call for papers FInCo 2007: FOUNDATIONS OF INTERACTIVE COMPUTATION satellite workshop of ETAPS 2007 Saturday 31 March 2007, Braga, Portugal http://www.cs.brown.edu/sites/finco07 ======================================================================= The interaction paradigm provides a new conceptualization of compu- tational phenomena, placing the emphasis on interaction rather than on algorithms; concurrent, distributed, reactive, embedded, component- oriented, agent-oriented and service-oriented systems all exploit interaction as a fundamental paradigm. Contemporary approaches to Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Programming Languages, and Networking are all part of this paradigm change. However, a satis- factory unified foundational framework for interactive computation is still lacking, analogous to the one that Turing Machines and lambda- calculus provide for algorithms. Following the success of FInCo 2005, this workshop provides an opportunity for researchers to meet and ex- change ideas, with the ultimate goal of providing a unified conceptual and formal framework for interactive computation. The following characteristics distinguish this new, interactive notion of computation: Computational Problem: The notion of a computational problem includes performing a task or providing a service, rather than being rest- ricted to algorithmically producing an answer to a question. Observable Behavior: A computing component is modeled in terms of its observable behavior, where later input values may depend on earlier output values and vice versa. Environments: The world, or environment of the computation is part of the model, dynamically supplying the computational system with the inputs, and consuming the output values from the system. Concurrency: Computation may be concurrent, where the computing agent computes in parallel with its environment, and with other agents in it. The claim that “interaction is more powerful than algorithms” is an open invitation to researchers to develop the tools and methods that can lend credence to this claim. Many models capturing different aspects of interaction have been introduced, including interaction automata and process algebras. It is now time for researchers involved in interactive systems to join their efforts and collaborate to develop a common frame- work that focuses on constructive models of computation that exploit interaction as a first-class concept. Accordingly, FInCo 2007 has the following goals: * Understand the fundamental issues underlying the interaction paradigm; * Establish a common language- and domain-independent framework for a theory of interactive computation; * Identify the interactive principles of effective and reliable engi- neering of software systems; * Map out the design space of models of interaction, towards accompli- shing above goals. WORKSHOP PANEL Title: Interactive Models for Software Engineering Moderator: Peter Wegner, Brown University, USA Description: Software & systems engineering of today is being affected by the growing importance of interaction. This panel considers the role of interaction in the theory and practice of computing, with a special focus on system design and development. PAPERS We solicit papers addressing one or more of the above goals. Submit papers by email to by Jan. 31, 2007, with a 12- page limit. Workshop proceedings will be published by ENTCS. Selected papers will be invited for journal publication. For a PDF copy of this announcement, and for further information, see our web site at http://www.cs.brown.edu/sites/finco07 IMPORTANT DATES Submission: Jan. 31, 2007 Notification: Feb. 28, 2007 Workshop: Mar. 31, 2007 ORGANIZERS Farhad Arbab, CWI and Leiden Univ., The Netherlands Dina Goldin, Brown Univ., USA (chair) PROGRAM COMMITTEE Gul Agha, UIUC, USA Luca de Alfaro, UC Santa Cruz, USA Luis Barbosa, Univ. do Minho, Portugal Antonio Brogi, Univ. di Pisa, Italy Jon Doyle, North Carolina State U., USA Giorgio Delzanno, Univ. di Genova, Italy José Luiz Fiadeiro, Univ. of Leicester, UK Rob van Glabbeek, National ICT, Australia Kees van Hee, Technische Univ. Eindhoven, The Netherlands Orna Kupferman, Hebrew Univ., Israel R. Prescott Loui, Washington Univ. in St. Louis, USA Peter McBurney, Univ. of Liverpool, UK John-Jules Meyer, Utrecht Univ., the Netherlands Ugo Montanari, Univ. di Pisa, Italy Rocco De Nicola, Univ. degli Studi di Firenze, Italy Andrea Omicini, Univ. di Bologna - Cesena, Italy Catuscia Palamidessi, INRIA and LIX École Polytechnique, France Jean-Eric Pin, Univ. Paris Denis Diderot and CNRS, France Vladimiro Sassone, Univ. of Southampton, UK Douglas C. Schmidt, Vanderbilt Univ., USA Carolyn Talcott, SRI Int’l, USA Bernhard Thalheim, Kiel Univ., Germany STEERING COMMITTEE Manfred Broy, TU München, Germany Dina Goldin, Brown Univ., USA Mirko Viroli, Univ. Bologna/Cesena, Italy Peter Wegner, Brown Univ., USA WEB SITE http://www.cs.brown.edu/sites/finco07