[AISWorld] FW: SEMAT Workshop on General Theory of Software Engineering, Nov 8-9, 2012 Stockholm

Mon Sep 24 18:16:25 EDT 2012

FYI

Best wishes,
Leon Kappelman

"It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffett

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Leon A. Kappelman, Ph.D. 
  Professor of Information Systems 
  Director Emeritus, Information Systems Research Center
  Fellow, Texas Center for Digital Knowledge
    College of Business, University of North Texas
    Voice: 940-565-4698   Email: kapp at unt.edu
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-----Original Message-----
From: Shihong Huang [mailto:shihong at fau.edu] 
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2012 4:55 PM
To: all-supporters at semat.org
Cc: Michael Goedicke; Pontus Johnson
Subject: SEMAT Workshop on General Theory of Software Engineering, Nov 8-9, 2012 Stockholm 

September 24, 2012 

Dear Semat Supporter, 

In the frame of the Semat Initiative, we are planning a two-day discussion-oriented workshop in Stockholm, Sweden, on the topic of a general theory of software engineering. This is the first workshop on the theme. Therefore, we aim to start from the beginning. We expect to have lively discussions on topics such as . What are the objectives of a theory of software engineering? 
. How can a theory be of use in practice? 
. What is a useful definition of theory? 
. What questions should a theory of software engineering address? 
. How foundational/universal should it be? 
. What should the main concepts of the theory be? 
. Should a theory of software engineering be expressed formally? 
. If formalized, what is a suitable language for a theory of software engineering?  

We think that you could have relevant input to this discussion and therefore invite you to submit a two-page position paper according to the below.  

In addition to your participation, we would much appreciate if you could forward the below call for participation to your network. 

Best regards, 

  Ivar Jacobson
  Michael Goedicke
  Pontus Johnson 

                        CALL FOR PARTICIPATION 
========================================================================= 

       SEMAT WORKSHOP ON A GENERAL THEORY OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING 

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, November 8-9, 2012. 

========================================================================= 

Most academic disciplines are concerned with their general theories. Standard textbooks in subjects ranging from optics to circuit theory to psychology to organizational theory to international relations either present one single theory as the subject's core or discuss a limited set of alternative theories to explain the discipline's essence to its students. A prime example is the central role of Maxwell's equations in the subject of electrical engineering. It's difficult to fathom what electrical engineering would be today without those four concise equations. A quite different example is the contested Domino theory, which heavily influenced American foreign policy in the 1950s to 1980s by speculating that one nation's embrace of communism would entail the conversion of surrounding countries in a domino effect. Even though electrical engineering and political science are different in almost all respects, they're both highly interested and invested in their theories. Softwar!
 e engineering, however, isn't overly concerned with its core theory. If asked, the community surely couldn't give a coherent answer about which is the most important one.  

The Semat Initiative was launched as "a process to re-found software engineering based on a solid theory, proven principles, and best practices." The call for action noted a current "lack of a sound, widely accepted theoretical basis" of software engineering. But why should software engineering bother with theory? The most important thing that theory does, and which is of significant benefit, is to lift us out of the costly practice of trial and error. Instead of discovering the wrong path by experience, we can do so by simulating the effects of our choices, either with the help of a computer or simply in our minds. Such simulation is thus the basis of efficient design. And such simulation is based theory, which can be viewed as a system of rules that mimics the real world, but at virtually zero cost. 

This workshop, organized by the Semat initiative, aims to provide a forum for discussing the concept of a general theory in software engineering. What is a general software engineering theory? Can there be such a theory? What are the benefits of a general theory? What should it consist of? What should its form be? The workshop aims for an explorative discussion on questions such as these. 

TOPICS 

The aim of the workshop is discussion rather than presentation. Therefore, the number of participants will be limited and presentations will be brief. The envisioned topics are the following. 

. What are the objectives of a theory of software engineering? 
. How can a theory be of use in practice? 
. What is a useful definition of theory? 
. What questions should a theory of software engineering address? 
. How foundational/universal should it be? 
. What should the main concepts of the theory be? 
. Should a theory of software engineering be expressed formally? 
. If formalized, what is a suitable language for a theory of software engineering?  

SUBMISSION 

We invite prospective participants to submit position papers for any of the topics above. All papers should be submitted through the Web-based submission system (https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=gtse2012), and using PDF format only. Papers are limited to 2 pages and should be formatted according to the IEEE authoring guidelines (http://www.computer.org/portal/web/cscps/formatting, look for Templates). In order to further discussion, the number of participants is limited. Invitations are based on submissions. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

Paper submission     October 8, 2012 
Author notification  October 12, 2012 
Workshop             November 8-9, 2012 

ORGANIZERS 

Ivar Jacobson, Ivar Jacobson International, Switzerland 
Michael Goedicke, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany 
Pontus Johnson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden 