Conference: Towards the Next Generation of Cyber-Physical Systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) science and technology has grown over the past two decades into a major interdisciplinary field and national research priority. CPS began with a 2006 NSF-sponsored workshop and the 2007 report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. This workshop project provides a forum for today's CPS community to identify future research priorities, and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration across emerging technologies. It opens discussion about artificial intelligence and quantum information science, and advance workforce development. It builds consensus on a community roadmap for the next generation of CPS research. This proposal is for a two-day workshop to be hosted at George Mason University in 2026 on the future of cyber-physical systems. It builds on the 20-year evolution of CPS as a research discipline. The workshop brings together researchers from academia, industry, and government representing many scientific disciplines and application domains. It aligns with priority areas that in addition include manufacturing and translational research. The purpose of the workshop is to launch the first of a broad community discussion of the research opportunities, challenges, and strategic directions created by advances in emerging technologies, helping shape the future of CPS research and innovation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.