Transparency and Policies

Conference Governance

The DSD conference is organized by the Euromicro Association, an international scientific, engineering and educational organization dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of Information Technology and Microelectronics. Euromicro is a non-profit organization founded in 1973. The major focus is to organize conferences and workshops in Microelectronics, Computer Science and Computer Engineering, covering topics such as software engineering, real-time systems, parallel and distributed processing, multimedia, telecommunications, sensor systems, robotics, computer architecture and microelectronic hardware design, and publishes the Microprocessors and Microsystems (MICPRO) journal, in collaboration with Elsevier Science.

So far, four conferences are organised every year by Euromicro: PDP (Parallel and Distributed Programming and Networks), ECRTS (Euromicro Conference on Real Time Systems), SEAA (Software Engineering and Advanced Applications) and DSD (Digital Systems Design). DSD and SEAA are organised jointly in what is considered the annual Euromicro main event.

Euromicro is organized into a structure of correspondents in major European countries and in a few (technologically leading) extra EU countries coordinated by one or two directors per nation. This makes it possible to establish a widespread network of contacts that strengthens the selection of Program Committee members who are often personally known and evaluated for international and even local activity, as well as for their own scientific productions.

The DSD Steering Committee is responsible for long-term strategic decisions, including the appointment of Program Chairs and Special Session Chairs and the oversight of the organization of the conference. The committee is composed of senior members of the Euromicro community and past organizers. At now the SC is composed by Lech Jóźwiak (Eindhoven University of Technology, NL) – Chairman, Paris Kitsos (University of Peloponnese, GR), Tomasz Kryjak (AGH University of Krakow, PL), Hana Kubatova (Czech Technical University in Prague, CZ), Francesco Leporati (University of Pavia, IT), José Silva Matos (University of Porto, PT), Smail Niar (Polytechnic University of Hauts de-France, FR), António Nuñez (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ES), Eugenio Villar (University of Cantabria, ES).

Selection of Chairs

The selection of Program Chairs for the DSD conference is based on academic merit, leadership skills, and community involvement. Chairs are typically mid-career or senior researchers with a strong scientific track record, previous experience in program committees, and demonstrated organizational capabilities. DSD seeks to ensure a balance of senior and younger chairs by selecting two Program Chairs every year —typically aiming at pairing a more senior professor with a younger, promising researcher or professor. TPC Chairs are appointed by the DSD Steering Committee, which evaluates candidates based on their scientific contributions, organizational skills, prior involvement in the conference, and merit in the research community.

General Chairs are instead appointed by the joint DSD/SEAA steering committees, since the two conferences are co-located, according to similar criteria and their availability.

DSD and SEAA rotate across European venues to ensure accessibility and regional involvement. The General Chairs, typically based at the host institution, coordinate local arrangements and collaborate closely with the Program Chairs and the two Steering Committees, also in the scientific aspects of the organisation.

A Publication/Proceedings Chair is charged with the task of defining the agreement with the Publisher and the definition of all the material relative to the accepted papers that must be published in the Proceedings in tight collaboration with the General Secretary for all the financial issues.

Keynotes

In every edition of the conference, at least three keynote speeches are given by experts in the digital system design field to the participants. The Invited Speakers are well-known experts typically selected from both industry and academia.Keynote speeches are organised as plenary sessions that can be attended by DSD and SEAA participants.

Proceedings

Until now, the conference proceedings have been published by IEEE Computer Press and are made available through IEEEXplore.

Main track and Special Sessions

The conference addresses all aspects of (embedded, pervasive, and high-performance) digital and mixed HW/SW system development and covers the entire design process from specification to microarchitectures, digital circuits, and VLSI implementations. It is a forum for researchers and engineers from academia and industry working on advanced research, development and applications. It focuses on the current and future challenges of: advanced embedded, high-performance and cyber-physical applications; system and processor architectures for embedded and high performance HW/SW systems; design methodology and design automation for all design levels of embedded, high performance and cyber-physical systems; modern implementation technologies ranging from full-custom circuits in nanometer technology nodes to FPGAs and MPSoC infrastructures. Among the main topics that can be considered the following are considered: Artificial intelligence from edge to cloud: architectures, methods, tools and applications, Design and synthesis of systems, hardware and embedded software – specification, modelling, analysis, validation and testing; Design automation at system, processor, register-transfer, logic and physical levels; Formal methods in system and hardware design; IoT, cyber-physical, embedded systems and applications; Systems-on-a-chip, networks-on-a-chip and systems-in-a-package; High-performance, energy-efficient multi-core and many-core (heterogeneous) processor architectures; Autonomous/adaptable/reconfigurable systems and architectures; Security, safety, reliability and multi-objective optimization of embedded and cyber-physical systems; Future trends, new applications and new technologies.

In addition, Special Sessions on specific topics of special interest are organised. In particular:

  • AHSA: Architectures and Hardware for Security Applications
  • ASHWPA: Advanced Systems for Health Wellness and Personal Monitoring
  • DDVC: Digital Design and Verification with Chisel
  • DTFT: Dependability, Testing and Fault Tolerance in Digital Systems
  • EMPDSD: European and Major Multi-Partner Projects in Digital Systems Design
  • HIAAA: Hyperspectral Imaging Applications, Algorithms and Architectures
  • HSTIEC: Hardware, Software, and Tools for the IoT-to-Edge-to-Cloud Continuum
  • MATTERV: Opensource Methods, architectures, tools and technologies for RISC-V
  • SDSD: Sustainable Digital System Design
  • SPCPS: Safety, Security and Privacy of Cyber-Physical Systems

Indexing

The proceedings of the DSD conference are submitted every year (and until now indexed) to the main scientific databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar.

Special Issues

Every year, a special issue of the Elsevier journal “Microprocessors and Microsystems” is issued devoted to selected papers extracted from the Main Track and from the Special Sessions. The authors are invited to provide an extended version of the work presented at the conference with new insights and results for at least 30% more.

Selecting the venue

Usually, the venue is chosen in a location where a person from the Euromicro network (Steering Committee members, Programme Committee members, Chairman or General Secretary) operates or is in contact with local representatives. The location can be a university but also a suitable receptive environment for a scientific conference of 200-300 people. Those responsible for the local organisation (typically the General Chairs) are asked to submit an expense budget at least 6 months before the event that takes into account the logistical and publication costs and provides for the definition of the registration fees (full authors and students) to be published later on the site and which will become operational once the review phase of the papers is over.

Proposals for future locations are always welcomed and evaluated based on infrastructure, accessibility, local support, and community engagement.

Conference Policies

According to the principles that inspire Euromicro, DSD fosters transparency, diversity, scientific integrity, and community engagement, and defines clear policies regarding:

Diversity and Inclusion

The DSD/SEAA conference is committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in its program committees, keynote speakers, and general participation. Efforts are made to involve researchers from different countries, career stages, genders, and research backgrounds.

Scientific Integrity and Ethics

All submitted papers undergo a rigorous peer-review process. Authors and reviewers are expected to adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity, following the ethical guidelines generally accepted in the computer science community. Papers undergo a double-anonymous peer-review process to reduce unconscious bias, and at least three independent reviewers are appointed for each paper. Reviewers must not be in a conflict of interest (COI) with the authors. Authors and PC members indicate conflicts of interest and bidding preferences. Final decisions are based solely on merit, novelty, and relevance.

Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy

A COI occurs when:

  • The reviewer and author are affiliated with the same institution (past 3 years).
  • There is a close collaboration or co-authorship (past 3 years).
  • There is a supervisory relationship or a close personal relationship.

Reviewers with COIs are excluded from reviewing and participating in discussions. Program and Special Session Chairs manage COI with the utmost attention.

Transparent Review and Acceptance Policy

The conference commits to a competitive, double-blinded, selection process. This ensures the publication of high-quality, rigorously evaluated research.

Community and Network Support

DSD/SEAA is an expression of the Euromicro scientific community. Euromicro’s structure—based on national correspondents and coordinated directors—helps maintain a broad and reliable network of experts. This structure strengthens the selection of Program Committee members, who are chosen not only for their scientific production but also for their engagement in international and local academic communities.

Industry and Research Collaboration

The conference regularly features keynote speakers from both academia and industry. It also organizes dedicated sessions, such as the European Projects track, which highlights research already validated by competitive international funding bodies.

Use of AI for Research Papers

The use of AI tools is only allowed for changes made for readability, style, grammar, or spelling errors. Any factual inaccuracy or plagiarism in papers due to the use of AI tools is the sole responsibility of the authors. Papers containing citations of non-existent material will be rejected.