++ Deadline extended to December 6th, 2022 ++

Due to numerous requests, we decided to extend the deadline by three weeks until Dec. 6, 2022. 

A special issue in 

ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems (TAAS)

Download our printable Call for Papers here

The Organic Computing (OC) initiative was founded in 2003 to investigate principles, methods and approaches for engineering complex technical systems that are able to act rationally in complex, continually changing real-world environments. Such an OC system is defined as an autonomous computing system that acts with only limited, if any, manual intervention. In this way, an appropriate level of utility is achieved and maintained even in non-stationary environments and in the face of unexpected disturbances or unanticipated situations. In response to internal and external stimuli, the system continually monitors, adapts and improves its behavior during runtime and interacts with other systems in a self-organizing manner. OC systems are capable of achieving and maintaining both individual and/or system-wide goals while withstanding potential influences from neighboring systems that share a common productive environment. Typically, the employed mechanisms and general OC solutions are deeply inspired by natural examples such as self-organizing behavior in swarms, social behavior and organizational structures, as well as continual adaptation through evolution.

On the occasion of OC’s forthcoming 20th anniversary, this special issue is intended to provide an overview of research advancements in the OC field. We therefore call for submissions that explore all facets of OC principles and methods, report on most recent advancements and that ideally integrate these in the context of the historical development of the OC initiative.

Topics of Interest include (but are not limited to):

• Theory and taxonomy describing OC systems

• Architectures, design processes and patterns for OC systems

• Nature-inspired methods for organic system behavior

• Algorithms for endowing OC systems with self-* properties

• Machine learning technology for self-improvement and adaptation to the unexpected

• Methods for distributed decision-making and collective behavior

• Methods for self-protection, robustness and resilience in distributed OC systems

• User interaction with OC systems, including approaches to self-explanation

• Hardware-based adaptation mechanisms, e.g. using FPGA technology

• Metrics and testbeds for quantification of OC systems

• Aspects related to reliability and trustworthiness of socio-technical OC systems

• Experience reports about OC applications

Submission, Timeline & Review Process

• Declaration of interest: June 30th, 2022 (optional)

• Open for Submissions: October 1st, 2022

• Submission deadline: November 15th, 2022

• Extended deadline: December 6th, 2022

• First-round review decisions: February 15th, 2023

• Deadline for revision submissions: March 15th, 2023

• Notification of final decisions: May 15th, 2023

• Tentative publication: July 2023

Submission instructions:

Prospective authors should follow the TAAS submission guidelines at https://dl.acm.org/journal/taas/author-guidelines. All manuscripts must be submitted electronically to the ACM Manuscript Central Web site at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/taas. Select the paper type “Special Issue on 20 Years of Organic Computing”. All papers will undergo the standard TAAS review process with a fast review cycle.

Guest Editors

• Ada Diaconescu, Telecom Paris, Computer Science and Networks Department, LTCI, Paris, France 

• Anthony Stein, University of Hohenheim, Artificial Intelligence in Agricultural Engineering, Hohenheim, Germany 

• Sven Tomforde, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Intelligent Systems, Kiel, Germany

For questions and further information, please contact Anthony Stein.