COHERENT 2026

Modern software has evolved from monolithic systems to modular, distributed architectures. This shift is dominated by two key approaches:

• Microservices – An architectural style that defines an application as a collection of small, independent, and loosely coupled services. In this model, the development team is typically responsible for managing the underlying infrastructure, offering granular control and stateful capabilities.

• Serverless Computing – An operational model where the cloud provider fully manages the server infrastructure, allowing developers to focus solely on code. Its most common implementation, Function as a Service (FaaS), offers an event-driven, ephemeral model for running stateless functions, providing benefits like automatic scaling and a pay-per-use cost model.

The challenge for modern applications is not just how they are built, but also where they are run. The deployment landscape is evolving from centralised Cloud Computing data centres towards a decentralised Edge Computing model. This shift is driven by the need to support low-latency, data-intensive applications—such as IoT, robotics, and augmented reality—at the network's periphery.

The Serverless and Microservice approaches are not mutually exclusive. The most significant research challenges arise from the interplay between them. Researchers must navigate a complex space of trade-offs:

• Balancing the benefits of FaaS (automatic scaling, reduced overhead, pay-per-use) against its drawbacks (cold-start latency, statelessness, vendor lock-in).

• Weighing the benefits of microservices (granular control, stateful capabilities) against their costs (higher operational overhead for management and scaling).

• Managing the new systemic complexities that emerge when these models are combined, especially across the Edge-Cloud continuum. This includes complex orchestration, end-to-end security, and system-wide monitoring and observability.

This workshop will focus on driving innovation in these areas. We are explicitly broadening the scope to invite research on all facets of Serverless, FaaS, and Microservices. We aim to bring together researchers and practitioners to identify new challenges and solutions for these modern architectures.

The workshop provides a focused forum to discuss these topics, complementing several main ICCCN tracks, including Internet of Things, Virtualised Infrastructure Systems, and Security.

We invite high-quality submissions covering all facets of Serverless, FaaS, and Microservice architectures, from fundamental design to deployment and orchestration across distributed infrastructures. Submissions focused on integrating these models within the Edge-Cloud continuum are strongly encouraged.

Paper submission deadline: TBD

Notification of acceptance: TBD

Camera-ready paper due: TBD (Hard Deadline)

Workshop date: July XX, 2026

Francesco Tusa, University of Westminster, United Kingdom

Stuart Clayman, University College London, United Kingdom