My bi-annual update

I spent the last 9 years happily ensconced at NRC-IRAP, the last 2 of which I was the Product Owner for NRC-IRAP’s contributions  management platform, and all around policy hack (responsible for multiple initiatives including drafting a TBSub, creating an under-represented groups policy, overseeing various new risk management protocols, etc.).  As of November 2018, I have gone back to the dark – oh wait, meant to say, research – side.  I am officially the Director for the the AI4Design Challenge Program.  You can look at the NRC’s main site, or my Linked-In profile to find out more.  Feel free to contact me at: Janice.Singer@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

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What am I doing now?

If you’ve come here, you are no doubt looking for my research profile.  You’ve come to the right place, but I have not been active in this area for a number of years.  Update to follow soon, but enjoy the historical perspective on my work.

 

Janice

Software Engineering/Business Degree

So, now that I’ve been in my new job for a little over a month, I’m wondering something.  Is there a combined software engineering/business degree somewhere? Because really there should be.  Lots of  young SEs want to start their own company, but seem to have little understanding of the finance and/or marketing side of things.  Don’t you think that’s a good idea? People would learn not just how to create software, but some of the basics of selling it as well.  And don’t tell me that SEs are introverts and don’t want to learn that, because that hasn’t really been my experience.

Anyhow, new job going well.  So many interesting people with great ideas.  I get to talks to lots of small and medium sized business owners about their problems, and help them solve it.  I don’t always know and/or understand the technology (we cover everything), but I do see the passion and it’s inspiring.

How was CHASE?

Well, unfortunately I was unable to attend CHASE this year, but am wondering about your impressions.  If you were there, how did it go?  What parts did you like or not?  How can we make it better next year?  Should we stay at ICSE or explore other venues?  And what else…

Last week at IIT

As many of you already know, I have been let go from the Institute for Information Technology.  I have been working here the last 15 years, so it’s a bit bittersweet.  In the end, as a family, we had the choice of moving thereby allowing me to continue to pursue my research career, or changing careers to stay in Ottawa.  We chose the later.  Starting a week from Monday, on April 27th, I will be commencing my new job as an IRAP ITA – which is an Industrial Research Assistance Progam Industrial Technology Advisor.  IRAP provides assistance, both financial and mentorship, to Canadian small and medium size enterprises in terms of industrial research and development.  My job will be to work with local tech companies in helping them bring their products to market.  I will  be providing both assistance and managing financial contributions.  I’ll have a number of local clients.  IRAP has about 260 ITAs across Canada.  In the last federal budget, we received an additional $200 M over two years, so it will be a busy time.  I’m really looking forward to my new job – I’ll be learning a lot, and focusing on the front lines of software development which will be very exciting.  I anticipate continuing this blog, still focusing on the human side, but it will have a bit more of a practical bent, in terms of my new experiences.

I’ve really enjoyed working with all my research colleagues over the years, and look forward to continuing my collaborations, albeit in a slightly modified manner.  My one hope is that the CHASE community that I’ve worked hard to establish continues to grow and thrive in the coming months  and years – please continue to send me your announcements and news to foster our community in growth.

Deadline Extension: IEEE Software

Given the many requests we have had, we have decided to extend the deadline to April 15th.  There will be no further extension.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  Manuscripts can be submitted at:

https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/sw-cs

ICSE: IBM Jazz Research Reception

IBM is hosting a Jazz Research Reception at ICSE 2009 in Vancouver on Tuesday May 19th which will feature demos and posters from researchers working with the Jazz platform. The reception, which will include refreshments, will be open to anyone at the conference.

Date: Tuesday May 19th; look on the board for the room. This is the evening before the main conference.

Time: 5:30 – 6:30; doors open at 5

IBM is in the process of setting up a website that will provide additional details including abstracts of the projects featured at the reception.

Contact: Annie Ying with questions – aying@us.ibm.com

Deadline approaching: IEEE Software SI on CHASE

Deadline is April 8th, so get busy writing.

Details here: http://softwareresearch.ca/seg/CHASE-Software-SI/

CFP:IEEE Software SI on Cooperative and Human Aspects of SE

IEEE Software Special Issue on the Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering
Submission Deadline: April 8, 2009.
Publication: Nov./Dec. 2009
Website: http://softwareresearch.ca/seg/CHASE-Software-SI/

We are soliciting papers for a special issue of IEEE Software focusing on the cooperative and human aspects of software engineering (CHASE).  We seek high quality examples of multi-disciplinary research and practice that explore how cooperative and human aspects affect how software is created and evolved, both in terms of the challenges and the successes which arise when the human aspect is considered. We are looking for papers with practical reliable insights that can be applied in real-world software development contexts.  We are interested in papers across the domain of software engineering (e.g., requirements, development, testing).  All papers, however, must address either cooperative or human aspects as they relate to software engineering.  Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Software engineering as cooperative work
• Industrial experience reports examining the influence of CHASE in software projects, such as the influence of personality, leadership or effective teamwork in software development teams;
• Social and cultural aspects of software engineering;
• Psychological and cognitive aspects of software engineering;
• Coordination in large scale software development; and
• Cooperation between software developers and other professionals over the lifetime of a system.

Examples of types of contribution include:

• Case studies of industrial practice with respect to CHASE,
• Experience reports of how CHASE issues challenged or were addressed in the context of a software development project,
• Empirical studies of software engineering teams and individual software engineers in situ, using approaches such as ethnographies, surveys, interviews, contextual inquiries, data mining, etc.,
• Lab studies of individual and team software engineering behavior as long as the insights can be applied in real-world settings,
• Novel tools motivated by observed needs such as new ways of capturing and accessing software-related knowledge, navigational systems, communication, collaboration, and awareness tools, visualizations, etc.  The motivation for such tools must be clearly linked to the cooperative and/or human aspects of software engineering, and
• Novel processes motivated by observed issues in cooperation and/or human aspects.

Manuscripts must not exceed 5,400 words including figures and tables, which count for 200 words each. Submissions in excess of these limits may be rejected without refereeing. The articles we deem within the theme’s scope will be peer-reviewed and are subject to editing for magazine style, clarity, organization, and space. We reserve the right to edit the title of all submissions. Be sure to include the name of the theme or special issue you are submitting for.

Articles should have a practical orientation, and be written in a style accessible to practitioners. Overly complex, purely research-oriented or theoretical treatments are not appropriate. Articles should be novel. IEEE Software does not re-publish material published previously in other venues, including other periodicals and formal conference/workshop proceedings, whether previous publication was in print or in electronic form.

Interested authors can contact Janice.Singer@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca with questions about appropriate content.  For questions about author guidelines or submission details, please contact IEEE Software at software@computer.org.

Guest Editors:
–    Janice Singer, National Research Council Canada
–    Cleidson de Souza, Universidade Federal do Pará, Brazil
–    Li-Te Cheng, IBM Research, USA
–    Gina Venolia, Microsoft Research, USA

Upcoming workshops

There are number of upcoming workshops which are of interest to the CHASE community, mostly at ICSE, but one in Vancouver at the same time not associated with ICSE.

The links are below:

Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (of course : ) – )

Qualitative Research in Software Engineering

Search-Driven Development – Users, Infrastructure, Tools and Evaluation

Socio-Technical Congruence

Software Engineering Foundations for End User Programming

In addition to all of these interesting workshops, there may be other ICSE workshops which address a specific domain you’re interested in.  Check out the ICSE workshop webpage for more info.