Engineering pluripotent information systems

Abstract

A pluripotent information system is an open and distributed information system that (i) automatically adapts at runtime to changing operating conditions, and (ii) satisfies both the requirements anticipated at development time, and those unanticipated before but relevant at runtime. Engineering pluripotency into an information system therefore responds to two recurring critical issues: (i) the need for adaptability given the uncertainty in a systempsilas operating environment, and (ii) the difficulty to fully anticipate and account for all possible stakeholderspsila requirements at development time and respond to the change of requirements at runtime. We draw on our grouppsilas research efforts over the last two years to show and discuss how pluripotency can be engineered into information systems.