Noname manuscript No. (will be inserted by the editor) Editorial for the Software Engineering 2013 Conference Software – Innovator for Economy and Society

Software has evolved from tools and appliances to a driving force of innovations in economy and society. Software advances and stimulates society by providing and enabling, e.g., ubiquitous communication channels, efficient development of medication, flexible materials, energy efficient automobiles, autonomous robots, intel-ligent resource management, earth-quake-proof build-ings, and smart cyber-physical systems. Software as the subject of software engineering has become a significant innovator. The demand for soft-ware is growing in projects of all industries and so is its complexity. Resulting challenges can only be met by adapted education possibilities and innovative software engineering methods. The Software Engineering 2013 conference fostered the discussion of industrial experience on novel engi-neering methods and software solutions from various fields. The event promoted communication between re-search and practice, between academia and industry, and among individual software engineers. Good com-munication is a necessity for maintaining and strength-ening competitiveness in industry and academia