[TYPES/announce] CFP: Foundations of Interactive Computation

[FINCO 2007]

                         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 <dqg at cs.brown.edu> 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 <farhad at cwi.nl>
  Dina Goldin, Brown Univ., USA (chair) <dqg at cs.brown.edu>

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, Univ. of New South Wales, 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 Sussex, 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