We are happy to announce that Prof. Krzysztof Janowicz from University of Vienna, Bart Rosseau from Digitaal Vlaanderen, Prof. Wim Hardyns from Ghent University (UGent), Prof. Sofie Van Hoecke from UGent-imec, and Prof. Sidharta Gautama from UGent will be our keynote speakers at LBS 2023.
Krzysztof Janowicz: GeoAI-based Context Modeling for Location-Based Services
Context is still king/queen, be it for LBS, Web search, or novel Q&A bots. Simply put, to further improve the accuracy and utility of LBS, we can find more contextual data, more suitable data, or better ways to draw deeper inferences from existing data. GeoAI methods may contribute to all these steps, e.g., by increasing the density of contextual data. In the keynote, we will outline how methods from classical AI deduction systems, novel methods from representation learning, and their combination can help in this quest for context.
Krzysztof Janowicz is a professor for Geographic Information Science and Geoinformatics at the Geography Department and the director of the Center for Spatial Studies, Janowicz is an Editors-in-Chief of the Semantic Web journal. Here at UCSB, he runs the STKO Lab which investigates the role of space and time for knowledge organization. Before, he was an assistant professor (2009-11) at the GeoVISTA Center, Department of Geography at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. Before moving to the US, he was working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Geoinformatics (ifgi), University of Münster in Germany for the international research training group on Semantic Integration of Geospatial Information and the Münster Semantic Interoperability Lab (MUSIL). He holds a Ph.D. in Geoinformatics (2008) and a diploma in Ecology (2003) from the same university. Broadly speaking, Janowicz’s research interests are at the intersection of geographic information science, data science, behavioral geography, and cognitive science.
Wim Hardyns: Big data policing and the importance of spatiotemporal modeling
This keynote will focus on the future of big data policing in the Belgian police. During this lecture, Professor Hardyns will share his expertise and insights regarding predictive policing/big data policing. He will introduce the expertise on this topic that has been developed within the Faculty of Law and Crimininology of Ghent University, paying close attention to how law enforcement can benefit from this expertise and how geographical and spatiotemporal insights can help to further develop this area of research.
Wim Hardyns is a Full Professor in Criminology at the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law at Ghent University, Belgium, and a guest Professor in Safety Sciences at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He is a member of and/or has a coordinating role in a number of renowned research groups and interdisciplinary consortia that are highly relevant in the context of his domain (big data, crime analysis, policing, societal/economic valorization, digitalization): (1) the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP), (2) Privacy, Information Exchange, Law Enforcement and Surveillance (PIXLES), (3) Smart Solutions for Secure Societies (i4S), (4) IDC Digital Innovation for both Individuals and Society (DELTA), and (5) IDC Crime, Criminology and Criminal Policy (CCCP). Most recently in January 2023, Professor Wim Hardyns (Ghent University) was awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant by the European Commission to expand his research on big data policing. This has led to the establishment of a center of expertise (BIGDATPOL) on the spatial and temporal analysis of crime and applications of big data policing.
Bart Rosseau: No Digital without Geo
The Flemish digital strategy is being executed by the Digital Flanders Agency. One of the key foundations is the Base map of flanders, the base registries, and how interoperable data is being published for a wide variety of users. What will the challenges be in the coming years are becoming apparent, how long the solutions will stand with the fast pace of AI’s evolution is another matter.
Bart ROSSEAU (°1970) is Program Manager of Geo and Open Data services of the Digital Flanders Agency. He has a long career in (local and regional) government, where the last half he is working on digital transformation, Smart cities and the professional use of data in government.
Sofie Van Hoecke: Harnessing the power of hybrid AI for designing spatio-temporal behavioral markers for health and their dynamic visualisation
With the advent of wearable technology and the ubiquity of smartphones, the way we monitor our health and lifestyle is ready to undergo a revolution. No longer are we limited to self-reporting of our behaviors and health, but we can now collect objective, spatio-temporal data through sensors that monitor our movements, sleep patterns, stress, wellbeing and more. These behavioral markers provide a wealth of information about our daily routines and can help to make informed decisions about our health and well-being. In this talk, we will explore how wearables and smartphones are transforming the way we monitor our lifestyle. We will discuss the potential of hybrid AI for designing these behavioral markers and the role they can play in improving our health and quality of life. Finally, we will also show how spatio-temporal visualization can be enabled to enhance visualization of the health data and behavioral markers to clinicians.
Sofie Van Hoecke is associate professor at IDLab, Ghent University-imec. She is leading the PreDiCT research team within IDLab, consisting of more than 30 people, funded through Flemish, national and European industry driven as well as fundamental research projects. The team focuses on designing hybrid AI methodologies, combining machine learning and semantic technologies, for predictive maintenance and predictive healthcare applications.
Sidharta Gautama: Data-driven decision making in complex spatio-temporal systems
Industry4.0 and smart cities have given industry and government a focus on continuous spatio-temporal data as key enabler for improving daily operations and strategic decision making. Systems both in manufacturing and urban management are regarded as cyber-physical systems that connect processes and exchange data for improved services and system performance. Despite this transition over the last decade, progress in industry and government remains limited to operational monitoring. The World Economic Forum through its Global Lighthouse Network showcases companies worldwide that have used I4.0 technologies to transform factories, value chains and business models. They notice that while most companies have been confident about emerging out of their pilot phase for several years, few were able to move from concept to scaled operations. While data is one of the key enablers in this evolution, data is not equal to value and consequently, to create value with data, one needs data processes that transform data to actionable items creating value.
In this keynote, we discuss complex spatio-temporal systems with a focus on decision making in contrast to architectures for data exchange. We highlight three aspects: (1) connected decision-making and the challenge with loosely-coupled decision processes, (2) the propagated impact of data quality and (3) the role of business models in data-driven decision making. The discussion is illustrated with results and insights from EU-research in urban mobility management and Industry4.0.
Sidharta Gautama holds a Master in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Computer Science Engineering, both from Ghent University, Belgium. Currently, he is Full Professor in Cyber-physical Systems and leader of the research group on “Intelligent Systems” in the department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Product Design at Ghent University. He has worked at Ghent University, first as research assistant and postdoc, since 2009 as assistant and associate professor in Computer Vision, since 2018 as associate and full professor in Cyber-physical Systems. Between 2007 and 2018, he has headed the innovation center i-KNOW at Ghent University, which incubates the licensing and spin off activity of the research in intelligent information processing. During this period, i-KNOW has incorporated eight companies active in the domains of smart cities and industry4.0. He was CTO of the spin off company GeoInvent and has licensed IP with the company Sentiance. He is currently the co-chair “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” in the Urban Mobility Master School of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT). He holds three international patents and is author of 150+ papers.
The research group on “Intelligent Systems” counts fifteen PhD students and senior researchers that perform research on intelligent systems for smart and resilient societies and Industry4.0. They combine research in data science, knowledge engineering and decision support systems to address the increasing complexity of industrial management and urban policy-making. It integrates data-driven approaches and human expert knowledge towards robust decision making. The research group currently participates in five EU projects and has served as backbone in national and international government campaigns.