Project description
The project investigated how ethical considerations can be systematically integrated into software development. The starting point was the observation that software today permeates almost every area of society – such as medicine, transport, education, public administration and public communication – and is never merely a neutral tool. Design decisions in software have normative significance: they influence the scope for action, distribute opportunities and risks, and shape social practices.
Against this backdrop, the project explored the question of how software can be developed in an ethically sound manner. A key finding was that, whilst abstract guidelines, principles and codes of ethics provide direction, they are insufficient in practice. They articulate values such as fairness, transparency or autonomy, but often leave open how these should be understood, weighed against one another and translated into technical decisions in specific development contexts.
The project therefore developed a conceptual framework that views ethical software development as a multi-stage process. At its core are, firstly, the identification of ethically relevant aspects; secondly, the deliberative weighing up of values and conflicts; and thirdly, the embedding of ethically appropriate solutions into the software artefact and the associated development processes. Ethical reflection is thus understood not as a downstream evaluation, but as a continuous component of software development itself.
A particular focus of the project was on agile software development. The project demonstrated that agile methods, due to their iterative nature, their team orientation and their proximity to the actual product, offer particularly suitable starting points for ethical deliberation. At the same time, it made it clear that ethical software development does not depend solely on the good will of individual developers. It also requires organisational prerequisites such as time, responsibility, spaces for communication and suitable process structures.
The results of the project were published in several academic papers and systematically compiled in the textbook Introduction to Ethical Software Development (Springer). In doing so, it contributes not only to providing a theoretical foundation for ethical reflection in software development, but also to making it practically applicable.
The project was completed by 31 December, 2025.
Contact
Research
Project team
Dr. Severin Kacianka
PostDoc Researcher, Chair of Software Engineering | Technical University of Munich
Prof. Dr. Alexander Pretschner
Member of bidt's Board of Directors | Chair of Software & Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich | Scientific director, fortiss
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Julian Nida-Rümelin
Member of bidt's Board of Directors, Professor emeritus of Philosophy and Political Theory | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich
Publications
Introduction to Ethical Software Development
How can software be developed so that ethical questions are not only considered in hindsight, but accompany the development process from the very beginning? In their open-access book “Introduction to Ethical Software Development”, Dr Jan Gogoll and Dr Niina Zuber bring together key insights from the bidt research project “Ethics in Agile Software Development (EDAP)” and bridge the gap between ethical theory and software practice. The book introduces fundamental concepts of digital ethics, highlights what is distinctive about software as a scalable and adaptable technology, and offers a systematic approach to integrating ethical deliberation into development processes as guidance for practitioners, product owners, regulation, and teaching.
Related content
Resources
Lecture overview
scientific literature