Context, Composition, Automation, and Communication: The C 2 AC Roadmap for Modeling and Simulation

ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation, vol. 34, pp. 1–51

Abstract

Simulation has become, in many application areas, a sine qua non . Most recently, COVID-19 has underlined the importance of simulation studies and limitations in current practices and methods. We identify four goals of methodological work for addressing these limitations. The first is to provide better support for capturing, representing, and evaluating the context of simulation studies, including research questions, assumptions, requirements, and activities contributing to a simulation study. In addition, the composition of simulation models and other simulation studies’ products must be supported beyond syntactical coherence, including aspects of semantics and purpose, enabling their effective reuse. A higher degree of automating simulation studies will contribute to more systematic, standardized simulation studies and their efficiency. Finally, it is essential to invest increased effort into effectively communicating results and the processes involved in simulation studies to enable their use in research and decision making. These goals are not pursued independently of each other, but they will benefit from and sometimes even rely on advances in other sub-fields. In this article, we explore the basis and interdependencies evident in current research and practice and delineate future research directions based on these considerations.

Authors 12

1. Adelinde M. Uhrmacher

   University of Rostock

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

2. Peter I. Frazier

   Cornell University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cornell University, Ithaca, United States

3. Reiner Hähnle

   Technische Universität Darmstadt

   Affiliation as printed

   TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

4. Franziska Klügl

   Örebro University

   Affiliation as printed

   Orebro universitet, Orebro, Sweden

5. Fabian Lorig

   Malmö University

   Affiliation as printed

   Malmö universitet, Malmo, Sweden

6. Bertram Ludäscher

   University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States

7. Laura Nenzi

   University of Trieste

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

8. Cristina Ruiz-Martín

   Carleton University

   Affiliation as printed

   Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

9. Bernhard Rumpe⋆ Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

10. Claudia Szabo

    The University of Adelaide

    Affiliation as printed

    The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

11. Gabriel Wainer

    Carleton University

    Affiliation as printed

    Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

12. Pia Wilsdorf

    University of Rostock

    Affiliation as printed

    Universitat Rostock, Rostock, Germany