Inclusive and Open to All, and Hold Ourselves Accountable.

Quote:

"As we face a surge of new environmental legislation, navigating the complexities of greening software and emissions reporting is increasingly daunting. Knowing which laws are coming, and when to engage in the policy making process is half of the battle, and this project will help members address environmental impacts proactively, with integrity, and to ensure compliance with evolving standards."

Audience:

Theory of Change:

The Policy Radar will help with building knowledge because members will know what laws are coming, and where the windows are to engage constructively. This will result in better laws, leading to outcomes more conducive to the adoption of green software, and a better understanding of the issues in public discourse too.

It will help with Tech Culture, because it will help 1) create the incentives for greener procurement, 2) lead to a policy environment more supportive of championing sustainability in work, and 3) help create the drivers for transparency that are necessary to convincingly build greener software.

It will help with tooling, because it will increase the chances of new legislation being written that can be effectively implemented by practioners. It will also increase the chances of useful standards for building green software being more widely adopted.

For this proposal, while the there is an element of understanding existing laws being passed, so that members might know how to comply with them in their specific context, the focus is more proactive.

That is to say, there is more of a focus on providing opportunities to work with policy makers and help shape future legislation, rather than providing training or consulting to members on how to comply with legislation that has already been passed.

The reason for this focus is that it would be a lot of work for the GSF to provide useful guidance for every member, given they have such different contexts - and many members in the GSF offer services around implementation of existing laws anyway.

By comparison, providing visibility on future legislation is something that benefits all members, because it helps develop a shared understanding of what the policy landscape looks like, and allows members to decide how best to engage. This would ideally be by organising into new subgroups with other members to collaborate, but in some cases it might make more sense to engage on an issue individually.

Governance: Which working group(s) do you think should govern this project?

Operating Model: Will this project operate based on:

Problem:

  1. CTOs, CIOs, and CSOs face challenges in keeping up with evolving environmental regulations. This project clarifies greening software and emissions reporting rules, ensuring adherence to laws.
  2. Many tech leaders are unaware of their software's environmental impacts and reporting obligations. This initiative educates them on environmental consequences and accurate emissions reporting's significance.
  3. Aligning environmental goals with business strategy poses a hurdle for tech executives. This project offers practical operational guidance to integrate new policy requirements seamlessly.
  4. Good policy can align the incentives of actors in a given industry with wider climate goals informed by the best available science. This project will highlight the places and coming policy events where well though tthrough proposals can lead to the creation of new, or better incentives for building and operating green software, as well as how members can best engage in these arenas.

Solution: Try to make this as detailed as possible. The topics given below are just suggestions; address them only if they are relevant to your problem:

Closure:

i.e. This was taken to how to mean how will we know this is working?

aecurrie commented 8 months ago

This sounds fantastic!!!

On Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 4:20 PM Chris Adams @.***> wrote:

This my first submission on behalf of the Policy WG, and we're still working on it. Once the WIP tag is removed, it'll be ready for review, but until then, please treat as you would a WIP PR.

Working Title: A digital manual for on navigating new and current regulations on greening software

Related issues or discussions:

Please list all related issues so that we can see the originating conversation, e.g. Green-Software-Foundation/projects#10 https://github.com/Green-Software-Foundation/oc/issues/10 or Green-Software-Foundation/discussions#5 https://github.com/orgs/Green-Software-Foundation/discussions/5

Tagline:

A digital manual for navigating regulations on greening software

Abstract:

A regularly updated manual highlighting the new regulations related to greening software and emissions/impact reporting, as well as their potential impacts on the practice of building ,and operating software services. The goal is to help readers and contributors engage constructively at a policy level in line with the values outlined in the Green Software Foundations manifesto - Minimise Carbon, Maximise Trust, Engage with Empathy, Be Inclusive and Open to All, and Hold Ourselves Accountable.

Quote:

"As we face a surge of new environmental legislation, navigating the complexities of greening software and emissions reporting is increasingly daunting. The GSF policy manual is a comprehensive resource that equips us to address environmental impacts proactively, with integrity, and to ensure compliance with evolving standards."

Audience:

  • CTOs
  • CIOs
  • CSOs
  • Software Engineers
  • Public affairs staff in member organisations

Theory of Change:

The Policy Manual will help with building knowledge because members will understand how current and new policy affect their dailt practice.

It will help with Tech Culture, because it will help create the incentives for green er procurement, a policy environment more supportve of championing sustainability in work, and the helping create the drivers for transparency that are necessary to convincingly build greener software.

It will help with tooling, by helping create demand for accurate reporting in new legislation, as well as incentives for developing and adopting useful standards to reference when building green software.

The Policy Manual will help with building knowledge and tooling to improve impact measurement.

Governance: Which working group(s) do you think should govern this project?

  • Community
  • Open Source
  • Policy
  • Standards

Operating Model: Will this project operate based on:

  • Consensus - Goal is everyone agree to every change so we are speaking with one voice when the deliverable is released.
  • Maintainers - The Project Leads listen to feedback and incorporate it back into the project if they see fit.

Problem:

CTOs, CIOs, and CSOs face challenges in keeping up with evolving environmental regulations. This project clarifies greening software and emissions reporting rules, ensuring adherence to laws.

  1. Many tech leaders are unaware of their software's environmental impacts and reporting obligations. This initiative educates them on environmental consequences and accurate emissions reporting's significance.
  2. Aligning environmental goals with business strategy poses a hurdle for tech executives. This project offers practical operational guidance to integrate new policy requirements seamlessly.
  3. Good policy can align the incentives of actors in a given industry with wider climate goals informed by the best available science - this project will highlight the fora and coming policy events where well-thought through proposals can lead to the creation of new, or better incentives for building and operating green software, as well as how members can best engage in these arenas.

Solution: Try to make this as detailed as possible. The topics given below are just suggestions; address them only if they are relevant to your problem:

  • A collaborative, public view of coming policy events (consultations, new bills, laws being passed etc) in regions relevant to GSF members,
  • Research, comms and drafting support for drafting recommendations or responses to the highlighted policy events, aligned with the GSF's existing mission and manifesto.
  • A public repository of submissions and written responses for GSF members and the wider public to browse, and learn from.

Closure:

There is a actively maintained calendar of coming policy events and opportunities for intervention. GSF members both use and publicly contribute to this calendar.

  • There is a growing library of position papers, consultation responses and other responses submitted by the GSF, and GSF members to these listed policy events, as evidence of the GSF's position as new laws are created and implemented.
  • GSF Members self-organise to work in response to the events in this published calendar, and insights from projects supported by the Green Software Foundation make it into proposals and policy responses.

FAQ:

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Green-Software-Foundation/oc/issues/82, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD2TULBXPO766DMGBET6LUTYY4H43AVCNFSM6AAAAABE35E2NSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZSGE4TENRXGE3TINA . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>

mrchrisadams commented 6 months ago

hi folks, I've revised this proposal, to tighten the scope, to just the creation of a shared calendar. This could literally just be a part of an existing wiki to begin with, that is reviewed every second policy meeting to see if there is anything on the horizon worth responding to - as long as it's accessible by as many members as possible, and the benefits of many people updating it outweigh the friction from working across organistional boundaries.