ANCOST / ANCOAT Mission Statement

ANCOST / ANCOAT Mission Statement

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The Annual National Conference on Software Technology (ANCOST) Board 
sponsors the Annual National Conference on Ada Technology (ANCOAT).

ANCOAT Mission Statement:
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     THE ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADA TECHNOLOGY (ANCOAT)
                               
MISSION:  To actively promote the development of well-qualified 
          software engineering professionals by conducting an annual 
          conference and related activities that encourage ongoing 
          interaction between academia (both students and faculty), 
          government, and industry.
 
BACKGROUND:
                          
The goal of the ANCOAT conferences is to achieve greater effectiveness in 
the professional practice of software engineering by bringing together 
talented people from government, industry, and academia. Government and 
industry involvement is important as these are the professionals using 
software engineering to develop systems vital to our aviation, business, 
communications, space, and national defense missions. Academic 
involvement is also important as it molds students to be the software 
engineering professionals of the future. These students will become the 
software engineering professionals our nation will depend on to develop 
and maintain our mission-critical software.
 
This conference has two objectives. The first is on improving the quality of 
systems through software engineering. The second is to encourage students 
and their academic institutions toward production of the best future 
software professionals possible. We believe Ada is an important building 
block of software engineering and an important facilitator for educating 
software professionals.
 
The presence of industry and government professionals, along with faculty 
and students, sets the stage for effective and beneficial exchanges of ideas, 
needs, and perspectives. A conference involving academicians alone cannot 
possibly provide the benefits afforded by ANCOAT, including formal and 
informal communications with software engineering managers and 
professionals from organizations that may become employers of students or 
sponsors for research. The conference arranges for national leaders in 
government and industry to provide keynote and luncheon presentations. In 
turn, industry and government attendees are updated on academic 
programs, and gain greater understanding of the issues academic 
departments face in trying to change their emphases to better fulfill 
government and industry needs. Professionals also benefit from their 
interactions with each other, sharing their experiences and lessons learned 
in many aspects of software development, integration, and maintenance.
 
The ANCOAT conferences are planned and managed by the Annual 
National Conference on Software Technology, Inc. (ANCOST), a non-profit 
corporation. The ANCOST Board consists of professionals from 
government, industry and academia, contributing a great deal of time, 
energy, and money to make the conference a success. In order to achieve 
effective software engineering practices in government and industry, 
academia must play a key role. The conference has from its inception 
strongly involved Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in 
its planning and execution, and has in more recent years made a conscious 
effort to broaden participation of academic institutions of every 
background, size, and stature.
 
This conference provides an "up close and personal", nurturing environment 
for student attendees. The students are encouraged to present papers, and 
are provided an evening reception with an opportunity to meet industry 
and government professionals, and students and professors from other 
schools. There is increasing participation of computer science/software 
engineering professors in the conference, with truly exceptional papers and 
panel discussions being presented this year on the role of Ada in software 
engineering education in the colleges and universities. 
 
We believe the conference offers government and industry the opportunity 
to mold our soon-to-be software engineering professionals to meet the 
challenging technical demands of the future.