Interoperability: Models and Semantics – A Reoccurring Problem

Erich J. Neuhold

Professor, University of Vienna

erich.neuhold(at)univie.ac.at

http://cs.univie.ac.at/Erich.Neuhold

Interoperability is a qualitative property of computing infrastructures that denotes the ability of the sending and receiving systems to exchange and properly interpret information objects across system boundaries.

Since this property is not given by default, the interoperability problem involves the representation of meaning and has been an active research topic for approximately four decades. Database models used schemas to express semantics and implicitly aimed at achieving interoperability by providing programming independence of data storage and access.

After a number of intermediate steps such as Hypertext and XML document models, the notions of semantics and interoperability became what they have been over the last ten years in the context of the World Wide Web and more recently the concept of Open Linked Data.

The talk will investigate the (reoccurring) problem of interoperability as it can be found in the massive data collections around the Big Data and Open Linked Data concepts. We investigate semantics and interoperability research from the point of view of information systems. It should give an overview of existing old and new interoperability techniques and point out future research directions, especially for concepts found in Open Linked Data, the Semantic WEB and Big Data.

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Brain-Computer-Brain Interfaces for Sensing and Subsequent Treatment

Mohamad Sawan

Professor, Polystim Neurotechnologies Laboratory, Polytechnique Montreal

mohamad.sawan(at)polymtl.ca

http://www.mohamadsawan.org/ 

Implantable Brain-Computer-Brain Interfaces (BCIs) for diagnostic and recovery of neural vital functions are promising alternative to study neural activities underlying cognitive functions and pathologies. This Keynote address covers the architecture of typical BCI intended for wireless neurorecording and neurostimulation. Massively parallel multichannel spike recording through large arrays of microelectrodes will be introduced. Attention will be paid to low-power mixed-signal circuit design optimization. Advanced signal processing implementation such as adaptive thresholding, spike detection, data compression, and transmission will be described.

Also, the talk includes Lab-on-chip technologies intended to build biosensors, and wireless data links and harvesting power to implants. Tests and validation of devices : electrical, mechanical, package, heat, reliability will be summarized. Case studies will be covered and include research activities dedicated to vision recovery through implant used to apply direct electrical microstimulation, to present the environment as phosphenes in the visual field of the blind. And we will summarize latest activities on locating epileptic seizures using multimodal fNIRS/EEG processing, and will show the onset detecting seizure and techniques to stop it, using bioelectronic implant.

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Biometric and Computer Security: Research Challenges

Ahmed Bouridane

Professor, Northumbria University,Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

ahmed.bouridane(at)northumbria.ac.uk

The field of digital security has witnessed an explosive growth during the last years, as phenomenal advances both in research and applications have been made. Global biometric and forensic market is forecast to reach US$18 billion by 2016.
Biometric and forensic imaging applications often involve photographs, videos and other image impressions that are fragile and include subtle details that are difficult to see. As a developer, one needs to be able to quickly develop sophisticated imaging applications that allow for an accurate extraction of precious information from image data for identification and recognition purposes. This is true for any type of biometric and forensic image data. In addition, there is a need to protect digital media content especially biometric data that is being wildly and widely distributed and shared through the Internet by an ever-increasing number of decentralised users. Digital data hiding and digital steganography and digital stagenalysis are useful and operate by embedding auxiliary information for use as digital signatures for use to authenticate digital media.

One of the most distinctive features of this plenary will cover covers a number of imaging applications and their deployment in security problems including recent advances in digital watermarking and data hiding, emerging biometric recognition such as camera forensic and digital media forensics and shoeprint recognition for forensic use.

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Collaborative and social web search

Lynda Tamine-Lechani

Professor,IRTI Toukouse (France)

Lechani(at)irit.fr

Web search increasingly reflects problems grounded in the real-life world that requires the assistance of social resources. Social web search refers broadly to 1) the process of searching information over user-generated content (UGC) or 2) searching online with the help of users (such as friends, colleagues or experts) using large-scale social networking services. Examples of such services include Facebook, Twitter and MySpace and are considered as complementary to web search engines. Collaborative search is a kind of social search where small-scale groups of users are all together engaged in solving a shared information need. Collaborative and social search allow the gathering of users’ complementary knowledge and skills that lead to the emergence of collective intelligence. The aim of this talk is to 1) outline the paradigm of social search, 2) investigate the research issues that it gives rise to and then 3) point out the opportunities it brings to nowadays society. I will look back over the past recent years highlighting some of the major changes in social-centred approaches of information search and related main research findings. I will also give an overview and share some experiences we gained through our previous research investigations in the area of collaborative and social search.