Title: Evolution of Low-Code Development Platforms in Software Ecosystems
Abstract:Some say that the entire history of software engineering is about raising the level of abstraction. Through new abstractions both academia and industry aim to develop more reliable, more secure, more performant, and better fitting software systems.
An increasingly popular solution to this challenge are low-code development platforms. These low-code development platforms explicitly target the `citizen developer’, a person that has no formal software engineering training. These people have a problem that can be solved through the development of software systems, but lack the education and training to do so. Through the raising of the level of abstraction low-code development platforms enable citizen developers to develop software without the support of professional trained developers.
We imagine a future for low-code development platforms where they can automate any business process, support business integration in software ecosystems, and run flexibly in the cloud. Through this vision, we employ traditional empirical software engineering research methods to propose new techniques, software patterns, and engineering practices for developers of low-code development platforms.

Title: Social Robots for child and family care in the Netherlands
Abstract: The Dutch child and family care system is experiencing many challenges like long waiting lists, regional differences in treatment practices and difficulties in early detection of problems. Meanwhile, hundred thousands of children under 18 are being treated in this system. To improve early detection, treatments and communication between stakeholders, and reduce professionals’ workload, we propose the use of social robots. Social robots have been proven to advance (health) education, by generally increasing engagement and motivation in children, but have barely been studied in this kind of mental health care context.
During this talk, I will discuss a 5-year participatory design project in collaboration with the CJG (Centrum voor Jeugd en Gezin: Dutch child and family center), including some methods, preliminary results and implementation plans for the future.