American University of Sharjah (AUS) became a global hub for discussion on dependable artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent systems as it hosted the 12th International Conference on Dependable Systems and Their Applications (DSA 2025), bringing together 60 leading researchers, industry experts and policymakers in Sharjah and online to discuss how to design intelligent systems people can trust.
Running from November 24 to 26, 2025, the conference looked at the dependability of complex intelligent systems and testing-based formal verification for software dependability, as well as how to ensure reliability from system design through deployment.
The technical sessions on campus at AUS on November 25 explored cutting-edge research themes such as adaptive intelligence and reliability in autonomous and predictive systems and AI-driven intelligent detection and optimisation, including work on multimodal large language model-driven robotics, autonomous driving evaluation frameworks and advanced optimisation techniques for heterogeneous cloud environments. Additional sessions examined knowledge graphs, multi-agent and trustworthy systems, as well as software testing, fault localisation and system robustness, with contributions ranging from automated cyber risk assessment using large language model (LLM)-based multi-agent models to new approaches for fuzz testing, testability tools and robustness analysis.
During the conference’s online sessions on November 26, topics included software testing and defect analysis, reliability assurance in cloud–edge and intelligent systems, LLM-driven intelligent systems, autonomous vehicle software, intelligent systems and AI applications, human–AI interaction and reliable decision-making and scheduling. The sessions highlighted how large language models, cloud-edge collaboration and AIoT architectures are reshaping the reliability landscape while also tackling open challenges in monitoring robust systems, fault tolerance and safety in embedded and distributed environments.
Dr. Fadi Aloul, Dean of the AUS College of Engineering and Honorary Chair of DSA 2025, emphasised that the conference underscored the region’s growing role in shaping the global AI and dependability agenda.
“By hosting DSA 2025 at AUS, we wanted to do more than convene a strong technical programme, we wanted to position the UAE as an active contributor to how the world thinks about trustworthy AI and dependable software. Over these days, our campus became a meeting point for local and international experts, our faculty and our students to exchange ideas on how to build systems that are not only intelligent but also resilient, transparent and accountable. This is exactly the kind of dialogue our region needs as we integrate AI into critical infrastructure, public services and everyday life,” he said.
DSA 2025 is the latest edition of a conference series that grew from the merger of the International Conference on Trustworthy Systems and Their Applications and the International Symposium on Dependable Computing and Internet of Things in 2017. Since then, the series has become a reference point for work on dependable and trustworthy systems and their applications, maintaining a strong focus on both foundational research and real-world deployments.
Dr. Imran Zualkernan, Professor and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at AUS and Organising Committee General Chair of DSA 2025, said: “By hosting DSA 2025, AUS brought together a global community focused on one challenge: how to engineer intelligent systems people can depend on. The discussions and collaborations that started here will shape new projects, new tools and new opportunities for our researchers and students.”
Dr. Khaled El-Fakih, Professor of Computer Science at AUS and Programme Chair of DSA 2025, said: “The strength of DSA 2025 was its focus on the engineering discipline behind dependable AI. We curated a programme that moved beyond slogans to concrete advances in verification, testing and system design that our community can build on in real deployments.”
The conference was organised by faculty members from the AUS Department of Computer Science and Engineering, including Dr. Dana Dghaym, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, and Dr. Reham Aburas, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, alongside faculty from other engineering departments, whose efforts helped coordinate the programme and ensure a rich experience for participants on campus and online.
In keeping with this tradition, the DSA 2025 proceedings will be published by IEEE Conference Publishing Services and submitted for inclusion in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library and leading abstracting and indexing databases such as Ei Compendex and Scopus. Authors of selected high-quality papers will be invited to submit extended versions of their work to special issues of leading international journals indexed in the Science Citation Index, further amplifying the impact of the research presented at AUS.
The conference was sponsored by Southwest Jiaotong University, held with the technical sponsorship of the IEEE Reliability Society and supported by conference patrons including AUS, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beihang University, Beijing High Quality of System Technology Ltd. and Mooctest, whose support helped bring the global dependability community together for this year’s edition of the conference.
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