Revisiting the categorical approach to systems

Although the contribution of Category Theory as a mathematical platform for supporting software development, in the wake of Goguen’s approach to General Systems, is now reasonably recognised, accepted and even used, the emergence of new modelling techniques and paradigms associated with the “New-Economy” suggests that the whole approach needs to be revisited. In this paper, we propose some revisions capitalising on the lessons that we have learned in using categorical techniques for formalising recent developments on Software Architectures, Coordination Technologies, and Service-Oriented Software Development in general.