The Software and Systems Engineering Laboratory (SSE) has as its research theme "successful development of software-based systems for the information society". This theme contains three interrelated areas:
- Successful development focuses on improving processes, methods, and tools for large-scale software and systems engineering, with particular emphasis on architecting, modeling, analysis, and testing.
- Software-based systems are adaptive embedded systems, that are increasingly co-operating in federations with each other through ad-hoc networks or through software services on the Internet. At the same time, the requirements on safety and robustness traditionally associated with embedded systems remain.
- The information society is the context in which the software-based systems exist. With increasing penetration of ubiquitous computer systems and openness of information, there is a need for critical analysis of issues such as privacy, ethics, and surveillance. There are also conflicts between societal, commercial, and individual goals. These conflicts, as well as other systemic effects, need to be taken into account through multidisciplinary research.
