Explore programs, committees, speakers, and materials from past HCSS conferences.
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2026
May 11-13
The 2026 HCSS Conference explored advances in high-confidence software and systems across three daily themes: Assuring AI, AI as an Enabler, and Beyond AI. The program examined formal verification and assurance for AI-enabled systems, AI-assisted development and reasoning, high-assurance software and firmware, cybersecurity, and emerging applications of formal methods.
Co-Chairs: Mike Dodds (Galois) and Sandeep Neema (Vanderbilt University)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2025
May 12-14
Marking the 25th annual HCSS Conference, the 2025 program explored AI and Models in the Software Development Lifecycle, Formal Verification of AI/ML Systems, Formalizing Pure Math, and Novel Automated Reasoning Applications. The program examined the expanding role of AI and formal reasoning in software development, assurance, mathematics, and emerging applications beyond traditional hardware and software verification.
Co-Chairs: Darren Cofer (Collins Aerospace) and Sandeep Neema (Vanderbilt University)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2024
May 6-8, 2024
The 2024 HCSS Conference explored Assured Open Source and Memory Safety, Program Transformations, and Use of Large Language Models in High-Assurance Contexts. The program examined approaches to strengthening open-source software and legacy systems, using formal program transformations for software improvement and adaptation, and establishing greater assurance for the use of large language models in high-consequence applications.
Co-Chairs: Kristin Yvonne Rozier (Iowa State University) and Darren Cofer (Collins Aerospace)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2023
May 8-10
The 2023 HCSS Conference explored Open Source, Protocol Verification, Proof of Bugs, and Semantically Rigorous and Integrated High-Level Abstractions. The program examined software supply-chain security and trust, verification of protocol designs and implementations, the use of formal methods to discover and demonstrate system flaws, and rigorous high-level abstractions for model-based development and engineering.
Co-Chairs: Patrick Lincoln (SRI International) and Kristin Yvonne Rozier (Iowa State University)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2022
May 16-19
The 2022 HCSS Conference explored Autonomous IoT, Cyber Defense of the Supply Chain, Identifying and Controlling Weird Machines, and Driving Formal Methods to Practice. The program addressed challenges ranging from machine learning and cyber-assured systems engineering to software supply-chain security, continuous certification, and the practical application of formal verification.
Co-Chairs: Patrick Lincoln (SRI International) and Lee Pike (Amazon Web Services)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2021
May 3-6
The 2021 HCSS Conference explored Proof Robustness, Exploring Compositionality, and Continuous Development and Formal Methods. The program examined how correctness evidence can evolve alongside changing software, how compositional approaches can support scalable assurance, and how formal methods can be integrated into modern iterative development practices.
Co-Chairs: June Andronick (Trustworthy Systems group, CSIRO, UNSW Sydney) and Lee Pike (Amazon Web Services)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2020
September 14-17
The 2020 HCSS Conference marked the 20th anniversary of HCSS and explored three major themes: Architecture-level Formal Methods for New and Existing Systems, Cognitive Security, and Formal Methods at Scale. The program addressed trustworthy AI, learning-enabled systems, computational propaganda, scalable verification, automated reasoning, and the application of formal methods to production software and systems.
Co-Chairs: June Andronick (Trustworthy Systems group, CSIRO, UNSW Sydney) and Dr. Eric W. Smith (Kestrel Institute)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2019
April 29 - May 1
The 2019 HCSS Conference explored Semantics-Driven Testing, Hardware Software Coassurance, and Automated Software Certification. The program examined approaches to automated testing and vulnerability discovery, assurance across hardware and software layers, and the use of modeling and automated reasoning to improve the rigor and efficiency of certification for critical systems.
Co-Chairs: Eric Smith (Kestrel Institute) and Matt Wilding (Collins Aerospace)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2018
May 7 - 9
The 2018 HCSS Conference explored Complex Heterogeneous Systems, Trusting Autonomy, and Blockchain Assurance. The program examined approaches to composing assurance evidence across complex systems, establishing confidence in learning-enabled and autonomous technologies, and addressing the security and verification challenges posed by emerging blockchain applications.
Co-Chairs: Perry Alexander (University of Kansas) and Matt Wilding (Rockwell Collins)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2017
May 8 - 10
The 2017 HCSS Conference explored Industrialization of Formal Methods, Privacy, Assurance for AI, and Technology and Model Cross-over. The program examined the practical adoption of formal methods, privacy engineering and differential privacy, assurance for artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and rigorous approaches to software and system security.
Co-Chairs: Perry Alexander (University of Kansas) and Stephen Magill (Galois, Inc.)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2016
May 10 - 12
The 2016 HCSS Conference explored Measuring Security, Proofs that Cross IP Boundaries, Programming and Reasoning With Uncertainty, and Verification of Autonomous and Adaptive Systems. The program examined approaches to assessing software security, enabling proof-based assurance across organizational boundaries, reasoning rigorously about uncertainty, and verifying increasingly autonomous and adaptive critical systems.
Co-Chairs were Kathleen Fisher (Tufts University) and Stephen Magill (Galois)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations
2015
May 5-7
The 2015 HCSS Conference explored Proof Engineering, Sustainable Integrity, and Privacy. The program examined approaches to making large-scale formal proofs maintainable, extensible, and reusable; establishing and preserving trust across complex hardware and software supply chains; and developing principled, evidence-based methods for designing and assessing privacy-aware systems.
Co-Chairs: Kathleen Fisher (Tufts University) and John Hatcliff (Kansas State University)
Program Agenda | Call for PresentationsALL FOR PRESENTATIONS | PROGRAM COMMITTEE
2014
May 6 - 8
The 2014 HCSS Conference highlighted Requirements and Specifications, Reasoning about Control, and Mobility, with cross-cutting themes of Designed in Security and Economic Incentives for Cybersecurity. The program explored rigorous approaches to specifying and assuring critical systems, reasoning about increasingly complex control systems, securing mobile platforms, designing security into systems from the outset, and understanding the economic factors that shape cybersecurity adoption
Co-Chairs: Byron Cook (Microsoft Research) and John Hatcliff (Kansas State University)
Program Agenda | Call for PresentationsALL FOR PRESENTATIONS | PROGRAM COMMITTEE
2013
May 7 - 10
The 2013 HCSS Conference explored Automatic Theorem Proving and SMT, JavaScript, and the Boundary Between Hardware and Software. The program examined advances in automated reasoning and solver technology, techniques for developing and analyzing secure and robust JavaScript systems, and rigorous approaches to challenges that cross traditional hardware and software abstractions.
Co-Chairs: Byron Cook (Microsoft Research) and Ray Richards (Rockwell Collins)
Program Agenda | Call for PresentationsALL FOR PRESENTATIONS | PROGRAM COMMITTEE
2012
May 6-11
The 2012 HCSS Conference highlighted Technology Transfer, Formal Synthesis, and Compositional Reasoning, concluding with a workshop on Designed-in Security. The program explored moving high-confidence methods into practice, automatically constructing systems from formal specifications, reasoning about complex systems through composition, and incorporating security into systems from the outset.
Co-Chairs: John Launchbury (Galois) and Ray Richards (Rockwell Collins)
Program Agenda | Call for PresentationsALL FOR PRESENTATIONS | PROGRAM COMMITTEE
2011
May 2 - 6
The 2011 HCSS Conference marked an important transition in the conference’s history, introducing Program Co-Chairs and expanding the role of the broader HCSS community in shaping the conference program, while maintaining NSA guidance and direction. The program continued HCSS’s focus on the scientific foundations and practical techniques needed to build and assure high-confidence software-intensive and cyber-physical systems.
Co-Chairs: John Launchbury (Galois) and Bill Scherlis (CMU)
Program Agenda | Call for Presentations | PROGRAM COMMITTEE
HIGH CONFIDENCE SOFTWARE AND SYSTEMS CONFERENCE 2001 - 2010
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