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CALL FOR PAPERS
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The 15th ACM International Conference on Distributed and Event-based Systems (DEBS’21)

Milan, Italy
28th June – 2nd July 2021

Website: https://2021.debs.org
Twitter: @ACM_DEBS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACM.DEBS

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Abstract Submission: 26th of February, 2021
Research Paper Submission: 5th of March, 2021

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HIGHLIGHTS
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Top-rated papers from DEBS 2021 will be invited to submit an extended version of their paper to a special issue in Information Systems.
Additional focus area: machine learning for complex event processing, distributed and event-based systems for the COVID-19 pandemic.

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SCOPE
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The DEBS conference covers topics in distributed and event-based computing. The scope of the conference includes systems dealing with collecting, detecting, processing and responding to events through distributed middleware and applications. Examples of application domains covered by the conference include the Internet of Things, sensor networks, social networking, finance, transportation, healthcare and logistics, computer and network security. Technologies discussed include complex event recognition and forecasting, real-time analytics, reliability and resilience, distributed ledger and blockchains, energy management and green computing, data stream reasoning, big/fast data analysis, event processing for Artificial Intelligence and vice versa, security and encryption in stream processing, embedded systems, and cloud, peer-to-peer, ubiquitous and mobile computing. Topics relevant to enterprise-level computing include enterprise application integration, real-time enterprises, Web services and support for enterprises to respond in a timely fashion to changing situations. The covered topics include, but are not limited to:

Models, architectures and paradigms: Complex event processing, event-driven architectures, trustworthy event-based systems, real-time analytics, intelligent event processing, event processing in big and fast data, data stream processing, security and encryption in stream processing, complex event forecasting, in-network processing, logic-based complex event recognition, online relational learning, distributed event pattern learning, event correlation and pattern languages.

Systems and software: Distributed data processing, distributed programming, federated event-based systems, AI/ML for event processing, information-centric networking, software-defined networking, security, reliability and resilience, distributed ledger and blockchains, programmable hardware, energy management and green computing as well as cloud, fog, ubiquitous and mobile computing.

Applications: Use cases, requirements and applications of distributed and event-based systems in various domains including Internet-of-Things, life sciences, moving object applications, smart cities, cyber-physical systems, sensor networks, social networking, multimedia analytics, finance, healthcare and logistics, computer and network security, smart contracts and blockchains. Also, relevant topics span enterprise-level computing, including enterprise application integration, real-time enterprises, event-based business process management, and support for enterprises to respond in a timely fashion to changing situations.

Beyond the above topics, the DEBS 2021 research track will highlight the following focus areas: machine learning for complex event processing, distributed and event-based systems for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conference Committee encourages submissions in these focus areas, and will highlight these in the conference in separate sessions. Submissions to the focus areas will be overseen by dedicated area chairs but reviewed according to the same standards and procedures as other DEBS Research paper submissions.

Focus area: Machine Learning for Complex Event Processing.
Manual complex event pattern authoring and refinement is tedious, error-prone and time-consuming. Consequently, machine learning techniques automating the process of complex event pattern construction, operating on top of streaming as well as archival data, are highly desirable. Example topics include, but are not limited to:

• Single-pass learning over automata, trees, graphs, first-order logic formulas, and other symbolic objects;
• Explainable event pattern learning;
• Neuro-symbolic event pattern learning;
• Statistical relational learning for complex event processing;
• Distributed event pattern learning.

Focus Area: Distributed and Event-Based Systems for the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This focus area will highlight complex event processing techniques and solutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Complex event processing with mobility patterns and data for contact tracing;
• Event-based systems for monitoring and forecasting epidemic spread;
• New DEBS frameworks or tools that can be useful to epidemiologists;
• Solutions for monitoring patient disease progression;
• Open-source algorithms and large-scale datasets that accelerate DEBS research for fighting COVID-19.

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IMPORTANT DATES
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Abstract submission for research track February 26th, 2021
Research paper submission March 5th, 2021
Research paper notification April 19th, 2021
Camera ready deadline May 14th, 2021
Conference June 28th – July 2nd, 2021

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PAPER SUBMISSION
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In addition to the traditional Research papers, DEBS 2021 welcomes submissions on two new categories: Experiments & Benchmarks papers, and Vision papers.

All research paper categories of DEBS 2021 are presented below:

• Research papers, presenting original research results on the topics of DEBS. Page limit: 12 pages.
• Experiments & Benchmarks papers, presenting the evaluation of existing algorithms and systems that are of interest in the DEBS community. An Experiments & Benchmarks paper provides new insights into the strengths and weaknesses of existing algorithms and systems, rather than presenting new methods. For papers that identify negative or contradictory results with respect to published results by third parties, the Program Committee may ask the third parties to comment on the submission, and potentially provide a short rebuttal/explanation to be published along with the submission. We also encourage papers presenting new ways to evaluate existing methods (e.g., novel curated datasets, benchmarking frameworks or methodologies). Page limit: 12 pages.
• Vision papers, outlining futuristic distributed and event-based systems. Submissions should describe novel early-stage projects with eventually high impact. Each submission should clearly state the success criteria of the futuristic system. Page limit: 6 pages.

DEBS 2021 places emphasis on reproducibility: we encourage authors of Research papers and Experiments & Benchmarks papers to make available all data used for empirical evaluation, the related software as well as clear instructions for reproducing the presented experiments, as a form of supplementary material. The reviewers will be encouraged to consider this material.

Authors of selected, top-rated papers from DEBS 2021 will be invited to submit an extended version of their paper to a special issue in Information Systems.

All submissions must be original, unpublished and cannot be under review for another publishing forum during the time it is under submission to DEBS.

The conference adopts a double-blind review process for the research track, where neither authors nor reviewers know each other’s identities. Supplementary material should not reveal the identity of the authors. This means that papers must not list or otherwise identify the authors. References to previous work should be done in the third person as to not reveal the identities of the authors. Research track submissions that are not anonymous may be rejected without review.

The authors of accepted papers will be given a choice between different copyright agreements, in accordance with the recent changes in the ACM policy. The options will include new opportunities for open access as well as the traditional ACM copyright agreement. Papers can be submitted via Easychair (PDF files only). Submissions to the research track will be evaluated by the Research Program Committee.

Submitted papers are required to adhere to the two column “sigconf” ACM conference proceeding style. Templates and examples in LaTeX and various versions of Microsoft Word are available for download from the 2017 ACM Master Article Template page. These submission instructions will be updated further closer to the deadline.