Future of Software Engineering Research: The SIGSOFT Perspective
Massimiliano Di Penta, Kelly Blincoe, Marsha Chechik, Claire Le Goues, David Lo, Emerson Murphy-Hill, Thomas Zimmermann
TL;DR
This paper investigates how SIGSOFT can mitigate rising conference costs and inclusivity barriers as the SE conference ecosystem expands. It analyzes data from the ICSE 2026 Future of Software Engineering Workshop to identify strengths, problems, and concrete actions, including transparency around funds, hybrid poster formats, and expanded outreach to underrepresented regions. Key contributions include documenting an open, welcoming community with broad geographic reach, identifying cost and representation barriers, and proposing reforms to publication models, governance, and conference formats. It also discusses budgetary details (per $100$ spent, about $14$ goes to ACM and about $6$ plus any surplus to SIGSOFT) and AI-related opportunities and risks, framing a path toward more accessible, diverse, and sustainable SE conferences.
Abstract
As software engineering conferences grow in size, rising costs and outdated formats are creating barriers to participation for many researchers. These barriers threaten the inclusivity and global diversity that have contributed to the success of the SE community. Based on survey data, we identify concrete actions the ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering (SIGSOFT) can take to address these challenges, including improving transparency around conference funding, experimenting with hybrid poster presentations, and expanding outreach to underrepresented regions. By implementing these changes, SIGSOFT can help ensure the software engineering community remains accessible and welcoming.