Keynotes

Ian Sommerville, St Andrews University, Scotland

Picture of Ian Sommerville

Ian Sommerville is Professor of Computer Science at St Andrews University in Scotland. He has worked for many years with social scientists and was amongst the first computer scientists to explore how information from ethnographic studies of work could be used to inform system specification and design. This has led to his current research in the dependability of socio-technical systems where he is working on modelling responsibilities across organisations, organisational memory and coping with systems failure. Ian is the author of a widely used textbook on software engineering which was first published in 1982 and which is now in its 8th edition.
http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ifs/

Designing for Recovery: New challenges for large-scale complex IT systems

Abstract:

Since the 1980s, the object of design for dependability has been to avoid, detect or tolerate system faults so that these do not result in failures that are detectable outside the system. Whilst this is potentially achievable in medium size systems that are controlled by a single organisations, it is now practically impossible to achieve in large-scale systems of systems where different parts of the system are owned and controlled by different organisations. Therefore, we must accept the inevitability of failure and re-orient our system design strategies to recover from those failures at minimal cost and as quickly as possible.

This talk will discuss why such recovery strategies cannot be purely technical but must be socio-technical in nature and argue that design for recovery will require a better understanding of how people recover from failure and the information they need during that recovery process. I will argue that supporting recovery should be a fundamental design objective of systems and explore what this means for current approaches to large-scale systems design.

 

Alan Brown, (IBM Distinguished Engineer, IBM Rational software)

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Alan Brown is an IBM Distinguished Engineer at IBM Rational software. Alan is responsible for technical strategy for IBM Rational's Design and Construction products. In this capacity he defines strategy and consults with product teams on products aimed at improving software development efficiency through visual modeling, generating code from abstract models, and systematic reuse. This involves working with engineering teams on product architecture, product management groups on creating plans, and marketing and field teams on positioning IBM Rational's products and services. Alan's primary interests are in service-based design, component-based development, software engineering environments, and enterprise application development tools. He has published over 40 papers, edited three books and is the author of four books.
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/rational/bios/brown.html

Practical Approaches to Delivering Service-Oriented Solutions: The Role of Software Architects and Architecture in an SOA World

Abstract:

A key challenge in software engineering is the design and realization of complex software-intensive systems from assemblies of parts and pieces. Creating successful component-based software solutions depends on there being a close connection between the key business objectives, and the flexible IT technical services that enable this. Current software development patterns and practices have evolved to help create the flexible architectures required to achieve the goals of component-based approaches. With the increasing focus on Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), we must revisit some of the key architectural concerns for SOA, and enhance the methods, tools, and best practices at the heart of successful service-oriented solutions. The focus of this presentation will be on changing practices for component-based development with SOA, and methods for modeling of service-oriented solutions in support of a broader approach to the analysis, design, construction, and governance of such solutions.

 

Man-Sze Li, Co-Chair, Enterprise Interoperability Cluster of the European Commission DG Information & Media

Picture of Man-Sze Li

Man-Sze Li is Director of IC Focus Ltd, UK, an ICT research and consultancy company.
Previous positions include Chief Technical Officer of CommerceWorks, Managing Director eCommerce of Portfin Group, Senior Consultant of Level-7 and of Ovum, Assistant Director EDI Standards at the UK government agency SITPRO, and Group Head of CIT Research. In addition, she has been involved in the establishment of 9 Internet start-up companies and was the founding chair of several European standardisation groups in the application area. Her research interest focuses on Interoperability, Future Internet, Service Utility, and related business models and governance aspects. She is Co-Chair of the European Commission DG INFSO Enterprise Interoperability Cluster, and chief editors of the Enterprise Interoperability Research Roadmap (2006) and Value Proposition for Enterprise Interoperability (2008), both published by the European Commission following extensive stakeholder inputs and public consultations.
http://cordis.europa.eu/ist/ict-ent-net/ei.htm

Interoperability to drive Open Innovation of Enterprises

Abstract:

The online economy and society is anticipated to undergo another wave of transformation and growth over the next 15 years – triggered by more powerful key enabling technologies, and crystallised into new patterns and models of innovation. In particular, the Future Internet offers huge new industrial and service opportunities, but is an area where Europe has not yet reached a position commensurate with its technological potential. New community-based models, notably those associated with Web 2.0, have already created fundamental shifts across vast swathes of activities, from software development to content (co-)creation, from the way that teenagers socialise to new patterns of work of increasingly assertive and migrant works, to strategic re-orientation of leading companies as users and providers of ICT. A unifying theme for these seemingly disparate activities is a new wave of innovation processes fuelled by “wisdom of the crowd” and powered by a new generation of enabling technologies.

The European Commission considers Enterprise Interoperability as a key factor in enabling enterprises to harness the full potential of IT and related services. But the mechanisms for and even the nature of innovation are changing. In parallel, ICT is evolving from a facet of business operation and a collection of consumer gadgets to a critical infrastructure that underpins the economy and society. Accordingly, the strategic context of interoperability has changed also. Interoperability is no longer about basic interconnectivity at the level of technology, or even basic integration of application solutions from multiple sources. Instead, interoperability is about ICT infrastructural requirements on the one hand, and serving the needs arising from the changing nature of businesses and markets on the other. The former is linked to delivery of IT functions as services and interoperability as a utility-like capability; the latter is linked to a new perspective of Enterprise Systems in increasingly open but complex service paradigms, as well as network communications convergence and commoditisation.

Since 2004, the European Commission has brought the relevant research projects supported under the framework programme together into an Enterprise Interoperability Cluster. The Cluster not only reinforces collaboration and synergy between the projects, but has also become a European hub for stimulating and catalysing fresh ideas, concepts and solutions in the field. In January 2006, the Cluster was broadened into an activity of all interested stakeholders. Among its achievement is the Enterprise Interoperability Research Roadmap, published by the European Commission in July 2006 (http://cordis.europa.eu/ist/ict-ent-net/ei-roadmap_en.htm), currently being updated and will continue to evolve. Another achievement is the Informal Study Group (ISG) Report on Value Proposition for Enterprise Interoperability, the first version of which was released by the Commission in September 2007 (final version: January 2008, http://cordis.europa.eu/ist/ict-ent-net/isg.htm). Both documents are major references for interoperability research in Europe and beyond. The Roadmap directly contributed to the preparation of Objective ICT-2007-1.3 “ICT in support of networked enterprises” of the European Commission’s FP7 ICT Work Programme of 2007-2008. The ISG Report is expected to contribute towards the preparation of the forthcoming FP7 Work Programme of 2009-2010. Both the Roadmap and the ISG Report are collective endeavours of the Enterprise Interoperability community, and a commitment of the stakeholders to the long-term research in the field.

This presentation will discuss interoperability and, specifically, Enterprise Interoperability from a broad European perspective. It will summarise the achievements of the Enterprise Interoperability Cluster to date, and its plans for the future. It will introduce the research direction of the new FP7 projects that belong to the Cluster. In addition, the presentation will outline the R&D paths that the Commission wish to explore in the field of Enterprise Interoperability for the next FP7 ICT Work Programme 2009-2010. The presentation will conclude with critical issues pertaining to advancing interoperability for enterprises in a period of profound market and structural change, unleashed by new ideas and processes of innovation, and in anticipation of Future Internet enterprise systems, services and communication networks.