IEEE Software Special Issue on the Future of Software Engineering

Final submissions due: 1 June 2015
Publication date: Jan./Feb. 2016

In the ’50s and ’60s our exuberance toward technology was at an all-time high: the future was exciting, and there was no end to the miracles that could be achieved by science, technology, computers, and the like. In short, we were all ready to be the Jetsons and confident we weren’t that far from making it happen. This year, as the Basic programming language hits the 50-year mark, we find our innocent enthusiasm has been replaced with considerably more reservation. Now we’re more likely to be quite worried about all the software that would run Rosie the robot and those flying cars.
As our dependence on software has increased, discussion in our community has increasingly revolved around immediate and concrete concerns, such as affordability, dependability, privacy, and security—and rightly so. But there’s not only excitement but also value in looking ahead. Software engineering is a relatively young discipline, and it’s time to look at where we are now and then allow ourselves to envision the future we can create. Based on where we are today, where will innovation take us in the next 5, 10, or 20 years?

To address these questions, IEEE Software seeks submissions for a special issue on the Future of Software Engineering. Authors should look ahead, but submissions should also be grounded and defensible. Submissions should focus on the most innovative software practices and tools in use right now, and how they’ll evolve to contribute to a brighter future. We welcome interdisciplinary papers that explore the interplay between software engineering and other areas that have potential to advance our field.

Possible topics include
• the Next Big Thing from the perspective of visionaries in industry, government, and academia;
• software development for massive systems;
• tools and technologies that will drive future innovation;
• current research with wide-ranging potential for overcoming today’s key software challenges—for example, developments in self-healing software, model-driven development, and analytics for development;
• crowdsourcing of software development—and software studies;
• software engineering education, with respect to incorporating important innovations; and
• other cutting-edge topics that today’s software practitioners should be cognizant of, to stay up to date in their field in the coming years.

Questions?
For more information about the focus, contact the guest editors:
• Anita Carleton (adc@sei.cmu.edu)
• Jeromy Carriere (jcarriere@google.com)
• Rafael Prikladnicki (rafael.prikladnicki@pucrs.br)
• Forrest Shull (fjshull@sei.cmu.edu)
• Dongmei Zhang (dongmeiz@microsoft.com)

Submission Guidelines
Manuscripts must not exceed 4,700 words including figures and tables, which count for 200 words each. Submissions in excess of these limits may be rejected without refereeing. The articles we deem within the theme and scope will be peer-reviewed and are subject to editing for magazine style, clarity, organization, and space. We reserve the right to edit the title of all submissions. Be sure to include the name of the theme or special issue for which you are submitting.
Articles should have a practical orientation and be written in a style accessible to practitioners. Overly complex, purely research-oriented, or theoretical treatments are not appropriate. Articles should be novel. IEEE Software does not republish material published previously in other venues, including other periodicals and formal conference or workshop proceedings, whether previous publication was in print or in electronic form.

Full author guidelines: www.computer.org/software/author.htm
Submission details: software@computer.org
Submit an article: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/sw-cs