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TUCS Distinguished Lecture
Friday, October 24, 2014 at 13.15
ICT Building, Auditorium Beta
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Joseph Sifakis, EPFL, Switzerland: "From Programs to Systems – Building a Smarter World"
Host: Johan Lilius, Turku Centre for Computer Science
Abstract: The focus of computing has been continuously shifting from programs to systems over the past decades. Programs can be represented as relations independent from the physical resources needed for their execution. Their behavior is often terminating, deterministic and platform-independent. On the contrary, systems are interactive. They continuously interact with an external environment. Their behavior is driven by stimuli from the environment, which, in turn, is affected by their outputs.
Modern computing systems break with traditional systems, such as desktop computers and servers, in various ways: 1) they are instrumented in order to interact with physical environments; 2) they are interconnected to allow interaction between people and objects in entirely new modes; 3) they must be smart to ensure predictability of events and optimal use of resources. Currently, we lack theory methods and tools for building trustworthy systems cost-effectively.
In this talk, I will advocate system design as a formal and accountable process leading from requirements to correct-by-construction implementations. I will also discuss current limitations of the state of the art and call for a coherent scientific foundation of system design based on a three-pronged vision: 1) linking the cyber and the physical worlds; 2) correctness-by-construction; 3) intelligence.
I will conclude with general remarks about the nature of computing and advocate a deeper interaction and cross-fertilization with other more mature scientific disciplines.
Biography: Joseph Sifakis is a computer scientist, laureate of the 2007 Turing Award, along with Edmund M. Clarke and E. Allen Emerson, for his work on model checking.
He studied Electrical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and Computer Science at the University of Grenoble. He is the founder of the Verimag laboratory, which he directed for 15 years.
He is a Full Professor at EPFL, Lausanne. His current research interests cover fundamental and applied aspects of embedded systems design. The main focus of his work is on the formalization of system design as a process leading from given requirements to trustworthy, optimized and correct-by-construction implementations.
Joseph Sifakis is a member of the French Academy of Sciences, a member of the French National Academy of Engineering and a member of Academia Europea. He is a Grand Officer of the French National Order of Merit, a Commander of the French Legion of Honor and a Commander of the Greek Order of the Phoenix. He has received the Leonardo da Vinci Medal in 2012. He is the President of the Greek National Council for Research and Technology.
The TUCS Distinguished Lecture Series is a forum for public lectures by outstanding national and international researchers in all aspects of computing, coming both from academia and industry. All lectures are free and open to the public.
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