Guest editorial for the special issue on resilient and antifragile ambient systems

Abstract

This issue of the Journal of Reliable Intelligent Environments is focused on the topic of Resilient and Antifragile Ambient Systems. The engineering of antifragile computer-based systems is a challenge that, once met, would allow systems to selfevolve and self-improve by learning from accidents and mistakes in a way not dissimilar to that human beings are capable of. Learning how to design and craft antifragile systems is thus an extraordinary challenge whose tackling is likely to reverberate on many a computer engineering field. Computational antifragility for systems and ambients is the main theme of the present issue. The issue includes seven contributions that contribute both practically and theoretically to the state-of-the-art of computational antifragility. In “On environments as systemic exoskeletons: Crosscutting optimizers and antifragility enablers”, Vincenzo De Florio first introduces a general systems classification and then discusses how it may be used to realize intelligent environments able to optimize a systems performance and enable antifragile behaviors. This is exemplified by considering a telemonitoring system developed in the framework of Flemish project Little Sister. In “Approaches for Engineering Adaptive Systems in Ubiquitous and Pervasive Environments”, Mohamed Bakhouya and Jaafar Gaber discuss the main challenges for the engineering of systems able to self-adapt and selfimprove by learning from their interactions with ubiquitous and pervasive environments. The paper also discusses the