SemTrace: Semantic Requirements Tracing Using Explicit Requirement Knowledge

In the software engineering (SE) domain the EU challenge on semantic systems and services motivates better support of knowledge creation as well as better access of SE stakeholders to the knowledge they need to perform their activities. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is the coordination of development lifecycle activities by process automation, management of relationships between artifacts, and reporting on development progress. ALM focuses on the integration of knowledge between the tools that support SE roles and thus seems particularly well suited to leverage benefits from advanced semantic technologies and services that overcome limitations from semantic gaps in today's heterogeneous SE platforms. In this paper, we present a semantic requirements tracing approach (SemTrace), which makes the implicit interdependencies between requirements and other artifacts explicit. We evaluate the proposed approach in a change impact analysis use case. Initial results show that the SemTrace approach allows for a flexibly identification of semantically connected artifacts in SE projects.