New Paper Accepted: Non-Functional Certification of Modern Distributed Systems: A Research Manifesto
Our paper entitled Non-Functional Certification of Modern Distributed Systems: A Research Manifesto has been accepted for publication (as an invited paper) at IEEE International Conference on Software Services Engineering (IEEE SSE 2023).
In this paper, we i) analyze the current landscape of certification, ii) identify the challenges posed by modern distributed systems, iii) define an roadmap to meet such challenges, and iv) propose a corresponding timeline.
The authors of the paper are Claudio A. Ardagna and Nicola Bena (me).
Below is the full abstract.
The huge progress of ICT is radically changing distributed systems at their roots, modifying their operation and engineering practices and introducing new non-functional (e.g., security and safety) risks. These risks are amplified by the crucial role played by machine learning, on one side, and by the pervasive involvement of users in the system operation, on the other side. Certification techniques have been largely adopted to reduce the above risks, though the recent evolution of distributed systems towards cloud-edge, IoT, 5G, and machine learning severely hindered certification diffusion and quality. The need of new certification techniques that prove compliance of distributed systems against non-functional requirements arises and is often pushed by strict laws and regulations. In this paper, we envision a research manifesto for non-functional certification of modern distributed systems that paves the way for the wide adoption of certification in the real world, also in those domains where certification is not mandatory. Its ultimate goal is to lead to a trustworthy and adaptive ecosystem based on a cost-effective, non-functional certification, where modern system development, assessment, and management are not only ruled by functional requirements. The manifesto discusses the research challenges, a roadmap built on 6 research directions, and a concrete implementation timeline for the roadmap.
The PDF is accessible at this link.