ISSE 2011 - ISSE 2011 International Symposium on Information System and Software Engineering

The relationships between information systems and software engineering are, implicitly or explicitly, well known. The better differentiated are these two fields, the more explicit are the relationships between them and the more probable are the synergies that might be generated in the theoretical, conceptual, methodological, managerial, and technological dimensions.

Software Engineering designs, implements, and deploys software for 1) information systems and 2) for data processing in hard technologies (physical control processes, electronic data processing, etc). On the other hand, Information systems (which could be purely human or hybrid) or informing processes are used 1) in Software Engineering (requirements engineering, project management, Joint Application Development, etc., and 2) for supporting human thinking, decision, and action. Software Engineering requires always (implicitly or explicitly) the support of information systems or informing processes to provide requirements, mini-specifications, available data, business procedures, rules, and objectives, etc.

When software is used in the context of, or developed for, information systems then feedback loops and synergies generation between these two kinds of activities and methodologies are potentiated. Feedback loops might be negative and co-regulative and/or positive and co-amplifying. A similar reasoning could be done with regards to the maintenance of information and software systems. Consequently, cybernetic loops (negative and positive feedback) could support co-evolutionary processes between both kinds of systems and activities along the entire lifecycles the two of them. The respective theoretical, conceptual, and methodological perspectives of both fields could also co-evolve synergistically if adequate feedback loops relate both kind of thinking and acting.

Accordingly, the purpose of ISSE 2011 Organizing Committee is to bring together both kinds of researchers, academics and professionals 1) to share their knowledge and experience in their respective fields and 2) to have the opportunity of interacting with colleagues for the interdisciplinary communication required for the generation of cybernetic loops that could support and/or accelerate co-evolutionary processes in theoretical, conceptual, and/or methodological thinking and acting in both fields.

ISSE 2011 Organizing Committee members think that the fields of Software Engineering and Information Systems provide as fertile grounds for inter-disciplinary communication among academics and professional in the domains Computing Engineering, Informing Science/Engineering, and Soft Systems Engineering; which is “based on symbiotic coexistence of human, machines and environment.” (Joongsun Yoon, 2004, “Robotics projects based on soft engineering,”, IECON 2004. 30th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2-6 Nov. 2004, pp. 3160 ? 3165, Vol. 3).

Murray Gell-Mann, who received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1969, affirms that:

“Unfortunately, in a great many places in our society, including academia and most bureaucracies, prestige accrues principally to those who study carefully some aspect of a problem, while discussion of the big picture is relegated to cocktail parties. It is of crucial importance that we learn to supplement those specialized studies with what I call a crude look at the whole…it is vitally important that we supplement our specialized studies with serious attempts to take a crude look at the whole. (“The Simple and The complex” in David S. Alberts and Thomas J. Czerwinski (Eds.): Complexity, Global Politics, and National Security, National Defense University, Washington, D.C., 1997, pp. 2-12. Accessed on December 13th, 2010 at www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Complexity_Global.pdf)

ISSE 2011 Organizing Committee is hoping to provide a forum in which a step can be made in supplementing specialized studies (in software engineering and in specific areas of Information Systems) “with serious attempts to take a crude look at the whole” by means of potential interdisciplinary communication in a multi-disciplinary forum.

Consequently, submissions and contributions to ISSE 2011 can be made in the context of 1) specific specialized disciplinary areas, 2) multi-disciplinary projects and methodologies, 3) inter-disciplinary thinking and acting, and 4) crude looks at the whole that includes Software Engineering, Information Systems, Soft-Systems Engineering, and Informing Science/Engineering.

Organizational, Reviewing, and Selection of Best Papers Policies

Technical Keynote Speakers

Technical keynote speakers will be selected from early submissions because this selection requires an additional evaluation according to the quality of the paper, assessed by its reviewers, the authors' CV and the paper's topic.

Reviewing Process

All Submitted papers/abstracts will go through three reviewing processes: (1) double-blind (at least three reviewers), (2) non-blind, and (3) participative peer reviews. These three kinds of review will support the selection process of those papers/abstracts that will be accepted for their presentation at the conference, as well as those to be selected for their publication in JSCI Journal. Details regarding this subject can be found at www.iiis2011.org/isse/MMRPfMDC.asp

Details regarding the Acceptance Policy can be found at http://www.iiis2011.org/isse/AcceptancePolicy.asp

Authors of accepted papers who registered in the conference can have access to the evaluations and possible feedback provided by the reviewers who recommended the acceptance of their papers/abstracts, so they can accordingly improve the final version of their papers. Non-registered authors will not have access to the reviews of their respective submissions.

Virtual Participation

Submissions for Face-to-Face or for Virtual Participation are the two of them accepted. Both kinds of submissions will have the same reviewing process and the accepted papers will be included in the same proceedings.
Pre-Conference and Post-conference Virtual sessions (via electronic forums) will be held for each session included in the conference program, so that sessions papers can be read before the conference, and authors presenting at the same session can interact during one week before and after the conference. Authors can also participate in peer-to-peer reviewing in virtual sessions.

Invited Sessions Organizers

Registration fees of an effective invited session organizers will be waived according to the policy described in the web page (click on 'Invited Session', then on 'Benefits for the Organizers of Invited Sessions'), where you can get information about the ten benefits for an invited session organizer. To propose the organization of an Invited Session, please visit the conference web site, or directly to http://www.iiis2011.org/isse/Organizer.asp

Best Papers

Authors of the best 10%-20% of the papers presented at the conference (included those virtually presented) will be invited to adapt their papers for their publication in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics.

One best paper of each session included in the program will be selected by the respective session’s co-chairs after consulting with the session’s audience. Invited Sessions organizers will select the best paper of the session they organized. If there is a tie in a given session, the paper that will be selected as the best session’s paper will be the one which have had the highest quantitative evaluations average according to its double-blind and non-blind reviews.
http://www.iiis2011.org/iceme
The selection process of the best 10%-20% to be also published in the Journal, will be based on the sessions’ best papers and the quantitative evaluation average made by its anonymous and non-anonymous reviewers.