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Research Groups

Software Engineering

One of the NRC Institute for Information Technology's (NRC-IIT) 14 research groups, the Software Engineering Group (SEG) is located in Ottawa, Ontario.

Current Projects
	Agile and Collaborative Practices
	COTS Software
	Components-Based Software for Knowledge Sharing
	Software Economics

At least three major trends in the software industry dictate the Group's research direction:

The ongoing struggle for the industry to deliver greater amounts of increasingly higher quality software within extremely tight schedules and budgetary constraints;
The new computing paradigms required by a class of new and enhanced Internet applications;
The continuous need for enhancing the stature of Software Engineering as a profession, including professional infrastructure and a supply chain for the profession.

The goal of the Software Engineering Group is to advance the state of software production through the application of engineering practices. To meet this goal, SEG staff evaluates and improves processes and technologies throughout software lifecycles, using both engineering and scientific approaches on real projects.

SEG works continuously to research and develop answers to pressing technology needs, to identify paradigm and process changes, and to develop innovative responses to these changes.

The Group's research encompasses commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)-based systems, software quality and empirical approaches to the study of Software Engineering. These efforts support software development processes from project initiation to first delivery, product evolution and maintenance.

In addition, as active members of the national and international science and technology community, SEG staff serve on editorial boards of scientific journals, program committees of software related conference and conduct peer reviews for conference papers, articles for publication, granting agencies and panels. The Group promotes a lively exchange of ideas and expertise by making presentations, presenting papers and hosting workshops and colloquia.

The Group's research results are having an impact:

A major software producer estimates the use of software metrics to focus defect detection activities has reduced post-release costs by approximately 42%;
Tools designed for software maintenance are deployed in a major telecommunications company;
Group members act as independent advisors on large software acquisition projects for the Federal Government;
Capture-recapture models (developed in collaboration with the Software Engineering Institute and United Space Alliance) to estimate defects and manage quality are used by the flight Software on the Space Shuttle
Research work on software quality, conducted in the Institute's Software Quality Lab (SQLab), has resulted in a commercial web-based on-line software complexity analysis tool

Promoting Advanced Engineering Practices

As part of SEG's commitment to articulating and promoting advanced engineering practices in the field of software engineering, SEG works in collaboration with national and international bodies to create curricula, guidelines, and reference sources. For example:

SEG staff developed one of the ten Knowledge Areas for the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK), a project sponsored by IEEE. Staff members were among the 200-strong review panel for SWEBOK. An SEG member represents the NRC on the Industrial Board, which manages the SWEBOK project.
As a research partner of CSER (Consortium for Software Engineering Research), SEG has had a significant impact on new and existing university curricula in software engineering. An SEG member is the Research Director for the Consortium.
Members of SEG participate in the activities of ISO/JTC1/SC7, subcommittee developing software and system engineering standards.

Software Engineering Collaborations

Through SEG, NRC-IIT is a founding partner, along with IBM Toronto Lab, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo and York University, in the Advanced Research Initiative for Software Excellence (ARISE). ARISE brings together industrial, academic and public partners to collaborate on projects related to the field software studies.

Additional Information

Research Contact

Anatol Kark
Group Leader
Software Engineering
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room 255
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: +1 (613) 991-6973
Fax: +1 (613) 952-7151
E-mail: Anatol Kark

Business Contact

Dr. George Forester
Business Development Officer
Business Development Office, NCR
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room 203
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: +1 (613) 993-3478
Fax: +1 (613) 952-0074
E-mail: George.Forester@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca