Software Engineering

Software systems have become omnipresent: they permeate nearly all aspects of our lives. Developments in information technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, produce innovative, software-based systems that rapidly achieve mass adoption and significantly influence our daily routines. Engineering such new systems (i.e., their scoping, development and operation) continuously poses new challenges for computer science, in general, and software engineering, in particular. These systems offer immense potential for disruptive automation, new business models and software-based services. They are the driving force behind the digital transformation. That is why research in software engineering focuses on the very challenges raised by the digital transformation itself, including its role in restructuring industries that have already digitised most of their operations and those that are still in the process of doing so. Particular difficulties emerge at the interface of complexity, security and user-friendliness. In order to pool and institutionalise its research in software engineering, the Faculty founded paluno – The Ruhr Institute for Software Technology in 2010.