Escaped from the Lab! Does ICSE Research Make a Difference?

For 50 years ICSE has brought together researchers and practitioners in software engineering to share innovative research ideas. Steven Fraser (Innoxec) and Dennis Mancl (MSWX Software Experts) organized a panel to discuss how ICSE research has influenced software education, practices, and products. Panelists included Jonathan Aldrich (CMU), Robert Biddle (Carleton University), Margaret Burnett (Oregon State), Cierra Jaspan (Google), Tim Lister (Atlantic Systems Guild), and Gail Murphy (UBC). The panel observed that while ICSE is a great place for academics to publish and network, it has failed somewhat - because practitioners don't generally attend ICSE or read the conference proceedings. Suggested strategies to improve ICSE included - adding an ''experience report'' track at future ICSEs and developing other mechanisms to increase the participation of industry software practitioners. Panelists also suggested that academics and industry practitioners need to be better motivated to share research ideas and industry practices.