ISSRE 2018

Message from General Chairs

We are pleased to have been given the honor and responsibility to chair the 29^th IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE).  Established in 1989, the Symposium has traveled the path from a small highly specialized gathering of statistical modeling enthusiasts who explored the applicability of hardware failure pattern analyses to software systems, to the major annual event in which academic and industry thought leaders and innovators exchange ideas that improve the confidence societies place in their inevitable reliance on software products.  In 1992, the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued the report entitled Computing the Future: A Broader Agenda for Computer Science and Engineering. In part influenced by the growing ISSRE community, this report identified reliability research challenges and placed them at the center of the national R&D agenda. This report represents a very interesting source of the computing history.  But we want to note that as many of the challenges the ’92 report mentioned remain only partially solved.  For example, race conditions remain a major challenge in the assurance of real time distributed systems.  Authentication and information trust problems have evolved but these challenges are bigger than ever. There are few other fields in which technologies have changed so rapidly and dramatically as in software engineering.  Through these changes, our research community not only remained highly relevant, but it also became more diverse and inclusive technically, intellectually and professionally.      

In front of you are the two volumes of ISSRE 2018 proceedings.  In addition to the academic research program that also includes practical experience reports and wild and provocative ideas (WAP) papers, the symposium is proud of its industry innovation track, doctoral symposium, fast abstract track, four independent full-day workshops, and six half-day tutorials.  ISSRE is one of the first, if not the first IEEE conference to have achieved complete parity between academic research and industry innovation tracks.  The tracks, both rigorously curated by respective program committees, now accept an equal number of papers.  The attendance is also becoming balanced, with nearly half of the attendees coming from industry labs.  This mix enables a free flow of ideas, opens the market for talent exchange, and benefits everyone in our technical community. 

Creating ISSRE symposium is a complex endeavor.  It would not have been possible without contributions of well over 200 members of our technical community: 10 members of the steering committee, 27 members of the organizing committee, 17 members of the program board, 61 member of the research-track program committee, 19 members of the industry innovation committee, nearly 80 members of workshop’ program committees, and many more reviewers whose number we have not been able to determine precisely.  We are indebted to their efforts, expertise and the unprecedented level of dedication that has become expected in our research community.   

Finally, we would like to welcome you to Memphis, TN.  This beautiful city of rich history has become a major IT industry hub.  We want to express gratitude to our host, FedEx Institute of Technology.  Conference attendees will be able to take a night tour of FedEx hub near Memphis International Airport, one of the most complex logistic endeavors in the world.  We also want to thank ISSRE industry sponsors: FedEx, Google, Nokia Bell Labs, as well as IEEE Computer Society and IEEE Reliability Society.  Finally, our employers, the University of Memphis and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, provide work environments supportive of professional service.  The two universities secured resources that made the organization of ISSRE 2018 possible. 

For any comments regarding this year’s ISSRE organization, or suggestions about the future, you are more than welcome to initiate a discussion at the symposium, or contact us afterwards.  I hope you will remember ISSRE 2018 as a wonderful professional and personal experience. It has certainly been so for us.

Bojan Cukic

Robin Poston