NLP4RE will feature a Keynote from Sarah Gregory, Intel Corporation on: 

Codeswitching, RE@Industry, and how NLP just might Save Us All!

Abstract: A 2020 systematic mapping study on NLP for Requirements Engineering provided an extraordinarily comprehensive view of the state of the art of NLP4RE research and practice. In short, research is abundant and flourishing, and industrial adoption is nearly nonexistent. A practitioner who codeswitches – speaks both “research” and “industry” as needed for both her personal identity and professional advancement reasons surveys the survey. How does NLP4RE – and RE research in general - look from the perspective of a bilingual shuttle diplomat who exists uncomfortably in both worlds? Practitioners have little exposure and less concern for most factors that motivate research, and researchers’ priorities may be diametrically opposed to what Industry requires – requirements! – to incorporate new tools and techniques. We’ve talked about “tech transfer” for years in the broader RE community, and yet we remain just as far apart as ever. The linguistic concept of codeswitching might be a key to bridging the gulf.

Biography: Sarah Gregory works in the Internet of Things Group, Intel Corporation, and is the keeper of the company’s RE methods and practices training. She also coaches practitioners across the company on approaches to solving complex problems. She holds degrees in History, Law, Information Science, and Systematic Theology, as well as a certificate in Spiritual Direction. Two years ago she put PhD research in Social Theory on hold, just prior to her last comprehensive exams, to form and grow a team solving a particular Wicked Problem at Intel that unfortunately she can’t talk about quite yet. Codeswitching across multiple contexts is a facet of her daily existence – exhausting, but also rewarding. A RE practitioner at Intel for 21 years, Sarah has been active in the IEEE RE and REFSQ communities since 2008 and 2014, respectively. She was the first Industy representative to the IEEE RE Conference Steering Committee, and has been the Requirements Engineering Department Editor for IEEE Software Magazine since 2018.