About the Symposium

The role of software is expanding rapidly in many aspects of modern life, ranging from critical infrastructures, such as transportation, defense, and telecommunication systems, to work-place automation, productivity enhancement, education, health-care, publishing, on-line services, entertainment, etc. Given the potentially costly impact of software failures for many of these applications, it is important to have sound methods of engineering reliable software as well as accurate methods of quantitatively certifying software reliability.

ISSRE99 seeks to bring together practitioners and researchers from around the world to share the latest information and know-how related to all areas of software reliability engineering for a broad range of applications. The theme of the 1999 symposium will be "Reliability in the 21st Century".

Because the world of information technology has changed at a staggering rate (e.g., 3 Internet years equal one calendar year), it is not prudent to automatically assume that all of software reliability's current wisdom will be applicable to the futuristic world of component-based software engineering and mobile code. In the next century, systems will be compositions of systems and code will move from host to host. Reuse and acquired, third-party software will be the main ways by which software developers work, and the Web will be the marketplace where software components are displayed and licensed. Reliability, safety, dependability, security, and privacy will be paramount issues, and the Web will enable a new global economy. ISSRE99 is poised to identify those technologies that need be taken into the 21st century to ensure reliable, safe, dependable, and secure information systems.

Like previous symposia, ISSRE99 seeks new results concerning today's software reliability problems. But ISSRE99 will give preference to papers that push the envelope by discussing promising new solutions that will scale to the next century's software problems. ISSRE99 has adopted a visionary theme so that: (1) researchers can better hone their efforts toward the real problems expected in the next century, and (2) industry practitioners can describe real-world problems and the needed reliability technologies.

Related Conferences
METRICS'99: Many new approaches to software development have become commercially important in the past few years. Existing measurement concepts and techniques must be updated to address these technologies. The theme of the conference will focus on the application of measurement (through empirical studies) to understanding and managing new software technologies (including their related tools and processes), such as COTS-Based Development, Software Architectures, Object-Oriented Development, and Web-based Applications. METRICS'99 will take place following ISSRE99 from November 4-6, 1999 in Boca Raton.