Call for Papers: Special Issue on New Trends in Autonomous Systems Engineering ABSTRACT During the past decades, Autonomous Systems (AS) have attracted considerable attention due to their capability of performing multiple operations without human control. Because of the prominent features of high autonomy and mobility, they are vitally important tools for numerous applications in telecommunications, wireless ad hoc systems, business applications with an emphasis on web services, software product lines and product families, cyber-physical systems, blockchain as a service and systems-of-systems. These emerging AS are considered by many to be autonomy enabling solutions in different domains. However, their increasing complexity makes them difficult to manage (modelling, implementation and maintenance), and creates many challenges for researchers, and programmers. On the one hand, they must meet very stringent guarantees of autonomy, flexibility, high performance and reliability, both for business as well as for safety reasons. On the other hand, their development requires interaction between engineers from control system and software domains, whose differing backgrounds are often a source of confusion and misunderstanding. TOPICS OF INTEREST The aim of this special issue is to document new contributions in functional and non-functional adaptability and reconfiguration management in Autonomous Systems (AS). We are looking for high-quality submissions on the latest challenges, breakthroughs, and future trends. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Specification, modelling, and verification of AS. Service-oriented architectures for AS. Agent-based approaches for AS. Coordination of adaptation AS. Autonomous and Distributed AS. Engineering Autonomous systems. The programming environment of AS. Test and validation of AS. Scalability and performance of AS. Reliability and availability of AS. Design techniques for AS. Design, implementation, and analysis of privacy, security and QoS management solutions for AS. Tools and prototypes for managing adaptability of AS. Context-awareness for AS. Autonomous Systems of Systems. Autonomous Cyber-physical Systems. We invite the submission of high-quality papers describing original and significant work in the SIAS domain. We also encourage submission of extended papers from the workshop of Adaptive and Reconfigurable Systems and Architectures (AROSA’ 2021). Surveys and (Systematic) Literature Reviews are out of the scope of the special issue and will be desk-rejected. GUEST EDITORS Nesrine Khabou, ReDCAD, University of Sfax, Tunisia. Email: nesrine.khabou@redcad.org Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-gSDzYwAAAAJ&hl=fr Ismael Bouassida Rodriguez, ReDCAD, University of Sfax, Tunisia. Email: bouassida@redcad.org Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=fr&user=4Ld8vDsAAAAJ Mohamed Jmaiel, CRNS, ReDCAD, University of Sfax, Tunisia Email: mohamed.jmaiel@redcad.org Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=fr&user=AZK1D5QAAAAJ IMPORTANT DATES September 1st, 2021: Full paper submission due December 1st, 2021: First round notification February 1st, 2022: Revised submission due April 15th, 2022: Paper acceptance decision May 15th, 2022: Camera-ready paper due EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Prof. Hamid R. Arabnia, University of Georgia, hra@uga.edu SUBMISSION INFORMATION All manuscripts and any supplementary material should be submitted through the Springer Editorial System for the Journal of Supercomputing (https://www.editorialmanager.com/supe). Follow the submission instructions given on this site. All manuscripts should comply with the journal’s submission guidelines. Detailed author guidelines are available at https://www.springer.com/journal/11227/submission-guidelines Manuscripts must not have been published previously or be currently under consideration for publication in any other journal or conference. Extended versions of previous papers are expected to have at least 40% new material different from the original work (new research results.) DECISIONS Submissions will be reviewed by at least three experts in the field. The primary evaluation criteria are high-quality of the submission, innovative aspects in the domain of metamorphic testing, practical applications of proposed idea(s), and thorough evaluation. The guest editors in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief will make final decisions.