Rigorous engineering of collective adaptive systems – 3rd special section: part II

Abstract Adaptive systems are designed to modify their behaviour at runtime in response to dynamically changing and open-ended environments as well as evolving requirements. Such systems may operate as individual adaptive entities or as collective adaptive systems composed of multiple collaborating components. Rigorous engineering of these systems requires appropriate methods, models, and tools that ensure reliability, correctness, and alignment with their intended purpose. This paper introduces the second part of the special section on Rigorous Engineering of Collective Adaptive Systems. It presents seven selected contributions and positions them within four major research directions: (i) Large Ensembles and Collective Dynamics, (ii) Knowledge, Consciousness and Emergence, (iii) Automated Reasoning for Better Interaction, and (iv) Analysing Collective Adaptive Systems. Together, they illustrate current progress and emerging challenges in the rigorous engineering of collective adaptive systems.