View source for Organization:Large-scale Complex IT Systems

{{short description|UK research and graduate education programme}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
The UK '''Large-Scale Complex IT Systems''' (LSCITS) Initiative<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/ |title=About Large Scale Complex IT Systems |publisher=Bristol University |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref> is a research and graduate education programme focusing on the problems of developing large-scale, complex IT systems (also referred to as [[Ultra-large-scale systems]] or ULSS). The initiative is funded by the EPSRC, with more than ten million [[Finance:Pound sterling|pounds]] of funding awarded between 2006 and 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/F001096/1 |title=LSCITS-RPv2: Large-Scale Complex IT Systems Initiative – Research Programme v2 |publisher=Gow.epsrc.ac.uk |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/H042644/1 |title=Cloud Computing for Large-Scale Complex IT Systems |publisher=Gow.epsrc.ac.uk |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref>

==Background==
The initial motivation for the establishment of a research programme in large-scale complex IT systems was the publication of a 2004 report<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/1167 |title=BCS Policy Hub |publisher=Bcs.org |date=2015-06-25 |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref> by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the [[Organization:British Computer Society|British Computer Society]]. This report examined the causes of failure of a number of large software projects and made several recommendations for research to address some of these problems.

A second report, authored by Seth Bullock & Dave Cliff and also published in 2004, was commissioned by the UK Government's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Office of Science and Technology and carried the title ''Complexity and Emergent Behaviour in ICT Systems''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/11478/1/HPL-2004-187.pdf|title= Complexity and Emergent Behaviour in ICT Systems : Technical Report HP-2004-187, Semantic & Adaptive Systems, Hewlett-Packard Labs|publisher=Eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk|access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref> The main conclusions of this report were that the primary challenges needing to be addressed in the UK are institutional and cultural obstacles to appropriate interdisciplinary research and that there was an urgent need to address omissions in UK undergraduate computer science education.

In October 2005, Dave Cliff was appointed director of the LSCITS initiative by the EPSRC<ref>[http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Publications/corporate/AnnualReportAccounts0607.pdf EPSRC Annual Report 2006-7] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402230012/http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Publications/corporate/AnnualReportAccounts0607.pdf |date=2 April 2012 }} p. 10/11</ref> and was asked to consult extensively with industry on their problems in this area and, on the basis of this consultation, to form a consortium to tackle these problems. The results of the consultation were that the key concerns of industry were socio-technical issues arising from the interactions between organisations, people and systems and in high-integrity [[Engineering:Systems engineering|systems engineering]]. On the basis of this, a consortium was formed with two partners (York, Oxford) focusing on formal methods and high-integrity systems and two partners (Leeds, St Andrews) focusing on socio-technical systems. Subsequently, a further project focusing on cloud computing was approved with Bristol, St Andrews and Aston Universities as partners.

The five-year research project started in October 2007 with the associated EngD program starting in October 2009.

== Partners ==
* [[Organization:University of Bristol|University of Bristol]]. Department of Computer Science (Prof Dave Cliff)
* [[Organization:University of Leeds|University of Leeds]]. Institute of Health Sciences (Prof Justin Keen). Dr Andreas Hild and Mr Kanwar Adeel Waheed Khan also worked on the LSCITS team along from 2008 to 2011, examining complexity in organisations aspects.
* [[Organization:University of Oxford|University of Oxford]]. Department of Computer Science (Prof [[Biography:Marta Kwiatkowska|Marta Kwiatkowska]])
* [[Organization:University of St Andrews|University of St Andrews]]. School of Computer Science (Prof [[Biography:Ian Sommerville (academic)|Ian Sommerville]])
* [[Organization:University of York|University of York]]. Department of Computer Science (Prof John McDermid, Prof Tim Kelly, Prof Richard Paige, Dr Radu Calinescu)

== Research ==
The aim of the LSCITS research project is:

:"to improve existing technical approaches to complex systems engineering and to develop new socio-technical approaches that help us understand the complex interactions between organisations, processes and systems".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/overview.html |title=Initiative overview |publisher=Bristol University |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref>

The LSCITS stack (Figure 1) shows the research areas that are particularly relevant to LSCITS.

File:LSCITS-stack.jpg

The focus of the work of the project was initially in the following areas:

* Complexity in organisations (led by [[Organization:University of Leeds|University of Leeds]])
* Socio-technical systems engineering (led by [[Organization:University of St Andrews|University of St Andrews]]).
* Predictable software systems(led by [[Organization:University of Oxford|University of Oxford]])
* High-integrity systems (led by [[Organization:University of York|University of York]])

Work on mathematical foundations was not included as these were funded in a separate research programme by the EPSRC with complexity science research centres at the [[Organization:University of Bristol|University of Bristol]] and the [[Organization:University of Warwick|University of Warwick]]. A further centre on complex systems simulation was funded later at the [[Organization:University of Southampton|University of Southampton]].

The work on novel computational approaches was superseded by work on [[Cloud computing|cloud computing]] as the significance of this area emerged during the project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/cloud.html |title=Cloud computing |publisher=Bristol University |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref>

The Key Publications below describe the work of the project in more detail.

==The LSCITS EngD programme==
The LSCITS EngD programme<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/EngD/|title=Engineering Doctorate Centre|publisher=University of York|year=2010|access-date=2015-10-19|archive-date=2011-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107132104/http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/EngD/}}</ref> is an [[Engineering:Engineering Doctorate|Engineering Doctorate]] scheme, coordinated by the [[Organization:University of York|University of York]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/centres/Pages/byuni.aspx|title=Centres for doctoral training listed by university|publisher=EPSRC|access-date=2015-10-19|archive-date=2011-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629212612/http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/centres/Pages/byuni.aspx}}</ref> that focuses on training and research in complex IT systems. Students on the programme take a range of core and optional taught modules and carry out research in conjunction with an industrial sponsor. The key difference between this programme and a conventional PhD is that students spend the majority of their time working with the industrial sponsor and may submit a portfolio thesis, describing several related research projects on a common theme, rather than a single topic.

Core modules on the scheme include
* Empirical Methods for LSCITS
* High-Integrity Systems Engineering
* Predictable Software Systems
* Socio-Technical Systems
* Systems Engineering for LSCITS
* Technology Innovation
Students take a number of optional modules in addition to these core topics from computer science, mathematics and management. Overall, the core and optional modules are intended to provide EngD students with breadth as well as depth in LSCITS topics.

In parallel with the taught part of the programme, students carry out research; research projects span LSCITS topics, including socio-technical systems, high-performance computing, cloud computing, systems and software engineering, safety critical systems, interactive and accessible systems, and advanced decision making. EngD industrial sponsors include leading multi-national corporations, through to small-to-medium-sized enterprises who wish to build research capability and capacity.

==Management and governance ==
Operational management of the entire LSCITS Initiative is the responsibility of the director (Dave Cliff), and the two initiative co-directors (Ian Sommerville and John McDermid).  Ian Sommerville manages integration across the various LSCITS work-packages and activities. John McDermid works with Richard Paige, the LSCITS EngD Centre Director, to manage the York-based LSCITS Engineering Doctorate programme.

The director reports to the chair of the LSCITS International Scientific Advisory Board, and to the chair of the LSCITS National Stakeholder Board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/management.html |title=Large Scale Complex IT Systems Management |publisher=Bristol University |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref> These two boards provide their guidance and advice on the LSCITS research and training programmes.

== Key publications ==
The papers below, organised according to the LSCITS stack shown in Figure 1, describe the work of the project. A full list of publications is available on the LSCITS web site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/publications.html |title=Large Scale Complex IT Systems Publications |publisher=Bristol University |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref>

=== LSCITS in general ===
* R. Calinescu & M. Kwiatkowska (2010). Software Engineering Techniques for the Development of Systems of Systems. In C. Choppy & O. Sokolski (editors), Foundations of Computer Software. Future Trends and Techniques for Development, vol. 6026 of LNCS, pp.&nbsp;59–82, Springer. Preprint available online.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prismmodelchecker.org/bibitem.php?key=CK08 |title=Software Engineering Techniques for the Development of Systems of Systems |publisher=Prismmodelchecker.org |access-date=2015-07-02}}</ref>
* D. Cliff & L. Northrop (2011). [http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/computer-trading/11-1223-dr4-global-financial-markets-systems-perspective.pdf The Global Financial Markets: An Ultra-Large Scale Systems Perspective.] Briefing paper for UK Government Office for Science Foresight project on The Future of Computer Trading in the Financial Markets. September 2011.
*I. Sommerville, D. Cliff, R. Calinescu, J. Keen, T. Kelly, M. Kwiatkowska, J. McDermid, and R. Paige. (2011) [https://arxiv.org/abs/1109.3444. Large Scale Complex IT Systems.]

=== Complexity in organisations ===
*J. Rooksby and I. Sommerville. (2012) [https://arxiv.org/abs/1111.5454 The Management and Use of Social Network Sites in a Government Department.] [[Computer-supported cooperative work|Computer-supported Cooperative Work]] – The Journal of Collaborative Computing.
*J. Keen. (2011) [http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/publications.html The Governance of Privacy and Confidentiality.] Paper prepared for IRSPM XV, Dublin, 11–13 April 2011.
*J. Keen. (2009) Integration at Any Price: The Case of the NHS National Programme for IT. In: H Margetts, C Hood and 6 P (eds) Paradoxes of Modernization. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

=== Socio-technical systems engineering ===
*{{cite journal | last1 = Baxter | first1 = G. | last2 = Sommerville | first2 = I. | year = 2010 | title = Socio-Technical Systems: From Design Methods to Systems Engineering | doi = 10.1016/j.intcom.2010.07.003 | journal = Interacting with Computers | volume =  23| pages =  4–17| doi-access = free }}
*I. Sommerville (editor). [http://archive.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/STSE-Handbook/ The Socio-technical Systems Engineering Handbook.] (2011). University of St Andrews.

=== High-integrity systems ===
*X. Ge, R.F. Paige, J. McDermid: [http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/docs/safecomp09.pdf Probabilistic Failure Propagation and Transformation Analysis.] SAFECOMP 2009: 215–228.
*{{cite journal | last1 = Paige | first1 = R.F. | last2 = Galloway | first2 = A. | last3 = Charalambous | first3 = R. | last4 = Ge | first4 = X. | last5 = Brooke | first5 = P.J. | year = 2011 | title = High-integrity agile processes for the development of safety critical software | journal =  International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems| volume = 2 | issue = 2| pages = 181–216 | doi = 10.1504/IJCCBS.2011.041259 }}
*{{cite book | last1 = Williams | first1 = J.R. | last2 = Poulding | first2 = S.M. | last3 = Rose | first3 = L.M. | last4 = Paige | first4 = R.F. | last5 = Polack | first5 = F.A. C. | title = Search Based Software Engineering | chapter = Identifying Desirable Game Character Behaviours through the Application of Evolutionary Algorithms to Model-Driven Engineering Metamodels | year = 2011| journal = SSBSE | volume = 2011 | pages = 112–126 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-23716-4_13 | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | isbn = 978-3-642-23715-7 | s2cid = 6103107 }}

=== Predictable software systems ===
*R. Calinescu, L. Grunske, M. Kwiatkowska, R. Mirandola, G. Tamburrelli (2011). [http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/TSE.2010.92 Dynamic QoS Management and Optimisation in Service-Based Systems.] In: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.
*L. Feng, M. Kwiatkowska and D. Parker. (2011) [http://qav.cs.ox.ac.uk/papers/fase11.pdf Automated Learning of Probabilistic Assumptions for Compositional Reasoning.] Proc. 14th International Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering (FASE'11), volume 6603 of LNCS, pages 2–17, Springer.
*M. Kwiatkowska. (2007) [http://qav.cs.ox.ac.uk/papers/esec-fse07.pdf Quantitative Verification: Models, Techniques and Tools.] Proc. 6th joint meeting of the European Software Engineering Conference and the ACM SIGSOFT Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE), pages 449–458, ACM Press.
*M. Kwiatkowska, G. Norman and D. Parker. (2009) [http://qav.cs.ox.ac.uk/papers/acmper_prismperf.pdf PRISM: Probabilistic Model Checking for Performance and Reliability Analysis.] ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review, 36(4), pages 40–45, ACM.

=== Cloud computing ===
*John Cartlidge and Ilango Sriram (2011). [http://lscits.cs.bris.ac.uk/docs/modellingresilience.pdf Modelling resilience in cloud-scale data centres.] Proceedings of 23rd European Modeling and Simulation Symposium, Rome. September 2011
*A. Khajeh-Hosseini, D. Greenwood, J. W. Smith & I. Sommerville (2011). [https://arxiv.org/abs/1008.1900. The Cloud Adoption Toolkit: Supporting Cloud Adoption Decisions in the Enterprise.] Software: Practice and Experience – Special Issue on Software Architectures and Application Development Environments for Cloud Computing.

== Publications by similar groups ==
* [http://www.sei.cmu.edu/uls/ Ultra-large scale systems: Overview. Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.]
* {{cite journal | last1 = Goth | first1 = G. | year = 2008 | title = Ultralarge Systems: Redefining Software Engineering? | url = http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/so/2008/03/mso2008030091-abs.html | journal = IEEE Software | volume = 25 | issue = 3| pages = 91–94 | doi = 10.1109/MS.2008.82 | bibcode = 2008ISoft..25c..91G | url-access = subscription }}
* H. Sillitto, (2010) [https://sites.google.com/site/syssciwg/projects/unified-ontology-of-science-systems/reference-material/DesignprinciplesforULSSFinal.pdf "Design Principles for Ultra-Large-Scale Systems".]  Proc. 20th Annual International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) International Symposium, July, 2010, Chicago, IL, USA.
* Northrop, L. et al. (2006). [http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/assets/ULS_Book20062.pdf Ultra-Large-Scale Systems: The Software Challenge of the Future.] Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. (6.5MB download)

== See also ==
*[[Cloud computing]]
*Sociotechnical systems
*[[System of systems]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Computer science organizations]]

{{Sourceattribution|Large-scale Complex IT Systems}}