Marc Oriol

Silverio Martínez-Fernández, Justus Bogner, Xavier Franch et al.

AI-based systems are software systems with functionalities enabled by at least one AI component (e.g., for image- and speech-recognition, and autonomous driving). AI-based systems are becoming pervasive in society due to advances in AI. However, there is limited synthesized knowledge on Software Engineering (SE) approaches for building, operating, and maintaining AI-based systems. To collect and analyze state-of-the-art knowledge about SE for AI-based systems, we conducted a systematic mapping study. We considered 248 studies published between January 2010 and March 2020. SE for AI-based systems is an emerging research area, where more than 2/3 of the studies have been published since 2018. The most studied properties of AI-based systems are dependability and safety. We identified multiple SE approaches for AI-based systems, which we classified according to the SWEBOK areas. Studies related to software testing and software quality are very prevalent, while areas like software maintenance seem neglected. Data-related issues are the most recurrent challenges. Our results are valuable for: researchers, to quickly understand the state of the art and learn which topics need more research; practitioners, to learn about the approaches and challenges that SE entails for AI-based systems; and, educators, to bridge the gap among SE and AI in their curricula.

Xavier Franch, Daniel Mendez, Andreas Vogelsang et al.

The relevance of Requirements Engineering (RE) research to practitioners is vital for a long-term dissemination of research results to everyday practice. Some authors have speculated about a mismatch between research and practice in the RE discipline. However, there is not much evidence to support or refute this perception. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at gathering evidence from practitioners about their perception of the relevance of RE research and at understanding the factors that influence that perception. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey of industry practitioners with expertise in RE. The participants rated the perceived relevance of 435 scientific papers presented at five top RE-related conferences. The 153 participants provided a total of 2,164 ratings. The practitioners rated RE research as essential or worthwhile in a majority of cases. However, the percentage of non-positive ratings is still higher than we would like. Among the factors that affect the perception of relevance are the research's links to industry, the research method used, and respondents' roles. The reasons for positive perceptions were primarily related to the relevance of the problem and the soundness of the solution, while the causes for negative perceptions were more varied. The respondents also provided suggestions for future research, including topics researchers have studied for decades, like elicitation or requirement quality criteria.

X. Franch, D. Méndez Fernández, M. Oriol et al.

The relevance of Requirements Engineering (RE) research to practitioners is a prerequisite for problem-driven research in the area and key for a long-term dissemination of research results to everyday practice. To better understand how industry practitioners perceive the practical relevance of RE research, we have initiated the RE-Pract project, an international collaboration conducting an empirical study. This project opts for a replication of previous work done in two different domains and relies on survey research. To this end, we have designed a survey to be sent to several hundred industry practitioners at various companies around the world and ask them to rate their perceived practical relevance of the research described in a sample of 418 RE papers published between 2010 and 2015 at the RE, ICSE, FSE, ESEC/FSE, ESEM and REFSQ conferences. In this paper, we summarise our research protocol and present the current status of our study and the planned future steps.