Call for Paper Conference

in Conjunction with

The Twenty-Second International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (SEKE 2010)Hotel Sofitel. San Francisco Bay, USA , July 1– July 3, 2010
(URL: http://www.ksi.edu/seke/seke10.html)

Organized by Knowledge Systems Institute, U.S.A.

THEME

For decades software systems suffer from poor reliability. Billions of dollars and even lives are lost annually due to software errors. According to the report by NIST in 2002, poor software quality costs 60 billion dollars yearly to US economy, and 22 billion dollars can be regained by improving infrastructure for detecting errors using testing closer to the development phase. With the quick increase of software complexity and scale, test automation is becoming an emerging and effective solution in software quality assurance to meet tight project schedules with quality.

Today, there are many published research papers addressing software test automation issues and solutions, numerous test automation tools are available for quality assurance engineer. However, there are many open issues, obstacles, and challenges in software test automation, practice, and standardization. Moreover, there is an emerging need in software test automation standardization to reduce test automation efforts by increasing standardization of test process, test design, and test tools. This workshop is set up to meet these emerging needs.

GOALS

This international workshop on software test automation, practice, and automation brings together software test automation researchers and industry practitioners to exchange innovative ideas, practical solutions, and test automation tools to cope with practical issues and challenges in the real world. Moreover, this workshop is set-up to provide an effective forum for researchers and industry practitioners to discuss the diversity of test automation standards in software projects, test automation standardization needs, challenges, and importance. Furthermore, this workshop provides a great platform for engineers and researchers to report innovative software test automation solutions, and tools, and share practical project experience and lessons, as well as, exchange well-defined test automation standards.

TOPIC OF INTEREST

This international workshop seeks original papers, which propose new test automation ideas, solutions and tools, report practical experience in test automation projects, discuss new test automation processes, standards, models, and test criteria. The typical scope includes different perspectives in test automation, including auto-test infrastructure, standards, models, test generation, test execution, test management, and test coverage analysis and measurement. In addition, it also seeks practice reports that present the current issues, challenges, experience and lessons on software test automation projects.

The topics for submissions include but are not limited to the followings:

1. Auto-test solutions and tools:
* Software test automation tools and solutions for unit testing (black-box/white-box)
* Automatic techniques and tools for testing software production lines, such as installation testing, and configuration testing
* Automatic software regression test techniques and tools
* System load testing tools and performance evaluation tools for non-functional requirements and features
* Software simulation and tools for software auto-testing
* Software security testing techniques and tools
* User-oriented and requirements-based test automation approaches and tools
* Program-based software test automation methods, tools, and experience
* Language-based software test automation techniques and tools
* Software test automation cost analysis and complex evaluation tools
* Innovative software test languages, scripting techniques, and tools
* Automatic software test coverage analysis and monitoring tools

2. Test automation standardization:
* Test automation standardization issues, challenges, motivations, and needs
* Test automation standards in test processes, test models, test languages, coverage criteria, and documentation
* Test automation standards for test planning, design & analysis, test generation and scripting, test complexity and cost evaluation, and tools
* Test automation techniques, experience, lessons and case studies
* General and domain-specific standardization for test automation and tools

3. Emerging test automation methods and tools:
* Automatic validation techniques and technology for emerging software technologies
* SOA-based software test automation methods, techniques, and tools
* Model-based software test automation methods, techniques, and tools
* Component-based software test automation methods and tools
* Web-based and agent-based software test automation methods and tools
* Wireless-based software test automation approaches and tools

4. Test automation management and practice:
* Issues, challenges, and needs in software test automation and practice
* Test-driven-development techniques and project experience
* Software test automation case studies and empirical studies
* Software test automation project issues, experience and lessons learned

IMPORTANT DATES
* Paper submission due: March 2, 2010
* Notification of acceptance: April, 15, 2010
* Camera-ready copy: May 10, 2010
* Workshop and conference date: July 1-3, 2010

SUBMISSION OF PAPERS:

Papers must be written in English. An electronic version (Postscript, PDF, or MS Word format) of the full paper should be submitted using the following URL: http://conf.ksi.edu/seke2010/submit/SubmitPaper.php. Please use Internet Explorer as the browser, and select the paper type "Workshop: Software Test Automation, Practice, and Standardization - Gao, Muccini and Bai". Manuscript must include a 200-word abstract and no more than 6 pages of IEEE double column text (include figures and references). In the final version, you have option to buy extra pages (up to 2 pages).

PAPER REVIEW, WORKSHOP PROGRAM, AND PUBLICATION

All submitted papers will be reviewed by the workshop PC committee and SEKE2010 program committee. The accepted papers will be published in the SEKE2010 conference proceedings. The workshop program will be set up as a part of SEKE 2010 Conference Program.

The best papers and their extended versions will be recommended for the publication on a special issue on Software Test Automation, Practice, and Standardization in International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering in 2010.

Co-located with SBMF/SBLP 2009 (www.sbmf2009.inf.ufrgs.br)

Gramado, RS, Brazil
August 19th, 2009


Software testing is a central activity in the validation and verification
process of software systems. It has been largely applied in industry with
the purpose of detecting defects and also composing the systems
certification. Research in this area has steadily increased in the last
years. Notable academic progress has already been achieved in the area.
Also, industry has continuously improved test processes. Systematic
approaches have proven to be more effective than ad-hoc testing as well as
automation of strenuous and repetitive activities. Moreover, successful
cases have been reported.

The main goal of SAST is to be a forum that brings together the research
community and industry.The proposal of this third SAST edition, now in
conjunction with SMBF, was built on two main factors. The first one is
the success of the previous editions, which demonstrates the growth of
the field. The second one is the common interests shared by the testing
and formal method communities. This interest tends to be even greater
in the future.
The event can clearly promote advances in the research and practice in the
software testing area by aiding the establishment of collaborations
and joint projects.

TOPICS OF INTEREST
The topics covered by the workshop include, but are not limited to, the
following:

. Test-driven development;
. Testing integrated with development activities;
. Program-based testing;
. Specification-based testing;
. Model-based testing;
. Model-driven testing;
. Risk-based testing;
. Error-based and fault-based testing;
. Performance, load and stress testing;
. Combinatorial testing and random testing;
. Test case selection techniques;
. Test case generation techniques;
. Test oracle and test result checking techniques;
. Test driver, stubs, harness and test script generation;
. Test adequacy and coverage measurement;
. Test effective analysis and test report generation;
. Test related software artifact generation;
. Management of testing activities and resources;
. Maintenance and reuse of test artifacts;
. Requirements and Tests;
. Test artifacts traceability;
. Formal Approaches to Testing.


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Two types of submissions are expected:
i) Technical papers; and
ii) Experience Report.

Papers submitted to the workshop must be unpublished original work. The
papers can be written either in Portuguese or in English and will be judged
according to their adequacy to workshop scope, relevance, technical
soundness and originality. Papers should state clearly their relation to
previous work, mainly to previous published work of the own authors.

Theoretical papers should emphasize the contribution to the practice. Papers
on empirical experiments should describe the used methods and interpret
qualitatively and quantitatively their results.
Accepted submissions of technical and experience report papers are going to
be presented at the workshop technical sessions. All submissions must be
in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), following the guidelines established
by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) available
at: http://www.sbc.org.br (In the link "Eventos").

i) Technical papers should present original contribution to software testing
research area and must be no longer than 10 pages, including all the figures,
references, and appendices.

ii) Experience report papers content should describe the practical usage of
software testing in real industry applications, emphasizing the results
obtained and the lessons learned. The reports should not have been published
previously, yet they are not required to present original contributions.
Experience report papers must be no longer than 6 pages, including all the
figures, references, and appendices.


Paper submission will be done electronically at the following address:
https://submissoes.sbc.org.br/

PUBLICATION
Authors of accepted papers are required to register to the workshop and
present the paper at the workshop to ensure publication

IMPORTANT DATES
Submission Deadline: 15/06
Notification of Acceptance: 15/07
Final Version: 30/07

Software testing is a central activity in the validation and verification process of software systems. It has been largely applied in industry with the purpose of detecting defects and also composing the systems certification. Research in this area has steadily increased in the last
years. Notable academic progress has already been achieved in the area. Also, industry has continuously improved test processes. Systematic approaches have proven to be more effective than ad-hoc testing as well as automation of strenuous and repetitive activities. Moreover, successful cases have been reported.

The main goal of SAST is to be a forum that brings together the research community and industry.The proposal of this third SAST edition, now in conjunction with SMBF, was built on two main factors. The first one is the success of the previous editions, which demonstrates the growth of the field. The second one is the common interests shared by the testing and formal method communities. This interest tends to be even greater in the future.
The event can clearly promote advances in the research and practice in the software testing area by aiding the establishment of collaborations and joint projects.

TOPICS OF INTEREST
The topics covered by the workshop include, but are not limited to, the following:

. Test-driven development;
. Testing integrated with development activities;
. Program-based testing;
. Specification-based testing;
. Model-based testing;
. Model-driven testing;
. Risk-based testing;
. Error-based and fault-based testing;
. Performance, load and stress testing;
. Combinatorial testing and random testing;
. Test case selection techniques;
. Test case generation techniques;
. Test oracle and test result checking techniques;
. Test driver, stubs, harness and test script generation;
. Test adequacy and coverage measurement;
. Test effective analysis and test report generation;
. Test related software artifact generation;
. Management of testing activities and resources;
. Maintenance and reuse of test artifacts;
. Requirements and Tests;
. Test artifacts traceability;
. Formal Approaches to Testing.


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Two types of submissions are expected:
i) Technical papers; and
ii) Experience Report.

Papers submitted to the workshop must be unpublished original work. The papers can be written either in Portuguese or in English and will be judged according to their adequacy to workshop scope, relevance, technical soundness and originality. Papers should state clearly their relation to previous work, mainly to previous published work of the own authors.

Theoretical papers should emphasize the contribution to the practice. Papers on empirical experiments should describe the used methods and interpret qualitatively and quantitatively their results.
Accepted submissions of technical and experience report papers are going to be presented at the workshop technical sessions. All submissions must be in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), following the guidelines established by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) available
at: http://www.sbc.org.br (In the link "Eventos").

i) Technical papers should present original contribution to software testing research area and must be no longer than 10 pages, including all the figures, references, and appendices.

ii) Experience report papers content should describe the practical usage of software testing in real industry applications, emphasizing the results obtained and the lessons learned. The reports should not have been published previously, yet they are not required to present original contributions. Experience report papers must be no longer than 6 pages, including all the
figures, references, and appendices.


Paper submission will be done electronically at the following address: https://submissoes.sbc.org.br/

PUBLICATION
Authors of accepted papers are required to register to the workshop and present the paper at the workshop to ensure publication

IMPORTANT DATES
Submission Deadline: 15/06
Notification of Acceptance: 15/07
Final Version: 30/07

WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS
Silvia Regina Vergílio, DInf/UFPR
Simone do Rocio Senger de Souza, SSC/ICMC-USP

PROGRAM COMMITTEE (to be confirmed)
Adalberto Nobiato Crespo, CENPRA
Adenilso Simão, SSC/ICMC-USP
Aditya P. Mathur, Purdue University, USA
Alexandre Petrenko, CRIM, Canada
Ana Cavalcanti, University of York, UK
Ana Cavalli, GET-INT, France
Ana Maria Ambrósio, INPE
Antonia Bertolino, CNR, Pisa, IT
Arndt von Staa, PUC-Rio
Augusto Sampaio, CIN/UFPE
Auri Marcelo Rizzo Vincenzi, INF/UFG
Edmundo Spoto, UNIVEM
Eliane Martins, IC/UNICAMP
Ellen Francine Barbosa, SSC/ICMC-USP
Guilherme Horta Travassos, COPPE/UFRJ
Jacques Sauvé, DSC/UFCG
João Cangussu, UTD, USA
Jorge Figueiredo, DSC/UFCG
José Carlos Maldonado, SSC/ICMC-USP
Juliana Herbert, UNISINOS
Márcio Eduardo Delamaro, SSC/ICMC-USP
Marcos Chaim, EACH/USP
Mario Jino, FEEC/UNICAMP
Patrícia Machado, DSC/UFCG
Paulo Borba, CIN/UFPE
Paulo César Masiero, SSC/ICMC-USP
Plínio de Sá Leitão Júnior, INF/UFG
Plínio Vilela, UNIMEP
Ricardo Anido, IC/UNICAMP
Sandra C.P.F. Fabbri, DC/UFSCAR
Silvia Regina Vergílio, DInf/UFPR (chair)
Simone do Rocio Senger de Souza, SSC/ICMC-USP (co-chair)