Onward! 09
The conference for new ideas, new paradigms,
and reflections on everything to do with programming and software.
Co-located with OOPSLA 2009
Orlando, Florida October 25-29 2009
http://onward-conference.org
Sponsored by ACM SIGPLAN in cooperation with SIGSOFT
Call For Contributions
Onward! is a place for highly original ideas about how technological advances and new applications are going to shape computational fabrics of the future. Onward! is more radical, more visionary, and more open than other conferences to not so well proven but well argued ideas. We welcome different ways of thinking about, approaching, and reporting on programming languages and software engineering research. Onward! takes a broad and inclusive view of computation and seeks contributions from all fields represented at OOPSLA and other software conferences. Onward! particularly encourages contributions influenced by other disciplines such as art, philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, economics, communities, politics, ethics, or any other human endeavor. Anything to do with programming and software can be submitted. Anything!
Onward! is innovative not only with regard to its topics and ideas but also to the contribution formats. This year, we seek high quality submissions in one of the following categories:
Research Papers
While regular research papers tell what work has been done and validated in recent years, Onward! papers show what exciting work is being done right now. Onward! accepts papers that talk about innovative research work that is early in its life or is not in the mainstream. We request submissions of position papers that propose bold directions of research and advocate nontraditional methodologies. An Onward! paper does not need to contain a fully worked out theory or implemented system, but must be well-thought-out and compelling in its vision or uniqueness of thinking. Papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published in the OOPSLA 2009 Proceedings, and will appear in the ACM Digital Library.
Essays
An Onward! essay is a thoughtful reflection upon software-related technology. Its goal is to help the reader share a new insight, engage with an argument, or wrestle with a dilemma. A successful essay is a clear and compelling piece of writing that explores a topic important to the software community. An essay can be an exploration of its topic, its impact, or the circumstances of its creation; it can present a personal view of what is, explore a terrain, or lead the reader in an act of discovery; it can be a philosophical digression or a deep analysis. It can describe a personal journey, perhaps that by which the author reached an understanding of such a topic. Essays will be peer-reviewed. Accepted essays will be published in the OOPSLA 2009 Proceedings, and will appear in the ACM Digital Library.
Films
Years ago, sophisticated software systems had to be constructed by highly trained programmers who understood the ins and outs of software development. Today, with the advent of new mashup technologies and service architectures, these barriers have been lowered. The goal of this track is to explore new developments in how film and other narrative multimedia technologies can be used to enrich the software development process. Descriptions of accepted films will be published in the OOPSLA 2009 Companion, and will appear in the ACM Digital Library.
Workshops
Onward! workshops provide a creative and collaborative environment for attendees to discuss and investigate challenging problems related to software and its creation and nurturing. Workshops provide a great opportunity for software people and researchers to establish as well as foster communities. Descriptions of accepted workshops will be published in the OOPSLA 2009 Companion, and will appear in the ACM Digital Library.
How To Submit
Electronic submission is required through the Onward! homepage. Text submissions must follow the standard ACM SIGPLAN format. Full research papers should not exceed 20 pages, short research papers 8 pages, essays 20 pages. Submissions must not have been previously published, and must not be concurrently submitted for publication elsewhere (including journals and formal proceedings of conferences and workshops). Violation of this policy will result in desk-rejection of the submission.
Critical Dates
| March 19, 2009 | Submission of workshop proposals |
| April 20, 2009 | Submission of essays and full research papers |
| May 20, 2009 | Notification of acceptance or rejection for workshop proposals |
| June 3, 2009 | Notfication of acceptance or rejection for papers and essays |
| June 26, 2009 | Submission of short research papers |
| July 2, 2009 | Submission of films |
| July 17, 2009 | Notfication of acceptance or rejection for short papers |
| August 15, 2009 | Notfication of acceptance or rejection for films |
General Chair
Bernd Bruegge, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
Program Committee
Yvonne Coady, University of Victoria, Canada (chair)
Roger Dannenberg, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Dilma Da Silva, IBM TJ Watson Research Center, USA
Maja Dhondt, IMEC, Belgium
Bjorn Freeman-Benson, Eclipse Foundation, USA
Harald Gall, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Bruce Horn, Powerset, USA
Gail Kaiser, Columbia University, USA
Caitlin Kelleher, Washington University St. Louis, USA
Michele Lanza, University of Lugano, Switzerland
Rick McGeer, HP Labs, USA
Linda Northrop, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Nuno Jardim Nunes, University of Madeira, Portugal
Dirk Riehle, SAP Research, Germany
Christa Schwanninger, Siemens, Germany
Essay Committee
Siobhán Clarke, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Conal Elliott, Independent, USA
Richard P. Gabriel, IBM Research, USA (assistant chair)
Ralph Johnson, University of Illinois, USA
Simon Peyton-Jones, Microsoft Research, Great-Britain (chair)
Daniel Steinberg, Dim Sum Thinking, USA
Film Committee
Martin Purvis, University of Otago, New Zealand (chair)
Roberto Bisiani, University of Milano - Bicocca, Italy
Oliver Creighton, Siemens, Germany
Ralph Guggenheim, Allegator Planet, USA
Andrew Long, University of Otago, New Zealand
Workshop Committee
Bruce Horn, Powerset, USA (chair)
Steering Committee
Elisa Baniassad, Chinese University of Hongkong (chair)
Robert Biddle, Carleton University, Canada
Geoff Cohen, Coherence Engine, USA
Richard P. Gabriel, IBM Research, USA
Cristina Videira Lopes, University of California, USA
James Noble, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Dirk Riehle, SAP Research, Germany
Publicity
Joao Araujo, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
Walid Maalej, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
Treasurer
Torsten Layda, Six Group, Switzerland
A detailed version of this call for each submission category is available on http://onward-conference.org/calls/
An Onward! ad is available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcIjUSpwspk