Responsible DevOps for Cyber-Physical Systems

Catia Trubiani, Aldeida Aleti, Birthe Böhm, Zhehua Zhou, Lei Ma

Abstract: Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are integral to critical domains such as healthcare, autonomous transportation, and industrial automation, seamlessly bridging the physical and digital worlds. As these systems grow in complexity and impact, there is an urgent need to adopt responsible development and operational practices. This chapter introduces the concept of Responsible DevOps, a framework that extends traditional DevOps methodologies by embedding ethical, social, and sustainability considerations into the lifecycle management of CPS. Unlike conventional DevOps, which primarily focuses on speed, efficiency, and automation, Responsible DevOps emphasizes human-centric values and systemic accountability across all stages of development and deployment. The chapter explores six key dimensions essential for Responsible DevOps in CPS: human interaction, sustainability, bias, fairness, privacy, and explainability. To support practitioners and researchers, the chapter also proposes practical mitigation strategies and guiding practices for each dimension. These include design-time and run-time techniques, organizational policies, and tool-supported interventions that foster more ethical, inclusive, and robust CPS development. By embedding responsibility as a first-class concern in DevOps processes, this framework paves the way for the development of CPS that not only perform reliably but also align with broader societal values and expectations.

External IDs:doi:10.1007/978-981-95-1786-2_7