NEWSLETTER

In this issue: -      Join us in Rome -      COSMIC at the IWSM Mensura conference -      Workshop on Technical Debt -      Can you spare some time? -      Get certified!

August 2023

 

Join us in Rome

On Thursday, September 14 and Friday, September 15, the IWSM Mensura conference will be held in Rome. More details are available on the conference website. Those of you who are attending the conference are welcome to join us at 16.00 local time at the Centro Congressi Frentani, close to Roma Termini railway station. We will of course discuss some formal stuff, but most of the time will be dedicated to how we can increase the COSMIC visibility in various communities. We would much appreciate your help in prioritizing and improving the ideas we have gathered over the last months. There are still seats available at the conference. More information is available on the registration page.

For those who cannot attend in person, please send an e-mail to the executive committee and we will contact you to follow the meeting via ZOOM.

 

COSMIC at the IWSM Mensura conference

During the IWSM Mensura conference several COSMIC-related papers will be presented and a COSMIC early sizing tutorial will be given. The papers will be made available via CEUR. The materials from the tutorial will be available through the COSMIC website. You will also be able to meet with a number of COSMIC practitioners in the flesh and share your ideas and questions.

 

Workshop on technical debt

During the first day of the IWSM Mensura conference a workshop will be held on technical debt.

Technical debt is defined as the cost or consequence of prioritizing delivery over performance or quality. What are the key drivers of technical debt, and how can such key drivers be sized? This workshop will explore the identification of technical debt cost drivers, which ones can be derived from software functional requirements not yet implemented as well as from system non-functional requirements not implemented and that can be implemented in software functions distributed across a software environment.

First, we will try to develop a common understanding of what Technical Debt is and how it affects agile development practices. Next, we will aim at identifying measurement solutions that are already available, their strengths and weaknesses, and gaps, where there are no measurement solutions available yet. Third, we try to define and promote a method for practitioners that can widely be used among all the software measurements and counting communities.

The goals of the Workshop are the identification of key issues in the measurement of technical debt, including existing measurement solution and gaps, followed by a preliminary planning on how to tackle some of the issues identified over the next two years.

You can contribute by sending an experience report in the form of a short presentation, eventually accompanied by a short paper. We plan to publish a workshop report, edited by Alain Abran, where contributions will be included, as well as discussion reports from the groups. The contributions should be sent to info@e-p-o.com by August 20 so that they can be included in the program of the workshop that will only be in person at the conference in Rome.

 

Can you spare some time?

The COSMIC organization is looking for volunteers who can spare some time to help steer the organization. If you have some time to spare or know someone you could recommend to help us out, please contact Frank Vogelezang or Alain Abran and they will find out together where you or the person you recommend best fits in.

 

Get certified!

Earning a COSMIC certification validates your skills and opens new doors for career advancement. COSMIC certification opens new doors for professional and career development.  Employers often require proof of proficiency or training to demonstrate that you are capable of performing the tasks required of you. The COSMIC organization has set up a Certification Scheme for those who require such proof.

There are currently two certificates available:

1. COSMIC Foundation Level
2. Early & Quick Size Estimating

 

Get the official COSMIC accreditation only through cosmic-sizing.org and join nearly 1,500 professionals who have shown their proficiency in the standard methodology for sizing software.