SAC-SE-06 : Sound Solutions for the 21st Century

Track #35 - Software Engineering - to : ACM SAC 2006

21st Annual Symposium on Applied Computing

Dijon (France) : 23-27 April 2006

1. Background

For 21 years the annual ACM SAC Symposium on Applied Computing has presented the most recent developments in applied computing. The quality of the underlying Software Engineering methods is crucial for the success of nearly all recent developments in other related fields. For this reason, Software Engineering will be an integrated part of the ACM-SAC 2006 symposium again. The Software Engineering Track aims at providing researchers and practitioners with an embedded forum to present and discuss their ideas about and experiences of improving SE processes, models, reliability, verification methods and CASE tools, as well as new SE development concepts and fundamental paradigms. At the occasion of the 21st SAC Symposium we want to focus on special problems often observed at the beginning of our 21st Century: How can the "classical" discipline of Software Engineering contribute to Computer System Safety and Security in the context of Web-based and Distributed Applications? We're expecting a variety of answers to this question, but preferably any of these answers should come with a strong emphasis on methodologically sound solutions, possibly through application of Formal Methods. Previous editions of the Software Engineering Track at ACM-SAC have been regarded as successful - revised post proceedings of our Track have been published in journals - and the progress shall be continued in future.

2. Topics

The nature and practice of Software Engineering has undergone considerable changes during the past few years: The classical Waterfall Paradigm of software development gets more and more attacked by the Agile Methods paradigm in the context of Xtreme Programming. New SE paradigms have been developed for Agent- and Component based systems, and Aspect Oriented development will possibly overtake the classical Object Orientated development as the leading industrial software practice in near future. In a somewhat contrary movement, the application of Formal Methods became a widely acknowledged and accepted "ingredient" to the qualitative improvement of software development within the framework of the classical Waterfall Paradigm, and we are also observing the emergence of Xtreme Modelling through combining Formal Methods with the development principles of Xtreme Programming. Yet we have the feeling that the notorious Software Crisis is still far away from being solved as the hardware structures, onto which the software is about to be installed, are evolving increasingly faster in the context of the internet and ubiquitous computing. Especially System Safety and Security are causing much concern in these days: How can these topics be addressed in the "language" and under the perspective of Software Engineering? For this reason we are seeking Original Work and Significant Industrial Experience Reports especially (but not exclusively) on the following topics:

3. Call for Papers

Unpublished Original Papers and/or significant Experience Reports from Academia and/or Industry, with a strong emphasis on sound solutions and/or Formal Methods (see Section 5), are sought in the above indicated areas of Software Engineering. Submitted papers should not be longer than about 4000 words. Papers should be submitted as PDF or PostScript Files via eCMS. (In case you experience technical problems with the eCMS system please contact the eCMS administrator Jeff Allen.) For a double-blind review process (see Section 4) of the draft papers, authors' names and affiliation should appear on a separate front-sheet, not in the body of their submitted draft. For Dates and Deadlines see Section 9.

4. Terms and Conditions of Review and Publication

Each submitted paper will be carefully reviewed in a double-blind process according to the ACM-SAC Regulations by at least three independent reviewers. Paper selection will be based solely on the usual criteria of scientific quality, and not on any kind of personal discrimination. Upon acceptance of their paper, prospective authors must provide a revised, camera-ready version of their paper which takes into account the comments made by the anonymous reviewers, and which strictly obeys the type setting and layout regulations of the ACM-SAC proceedings scheme. Papers that do not conform to these layout rules cannot be accepted. For a paper to be printed in the Conference Proceedings it is, moreover, mandatory that at least one author of that paper is registered for conference attendance. According to our experience from previous years, the Acceptance Rate is about 1/3 (one out of three).

5. Endorsements

SAC-SE-06 is part of an official ACM event and is, moreover, officially endorsed by the EASST (European Association for Software Science and Technology) as well as FME (Formal Methods Europe). Both EASST and FME have Official Representatives from their Boards in the SAC-SE-06 Programme Committee (see Section 7).

   

6. Committment to All Regions of the World

SAC-SE-06 is fully committed to a One World Policy which strongly encourages paper sumbissions from all regions of the world, including the developing countries. To implement this policy in practice, SAC-SE-06 has appointed several dedicated Regional Ambassadors (see Section 7) who shall encourage communication between SAC-SE-06 and prospective paper authors, especially from the developing regions of the world.

7. Track Chairs, Regional Ambassadors and Official Representatives

8. Scientific Programme Commitee

9. Important Dates and Deadlines