Against Software Patents
Richard Stallman.

Richard Stallman will explain how software patents obstruct software development. Software patents are patents that cover software ideas. They restrict the development of software, so that every design decision brings a risk of getting sued. Patents in other fields restrict factories, but software patents restrict every computer user. Economic research shows that they even retard progress.

Brief biography:
The founder of the GNU project, developer of GNU Emacs and much else besides. 'Father' of the free software movement and campaigner for civil liberties. The holder of numerous awards and distinctions, including the ACM Grace Hopper medal and membership of the National Academy of Engineering.

Software Engineering Challenges in Bioinformatics
Janet Thornton.

Data from biological research is proliferating rapidly and advanced data storage and analysis methods are required to manage it. We introduce the main sources of biological data available and outline some of the domain-specific problems associated with automated analysis. We discuss two major areas in which we are likely experience software engineering challenges over the next ten years: data integration and presentation.

Brief biography:
Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). World leading researcher in bioinformatics and biomolecular structure. The efforts to map the human genome sequence was unquestionably one of the extraordinary scientific achievements of the twentieth century. This revolution in biology brings profound challenges for computing.

Controlling the Complexity of Software Designs
Karl Lieberherr.

Our research has focused on identifying techniques to develop software that is amenable to refactoring and change. The Law of Demeter (LoD): "Talk only to your friends" was one contribution in this effort. But it led to other problems. With the current state of the art focused on Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD), it is useful to revisit the general objectives of the LoD and adapt it to the new ideas. Hence we introduce the Law of Demeter for Concerns (LoDC): "Talk only to your friends that share your concerns". We discuss the important intersection of LoD and LoDC with traversals and we explore the ramifications of the Laws of Demeter to achieve better separation of concerns through an improved software process.

Brief biography:
Distinguished software development researcher. Pioneer of software component research. Responsible for innovative early work in aspect-oriented and adaptive programming.