Umbraco Publishes Annual Impact Report, Reinforcing Commitments to Sustainability and Community

Being open source is as much a technology posture as it is a philosophical mindset. For CMSs that are truly cut from the cloth, being open and transparent about practices, communities, and other aspects of business is part of the ethos. 

As we all grapple with the realities of climate change and the urgency for decarbonization, it's important to remember that the internet is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases, accounting for 3.7% of global emissions. That's roughly the equivalent of all air traffic in the world. 

Yikes. How can we possibly land this plane? 

What's more alarming is that this figure is expected to double by 2025 as our thirst for data skyrockets.

For all its faults, the Internet has been miraculous for mankind. No one is suggesting we do away with it (although I might know a few people on Facebook who claim we're better off without it, but still post these notions using, er, the internet). You're probably asking, “What can I do about it?” when we rely so heavily on digital tools to do our jobs and stay connected to the world. 

It might seem like a pipedream for any one person to make a dent in this problem, but even small adjustments to our habits can make a difference. For businesses with websites, the opportunity is even greater – especially if the tools and platforms they utilize provide efficient and sustainable solutions that directly address these issues. 

As an open-source content management system, Umbraco has fully embraced this thinking and made wholesale commitments with its technology, culture, and vision to combat these challenges. 

Transparency is key to delivering on these commitments, and the company is reinforcing that with intention by publishing an annual report that assesses its impact on people and the planet. This week, it released its second edition.

The Umbraco Impact Report 2023 details how the company is working with its community, clients, and partners to improve sustainability, enhance diversity and inclusion, encourage AI stewardship, and support current and future developers.

“We have always focused on making the Umbraco CMS intuitive for web editors and straightforward for developers to integrate, extend, and customize," said Kim Sneum-Madsen, Umbraco CEO. "Because of this, Umbraco is now the largest open-source .Net CMS in the world, and we recognize our responsibility to help our community to make websites more energy-efficient and sustainable.”

How much of an impact can Umbraco make? Consider that over the past two decades, more than a million websites have been built using its CMS. That's impressive, and a testament to the company's perseverance. It's also a large footprint of sites and users who can all benefit from more sustainable solutions. 

Over that same period, Umbraco’s global open-source community has also grown to more than 250,000 software contributors, with 1,500 digital agency partners building solutions on the platform (also big numbers). With that density of reach and adoption, Umbraco is uniquely positioned to lead positive change not only in the content management industry, but beyond it. 

So the real question is: can a CMS vendor help save the world? 

Maybe. It all starts with a commitment to being the change – and taking action. 

Embracing sustainability 

Carbon. It's the 500-tonne gorilla in the room, and the primary ingredient in the climate-warming stew (there are others to be sure). 

As people, governments, and businesses look for ways to reduce their carbon impact, an array of tools and strategies have emerged for measuring and accounting for the effects. The U.S. EPA's carbon footprint calculator brings it home at a household level, but the Website Carbon Calculator is a great baseline for revealing how your own website (or others) contributes to the conundrum.

Umbraco began calculating its carbon footprint in 2022. Last year, it applied the Greenhouse Gas Corporate Standard to improve accuracy when calculating what is referred to as Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. 

What does this mean? If you're not a carbon-counting expert, Scope 1 is basically any direct emissions that are owned or controlled by a company. Scope 2 and 3 are indirect emissions – in other words, a consequence of the activities of a company but occurring from sources that are not owned or controlled by it.

According to its research, hosting Umbraco Cloud and its headless Heartcore product are the largest sources of carbon emissions. To address this, the company is working closely with Microsoft Azure to ensure the most efficient and sustainable implementation and drive down the numbers. 

While the growth of the cloud might seem antithetical to the sustainability cause, the consolidation and shared use of hardware is actually helping to reduce energy usage and cut carbon output. As it turns out, the large cloud providers are leading the pack on the move to net zero emissions – with some attaining it in the next few years. Great strides have also been made in expanding the lifespan of servers to as much as 6 six years, further reducing waste.

Amazon, AWS' parent, is already reaching key goals for its global decarbonization and water replenishment (turns out the internet is mighty thirsty). It has been spearheading an ambitious climate pledge, and in 2022, over 90% of the electricity consumed by Amazon was attributable to renewable energy sources. 

By working with cloud providers on delivery and hosting optimization, CMS platforms like Umbraco could accelerate their own plans to meet aggressive sustainability goals. This is definitely a step in the right direction. 

Tapping agency partners to become more “carbon conscious”

While Umbraco's technology is the foundation, its users, contributors, and partners are essential to its success. With numerous system integrators and digital agencies building with its CMS, this was a perfect audience for enrolling greater support around its green initiatives. 

In March of last year, Umbraco formed a community Sustainability Team, comprised of technology and business leaders from six digital agencies. The goal was ambitious: create a collaborative movement to help educate clients and the community, develop tools, draft best practice guides, and share practical ways of creating low-carbon websites. According to Madsen, that's exactly what they've been doing – not just because it's the right thing to do, but because prospects are increasingly asking for carbon-conscious partners and solutions. 

“Our digital agency partners are increasingly seeing carbon-conscious web development included within client briefs as organizations prepare to comply with new legislation requiring disclosure of sustainable strategies across the value chain," he said. "We are committed to implementing sustainable products and business practices and supporting our partners, clients and community in their efforts to reduce CO2. We plan to deepen our engagement with United Nations ESG goals in 2024.”

Making an impact with people at work and across the planet

One of the first places companies can start addressing their carbon footprint is with employees. There are well-documented strategies for doing that, like adopting eco-friendly habits such as reducing paper usage, carpooling, or minimizing waste. 

Twelve months ago, Umbraco introduced its own Carbon Neutral Workforce initiative, which involves offsetting each employee’s carbon footprint with a target to reduce emissions by 10% per employee. Change is hard for people, and while 10% may not seem like much, multiply that by hundreds – and it becomes far more profound. 

In addition to its own workforce, Umbraco has been making sustainability strides around the world. Working with Ecologi – an all-in-one climate platform and certified B Corp – Umbraco also funded carbon avoidance projects in Indonesia and Eritrea.

One fun story to top it off: during Hacktoberfest 2023, an annual open source event, Umbraco had a tree planted for every community CMS contribution. By the end, there were 13,281 seedlings added to the ground, offsetting 197 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Focusing on community enrichment

Speaking of Hacktoberfest, Umbraco’s highly engaged, open source community is a vital asset to its growth and relevance. The company reported that its members continued to play an active role in code contributions throughout 2023, and were participants in addressing diversity, accessibility, and sustainability challenges. 

Seven new community-driven initiatives were sponsored last year following the launch of the Umbraco Champions Program, which enables members to submit ideas to benefit the community. 

Umbraco regularly meets with its open source community and publicly recognizes the top contributors with “Most Valuable Person (MVP)” status. To that end, 17 new MVPs were awarded in 2023 and 66 were renewed. 

During 2023, the number of Umbraco community events expanded to include new meetups in the U.S., India, Turkey, and Norway, in addition to the regular calendar of events in the UK and Denmark. In total, 1,750 members took part in 111 community events over the past year. 

A litmus test for CMS's growing interest was its annual Umbraco Codegarden business summit and developer conference in Odense, which attracted 1,700 attendees in person and online – a 17% increase from 2022’s attendance. 

Setting a higher bar for diversity and inclusion

One of the beautiful things about open source software is that anyone can use and contribute to it. In many ways, it is a great equalizer – enabling everyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, learning differences, or socio-economic status to bring their voice to a community of users. Open source also promotes inclusivity by empowering people who are under-represented in the IT industry.

Umbraco has been encouraging this diversity within its company and community by participating in a number of initiatives. This includes Umbraco’s Coding Class, which educates local schoolchildren and encourages the next generation of coders by providing opportunities to present their ideas and gain feedback. Up-and-coming developers are also being sponsored to attend its Codegarden event, and Umbraco is offering free training and certification to computer science students at universities in the U.S., U.K., Sweden, and Denmark.

From a social perspective, Umbraco is also hosting a series of Cloud Club meetups aimed at students and professionals to help deepen their understanding of IT. Umbraco is also sponsoring Hack Your Future, a not-for-profit organization that teaches refugees to code and make the leap into the tech world. 

On the employee side, Umbraco has been doubling down on diversity. Last year, the company welcomed 41 new staff members, including sixteen women. Its workforce now includes 27 nationalities – including a new team in Vietnam – with ages ranging from under 25 to over 60. It's worth noting that 22% of Umbraco’s C-suite are female. To help further address the IT industry’s gender gap, Umbraco has been running a female mentorship program at a local university. 

Why it matters

DEI positioning can often feel like marketing fluff. Without transparency and action, the commitment to doing good for people and planet can fall short – particularly if there are no clear goals or expectations. It's well and good to start a recycling program in your office, but most businesses can do more. 

And frankly, it's good business to do it. As more organizations specify ESG (Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance) and DEI requirements in their RFPs, companies with solid messaging and a clear track record of accomplishments will have an advantage in the minds of buyers. Think of it as brand building by bettering the world. 

Many people aren't aware of the significant impact the internet has on our environment. When you consider its parity with all global air traffic, it takes on an urgent and undeniable weight. It might sound dire, but the good news is that small changes in our habits can actually make a difference – if we take action. 

That's what Umbraco is doing, and not just for itself. By highlighting its efforts in an annual report, they are helping to set a standard for the CMS industry. As technologies that are contributing to the continued growth of the internet and its emissions, we have a responsibility to lead on this issue. And as an open source company, this further codifies Umbraco's commitment to be transparent about its efforts.

I must give credit where credit is due: most leading enterprise CMS and DXP companies are publicly promoting their ESG and DEI commitments. Acquia, for example, planted nearly 15,000 trees and removed 1,260 tonnes of carbon as part of their program. Optimizely offers pages and reports as well, although in a bit more matter-of-fact language. I researched quite a few, and was pleased to see that most brands are aspiring to do good on these initiatives.

What's refreshing about Umbraco's news is that it detailed real action, particularly around its hiring practices and social programs. By providing actual numbers and not just goals, it separated the substance from the marketing. But this has always been intrinsic to its DNA. As a CMS that fully embraces openness, it's not a stretch to imagine that empathy and compassion are core to its heart.

I mean, it has a headless solution called “Heartcore.” That might say everything you need to know about this company. 

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