Towards reliable self-integrative IT systems

IT components with information processing and communication capabilities are embedded in almost all commonplace and industrial objects. In our daily life we depend more and more on these IT components. On the other hand, users will increasingly expect that those IT components collaborate autonomously and thus provide emergent properties. Hence we have to guarantee their reliability, even though the resulting organically grown IT systems are never developed and tested in advance: If, for example, a novel type of child safety seat with integrated child detection is used on the front passenger seat, the passenger side airbag could be deactivated automatically and the child safety lock could be activated. However, if the safety seat is located on the rear passenger bench, the passenger side airbag must not be deactivated! This paper suggests a framework for the development of reliable so called self-integrative systems. Thereby IT components are integrated (resp. removed) at execution time. The reliability of the resulting IT system is checked with regard to the specified functional, non-functional, and emergent properties based on an underlying formal model.