Goals
WICSA is a working conference and working sessions have long been a tradition at previous conferences. They have been used to collect examples of existing best practices; identify characteristics of existing methods and techniques; identify gaps in the state of the practice; and propose new techniques to fill those gaps. Last year, we successfully introduced the use of Wiki in a special workshop to enable conference participants to capture discussions from the working sessions. The Wiki software provides a group communication mechanism that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser, and Wikipedia is our model for on-line collaboration. This year we expand the availability of the Wiki software to the entire conference.
Prior to the conference, the wiki software will be used to capture position statements from working session registrants.
During the conference, the wiki software is intended to be used to:
The results will be used as input to summaries that will be published in the conference proceedings. The wiki site will remain available after the conference, the goal being to encourage ideas about software architecture to evolve as an ongoing discussion among members of the software architecture/WICSA community in the form of Wiki entry contributions.
Martin Wattenberg, IBM Watson Research Center, has assisted us in the past in visualizing the collaborative process through the use of his History Flow application. The history flow application charts the evolution of a document as it is edited by many people using a very simple visualization technique. The application helps us to evaluate how the collaboration is progressing.
Operations
The Wiki site will be available throughout the conference. The conference will make a kiosk computer available for attendees to access the Wiki site. More conveniently, wireless access will be made available. Attendees are strongly encouraged to bring their own laptops to participate in this collaborative effort. You will be provided with a Wiki account as part of the conference registration process.
Expected audience
The Wiki site is intended for all participants of the WICSA conference. Those interested in distilling software architecture best practices are especially fit to contribute, including software architects, software lead designers, students, researchers, managers, educators.
WICSA-5 Wiki Chair
Shang-Wen Cheng