Editorial

Abstract

Progress in computer science is rapid. A multitude of research conferences dedicated to more and more specialized topics are held every year and reach only smaller and smaller communities. Even related research is not presented in the same conference series, but distributed over many, making it increasingly difficult to maintain an overview of the state of the research area, new developments, new problems to be solved, and new perspectives arising. In such a situation, it may be rewarding to hold one’s breath and to reflect the state of the field, identify strengths and weaknesses, determine promising new developments and relevant new problems, and seek synergies between different fields.

Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics – is offering so-called Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshops for this type of reflective activity. A Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop is proposed by a small group of established leaders in the respective area. A proposal strongly motivates the topic of the workshop. In addition, it contains a list of participants of international standing to discuss the status quo and the future directions of the field. Results of a Perspectives Workshop are delivered in form of a Dagstuhl Manifesto, intended to give the field a new orientation and point funding agencies to promising research directions.

Schloss Dagstuhl hosts about five Perspectives Workshops each year. This issue presents four selected manifestos from Perspectives Workshops that were held in 2008.