Prof. David Benavides, director of Diverso Lab, travelled to Quito, Ecuador, to deliver a keynote at the Sixth International Conference on Information Systems and Software Technologies (ICI2ST 2026), held from 23 to 25 September 2026 at the Hemiciclo Politécnico. The conference was organized by the Faculty of Systems Engineering of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional (EPN), together with a consortium of Ecuadorian and Colombian universities.
His keynote, “Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering: Friends or Enemies?”, addressed one of the most pressing questions in the discipline today. Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way software is conceived, built and maintained, raising both opportunities and concerns across the community. The talk explored whether these two fields are competing or complementary, and what role software engineering must play in ensuring that AI-based systems are reliable, maintainable and trustworthy.
The topic connects directly with the research carried out at Diverso Lab, where software product lines, artificial intelligence and software engineering are combined and applied to sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education and smart governance.
Diverso Lab thanks the ICI2ST 2026 organizing committee and the Escuela Politécnica Nacional for the invitation and for fostering international dialogue on the future of information systems and software technologies.