ICT.OPEN2022 hosts the following tracks

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the major area of innovation in the digital revolution. AI is changing the way we live and work, and has great potential for society’s grand challenges, e.g. in healthcare and well-being or digital twin development in robotics and industry. At the same time, developing interactive AI in a robust and reliable way is challenging and needs combined effort from different research disciplines.

In recent years, Dutch applied mathematicians and computer scientists developed exciting results around deep reinforcement learning, online convex optimization, online statistical learning and uncertainty quantification for deep learning based on techniques from numerics, optimal control, optimization and statistics. Mathematical results in such interactive AI methods often provide valuable guarantees towards robustness and explainability towards increased reliability, especially in challenging cases like adversarial attacks or unseen environments.

This track aims to provide an open forum for connecting Dutch research by computer scientists and applied mathematicians on this exciting theme and showcase the Dutch NWO AIM (AI and Mathematics) initiative. The focal point of the track and poster session is the presentation of the work of young researchers. Preference will be given to abstracts by postdocs and PhD candidates.

Chair: Dutch NWO AIM Initiative

The concept of smart cities has emerged as a possible direction to address problems stemming from sustainability-oriented ones to efficiency ones. Sustainability problems are related to social values (e.g., citizen well-being, quality of life), economic vitality and diversity, and environment conservation (e.g., flora, fauna, and natural resources). Efficiency-oriented problems are related to efficient management of urban processes like transportation, education, and administration. Like smart cities, the use of information and communication technology in health(care) is assumed to alleviate the burden on the healthcare system. AI can amplify the potential of ICT in both domains and increase the quality and efficiency of (public) services. However, AI may impact also individuals’ life experience.  In this track, we focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of AI based smart city and/or society applications, and AI applications for health(care). 

Chairs 
Sunil Choenni - Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences
Johan  van Soest - Maastricht University

Artificial Intelligence is advancing at a rapid pace, and an increasing number of AI applications pervades our daily lives and social structures in important domains such as medicine, education, engineering, surveillance, transportation, media and law. While AI is expected to yield significant positive impacts in knowledge, efficiency and productivity, we risk profound social, ethical and economic consequences if AI is not employed responsibly.

This track focuses on the analysis, design, development, use and evaluation of responsible artificial systems, as well as tools to determine when and how artificial systems should act responsibly. The list of topics includes: fairness, transparency and explainability of AI systems; ethical and legal guidelines for AI; and the use of AI ‘for good’ (e.g. to increase diversity or counter human biases). We aim to provide an environment to foster interaction among researchers from different disciplines, who focus on different aspects of Responsible AI.

Chairs

Floris Bex - Utrecht University and Tilburg University
Aybüke Özgün – University of Amsterdam

Security is an important consideration during the development and deployment of software and hardware, as is privacy once user data is involved. Key examples include intrusion detection as well as more recent examples such as providing machine learning algorithms that are resilient to maliciously formed inputs and inference attacks. In the context of increasing security and privacy, decentralization, e.g., in the form of blockchain, has played a key role in recent years as it reduces the power of central infrastructures.

In this track, we discuss key challenges and solutions for cybersecurity and blockchain. Topics include but are not limited to: applied cryptography, network security, anonymous communication, censorship resistance, decentralized applications, Byzantine fault tolerance, blockchain scalability, secure and privacy-preserving machine learning, legal and ethical aspects of cybersecurity, privacy, and blockchain, performance and measurement studies.  

Chair
Stefanie Roos - Delft University of Technology
Katharina Kohls - Radboud University Nijmegen

Neuromorphic computing and engineering have recently received considerable attention as paradigms for brain-inspired Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. These disciplines deliver promising technological solutions for implementing efficient sensory, learning, and processing systems, as well as autonomous agents able to operate in real-world conditions.

The research on neuromorphic systems, originally based on CMOS technology, has gained momentum towards new horizons thanks to the emergence of novel devices and materials for brain-inspired computing (e.g. in-memory computing). These new developments face unusual challenges of creating new models of computations, tools, and architectures that can best exploit the sophistication and complexity of the inhomogeneous, low-power, dense, and parallel elements. 

The most important research actors in the Netherlands, both at the academic and industrial level, are becoming increasingly active on these topics. This track aims to provide an opportunity for Dutch researchers working in these fields to discuss, network, and broaden the impact of their research. 

Chairs
Elisabetta Chicca - University of Groningen
Federico Corradi - IMEC

Cyberphysical systems (CPS) are a core element of the digital transformation. CPS consist of a “physical” and an up-to-date “cyber” subsystem (often referred to as “digital twin”) based on continuous data acquisition. With this, decision support or even autonomous control functionalities can be enabled. CPS can be utilised in diverse applications like industrial manufacturing or maintenance, health applications, societal wellbeing, and beyond. However, often still rather singular approaches with a focus on specific CPS aspects or conceptual descriptions can be found in industry and research. Additionally, there is a need for case studies which prove the feasibility and give a clear assessment of benefits but also related drawbacks of CPS solutions. Against this background, contributions to foster knowledge in those areas are of specific interest for this session.

Chairs
Sebastian Thiede               University of Twente
Erik Puik                              Hogeschool Utrecht

Computer systems and networks (CompSys) are the backbone of the digital infrastructure and, thus, are essential for all critical economic sectors and societal aspects of the Netherlands. Every bit of stored data and every computational task rely on a computer system to run on and, increasingly, on a network to reach it.

In this track, we take a holistic perspective to and welcome contributions on the grand societal andtechnological challenges that emerge in CompSys, in particular:

1. Manageability: How to tame the ever-growing complexity, and related human error?
2. Responsibility: How to realize responsible computer infrastructure whose operation we can rely on (from privacy, ethical, security, performance, availability, and durability perspectives)?
3. Sustainability: How to reduce and make the most from the energy footprint of (increasing levels of computing?
4. Usability: How to work, within the context of Europe’s digitalization ambitions, with the critical sectors for the Dutch society, such as industry, healthcare, and governance, to make computer systems usable and accessible by all?

Chairs
Paola Grosso - University of Amsterdam
Alexandru Isoup - VU Amsterdam
Fernando Kuipers - Delft University of Technology
Ana Lucia Varbanescu - University of Amsterdam

Are you a member of ASCI, IPA or SIKS and is your research topic not in one of the themes selected for ICT.OPEN2022? Don't despair, you can submit your poster or demo abstract to the Graduate Schools track and still showcase your research to the Dutch ICT community.