(Apologies for multiple copies. Note that the deadline for submissions is
now 10 March 2008.)

===============================================================
                     ABZ 2008 Conference
                    September 16-18, 2008
         BCS London Offices, Covent Garden, London, UK

                    Second Call for Papers

Abstract State Machines (ASM), B and Z stand for three rigorous
methods that share a common conceptual foundation and are widely
used in both academia and industry for the design and analysis
of hardware and software systems. This conference is dedicated
to the cross-fertilization of these three related state-based
and machine-based formal methods. The program spans from
theoretical and methodological foundations to practical
applications, emphasizing system engineering methods and tools
that are distinguished by mathematical rigor and have proved to
be industrially viable. A main goal of the conference is to
contribute to the integration of accurate state- and
machine-based system development methods, clarifying their
commonalities and differences to better understand how to
combine related approaches for accomplishing the various tasks
in modelling, experimental validation, and mathematical
verification of reliable high-quality hardware/software systems.

The conference will be articulated into a one-day common program
of invited lectures and two days of contributed papers.
Although organized logistically as an integral event, editorial
control of the joint conference remains vested in three separate
programme committees, which will respectively determine its ASM,
B and Z content, to be presented in parallel conference tracks
with a schedule to allow the participants to switch between the
sessions. The conference simultaneously incorporates the 15th
International ASM Workshop, the 17th International Conference of
Z Users and the 8th International Conference on the B Method.
It will be preceded by a tutorial day and Verified Software
Repository Network (VSR-net) workshop on Monday, September 15.

A case study for design and verification of a flash-based file
system is suggested to the participants. Leo Freitas and Jim
Woodcock will organize a series of intermediate workshops where
those who decide to work on the problem can meet to enhance the
collaborative aspect of the work. For details see:
http://www.abz2008.org/

The papers are planned to be published in a volume of Springer's
LNCS series. Contributions are solicited on all aspects of the
theory and applications of ASMs, B, Z and related approaches in
software/hardware engineering, including the development of
tools and industrial applications.

Two kinds of contributions are invited:

1. Research papers: full papers (not extended abstracts) of not
more than 12 pages (in LNCS format), which have to be original,
unpublished and not submitted elsewhere. Papers dealing with
the case study are particularly welcome.

2. Short presentations of work in progress, industrial
experience reports and tool demonstrations. An extended
abstract of not more than 3 pages is expected and will be
reviewed. The volume of accepted extended abstracts will be
made available at the time of the conference on the website of
the conference, a 1-page abstract of each presentation will be
published in the Proceedings.

Conference Chair:
 Egon Boerger, University of Pisa, Italy

Program Chairs:
 Egon Boerger, University of Pisa, Italy (ASM)
 Michael Butler, University of Southampton, UK (B)
 Jonathan Bowen, London South Bank University, UK (Z)

Local Chair and Financial Chair:
 Paul Boca, London South Bank University, UK

Chair of the VSR day:
 Jim Woodcock, The University of York, UK

Programme Committees:

For ASMs:
 Egon Boerger, University of Pisa, Italy (Chair)
 Alessandra Cavarra, Oxford University, UK
 Andreas Friesen, SAP Research, Germany
 Uwe Glaesser, Simon Fraser University, Canada
 Susanne Graf, Verimag, France
 Kristina Lundqvist, MIT, USA
 Andreas Prinz, Agder University College, Norway
 Elvinia Riccobene, University of Milan, Italy
 Klaus-Dieter Schewe, Massey University, New Zealand
 Anatol Slissenko, University of Paris 12, France
 Jan Van den Bussche, University of Hasselt, Belgium
 Margus Veanes, Microsoft Research, USA
 Chuck Wallace, Michigan Technological University, USA

For B:
 Christian Attiogbé, LINA Université de Nantes, France
 Richard Banach, University of Manchester, UK
 Juan Bicarregui, STFC-Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK
 Michael Butler, University of Southampton, UK (Chair)
 Dominique Cansell, LORIA University of Metz, France
 Daniel Dolle, Siemens Transportation Systems, France
 Marc Frappier, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada
 Jacques Julliand, LIFC Université de Besançon, France
 Regine Laleau, LACL IUT Fontainebleau, France
 Michael Leuschel, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
 Dominique Mery, Université Henri Poincaré Nancy, France
 Annabelle McIver, Macquarie University, Australia
 Louis Mussat, ClearSy, France
 Marie-Laure Potet, LSR-IMAG Grenoble, France
 Ken Robinson, University of New South Wales, Australia
 Emil Sekerinski, McMaster University, Canada
 Steve Schneider, University of Surrey, UK
 Bill Stoddart, University of Teesside, UK
 Elena Troubitsyna, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
 Mark Utting, University of Waïkato, New Zealand

For Z:
 Jonathan Bowen, London South Bank University, UK (Chair)
 John Derrick, University of Sheffield, UK
 Leo Freitas, The University of York, UK
 Martin Henson, University of Essex, UK
 Mike Hinchey, Loyola College in Maryland, USA
 Randolph Johnson, National Security Agency, USA
 Yves Ledru, LSR-IMAG, France
 Steve Reeves, University of Waikato, New Zealand
 Mark Utting, University of Waikato, New Zealand
 Sergiy Vilkomir, University of Limerick, Ireland
 Jim Woodcock, The University of York, UK

Venue: The conference will take place at the BCS London Offices,
Davidson Building, 5 Southampton Street, Covent Garden, London,
UK. The support of the British Computer Society, through the
BCS Formal Aspects of Computing Science Specialist Group, in
providing the venue and refreshments, is gratefully
acknowledged.

Important dates:
 March 10, 2008:
  Submission of full papers.
 March 31,2008:
  Submission of extended abstracts for short presentations.
 April 14,2008:
  Communication about acceptance/rejection of submitted papers
  and extended abstracts.
 May 5, 2008:
  Camera-ready version of the accepted full papers and 1-page
  abstract for the short presentations.
 September 15, 2008:
  Tutorials and VSR-net workshop.
 September 16-18, 2008:
  Main ABZ 2008 conference.

Information on the procedure how to submit papers, to register,
to reach London, weather conditions, etc., will be available in
due time at the conference website under http://www.abz2008.org/

Supported/sponsored by:
 ASM User Group
 Association de Pilotage des Conférences B
 British Computer Society
 BCS-FACS Specialist Group
 EPSRC VSR-net Network
 London South Bank University
 Nokia
 Z User Group

For questions concerning ABZ 2008, contact:
Prof. Egon Boerger [log in to unmask]

For up-to-date information, see the conference website:
http://www.abz2008.org/



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