The Future of Software Engineering: Where Will Machine Learning, Agile, and Virtualization Take Us Next?

Software has become the lifeblood of the 21st century, enabling a broad range of commercial, medical, educational, agricultural, and government applications. These applications are designed and deployed through a variety of software best practices. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, developers have embraced virtualization (remote working) and a variety of strategies to manage the complexity of global development on multiple platforms. However, evolving hazards such as network security, algorithm bias, and the combination of careless developers and deliberate attacks continue to be a challenge. An XP2021 panel organized and chaired by Steven Fraser debated the future of software engineering and related topics such education, ethics, and tools. The panel featured Anita Carleton (CMU's SEI), Priya Marsonia (Cognizant), Bertrand Meyer (SIT, Eiffel Software), Landon Noll (Independent Consultant), and Kati Vilkki (Reaktor).