Global Software Engineering in the Age of GitHub and Zoom

TL;DR

This paper discusses the evolution of global software engineering, emphasizing the impact of tools like GitHub and Zoom, and highlights the need to address ethical considerations and societal impacts in modern software development.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of recent technological and cultural shifts in global software engineering and underscores the importance of integrating ethics into development practices.

Findings

Enhanced collaboration through GitHub and Zoom tools.

Growing awareness of cultural differences in global teams.

Need for ethical frameworks in societal-scale systems.

Abstract

Much has changed since the inaugural ICGSE conference in 2006. Tools have improved, awareness of cultural differences is widespread, and developments such as the foregrounding of open source have all enhanced our ability to work across geographic divides. But the pervasive and profound impact of software in the world -- especially for societal scale systems such as social media -- forces new and deeply challenging responsibilities on both developers and academics. We must find better ways of incorporating ethics into our development practices and pay far more attention to harmful unintended consequences as deployed systems interact with and often disrupt crucial social systems.