PLEASE 2015 - 5th International Workshop on Product LinE Approaches in Software Engineering

Software drives most systems designed for addressing contemporary societal challenges. These systems are expected to be highly customizable and delivered in numerous variants. For example, consider families of implanted devices that are customized for the specific condition of each patient, intelligent buildings and resource control centers in smart cities that need customization for each municipal area, or driverless control functions customized for a range of car models. Such systems induce novel technical demands and emerging opportunities for the field of Software Engineering (SE) and, in particular, for the field of Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE).
The 5th edition of PLEASE is dedicated to exploring the interrelation between societal challenges and SPLE in more detail. We bring together researchers and practitioners with backgrounds in SPLE and relevant application domains. The main goal of the workshop is to foster multi-disciplinary interchange by identifying new opportunities for SPLE adoption and new challenges posed by the emerging societal trends.
To encourage discussion and collaboration between the participants, PLEASE uses a highly interactive format, including lightning talks and speed-dating sessions. We invite 4-page position papers that either illustrate SPLE-related challenges resulting from societal trends or propose solutions that apply SPLE practices to societal challenges.
As a result of the workshop, we expect to:
identify SPLE-related societal challenges;
discuss challenges that the SPLE community has started to address or has a clear vision for doing so;
expose participants to the benefits of the relevant SPLE techniques;
establish new collaborations between participants from different backgrounds;
elicit a long-term research agenda for identified un-solved problems, thus advancing the state of research and practice in the area.