ECS computing expert to help expand the reach of the discipline

Professor Vladimiro Sassone, an expert in foundations of ubiquitous computing at the University of Southampton, has been invited by two prestigious organisations to help raise the profile of the discipline.

Professor Sassone, Professor of Computer Science at the University's School of Electronics & Computer Science (ECS), whose main research agenda lies in the development of high-level paradigms for global ubiquitous computing, has been appointed as Chairman of The European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software (ETAPS) and as a co-organiser of the Royal Society meeting on 'From computers to ubiquitous computing, by 2020'.

According to Professor Sassone, his role in these two events will enable him to devise strategies to attract the best software researchers in the field.

ETAPS, established in 1998, is the primary European forum for academic and industrial researchers working on topics relating to software science. Established in 1998, it is a confederation of five main annual conferences.

'Although ETAPS is only 10 years old, it has become one of the best software science conferences in the world,' said Professor Sassone. 'My main aim during my three year chairmanship is to make ETAPS the natural home for the best software scientists and engineers in the field and to encourage them to submit their work to the conference.' As one of the organisers of the Royal Society scientific discussion meeting which will take place in March 2008, Professor Sassone will help position ubiquitous computing as one of the scientific Grand Challenges of our time and pave the way towards making it a reality by 2020. This discussion meeting will also cover social and legal implications of ubiquitous computing. Co-organisers of this event are Professor Marta Kwiatkowska, University of Oxford, and Professor Tom Rodden, University of Nottingham.

Professor Sassone is also part of an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded team which will look at extending this challenge to an international context.

'We will need to build a solid foundation in computing and develop ways to predict the behaviour of systems if we are to meet this challenge,' said Professor Sassone. 'The fact that the Royal Society has recognised ubiquitous computing as a grand challenge and decided to dedicate to it one of its prestigious scientific discussion meetings is a major step forward and one which will help bring the topic to the attention of the wider community.'