Call for Papers: Automated Software Engineering for Systems-of-Systems and Software Ecosystems

This Special Issue of the Automated Software Engineering journal aims to address the use of automated software engineering methods, practices, and tools in developing complex software-intensive systems, such as systems-of-systems (SoS) and software ecosystems (SECO). SoS refer to evolving software systems in which constituent systems work cooperatively to fulfill specific, complex missions that are beyond their individual scope and purposes. Along a parallel track, SECO consist of an ensemble of software solutions that function as a unit and often share a common platform or market, thereby connecting a community of users to a community of solution providers.

This special issue invites extended versions of outstanding papers presented at the 15th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Software Engineering for Systems-of-Systems and Software Ecosystems (SESoS 2027) and solicits novel, high-quality submissions related to the theme. Held annually since 2013, the SESoS workshop emerged to fill a gap in scientific forums addressing SoS and SECOs from a Software Engineering perspective, thereby establishing itself as the first specialized venue for this purpose. SESoS also aims to provide a forum for Software Engineering researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas and experiences, analyze research and development challenges, discuss promising solutions, and propose inspiring visions for the future of SoS and SECO. The special issue is also open to receive submissions from the scientific community.

Topics of interest for this special issue include, but are not limited to:

Automated support for the development process of SoS and SECO
Complexity and systems thinking applied to system management and engineering of SoS and SECO
SoS and SECO modeling and analysis
SoS and SECO stakeholder communication and coordination
Human and technical trust (in particular, building trust in SECO and its components)
Security and privacy issues in SoS and SECO
Simulation and model-based engineering in SoS and SECO
Decision-making processes and tools for SoS and SECO
Techniques and tools for automated verification/validation/testing in SoS and SECO
Empirical Software Engineering for SoS and SECO
Systematic literature reviews and mapping studies
Experience from industrial perspectives and case studies
Studies on specific application domains and areas (open source, mobile, embedded, autonomous systems, AI, IoT technologies, etc.)

Deadlines

Opening date for submissions: July 26, 2027 Manuscript submission due: October 11, 2027 First review decision: January 11, 2028 Revised manuscript submission due: March 29, 2028 Final decision notification: May 10, 2028

How to Submit

Submission link TBA.

Guest editors

Everton Cavalcante, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil everton.cavalcante@ufrn.br
Pablo Oliveira Antonino, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany pablo.antonino@iese.fraunhofer.de
Jason Jaskolka, Carleton University, Canada jason.jaskolka@carleton.ca
Helena Holmström Olsson, Malmö University, Sweden helena.holmstrom.olsson@mau.se