YEREVAN, Armenia — On October 3-4, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Zaven P. and Sonia Akian College of Science and Engineering (CSE), in collaboration with the IEEE Computer Society Armenia Chapter and the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), hosted the 4th Workshop on Collaborative Technologies and Data Science in Smart City Applications (CODASSCA 2024). The Workshop brought together representatives from academia and industry, including students and Ph.D. researchers, to engage in discussions centered on the theme “From Data to Information and Knowledge.” The focus was on leveraging data science and collaborative technologies to develop innovative solutions for smart cities.
The Workshop organizing committee chairs included distinguished members from both Armenia and abroad, among them CSE Dean Dr. Aram Hajian and Dr. Nelson Baloian, visiting associate professor at CSE from the Department of Computer Science of the University of Chile in Santiago. In his opening remarks, Dr. Hajian emphasized the importance of the Workshop in fostering valuable research connections: “I am pleased to see scientists and engineers from practically all continents, as well as many repeat participants visiting AUA from Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Chile, and, of course, our partners from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. The conference reflects AUA’s commitment to scientific research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and focused innovation.”
Over the course of the two-day Workshop, participants engaged in more than 15 talks and three poster sessions, exploring tracks such as data science and information-theoretic approaches for smart systems, computer system organization, human-centered computing-reliable machine learning, and interpretability in machine learning models. Reflecting on the submitted research studies and the ensuing discussions, Dr. Baloian remarked: “This was the fourth time we organized this event, and we noted its positive evolution in many aspects: for example, the number of participants, the quality of the contributions, the participation of students, and, for the first time, the presence of industry representatives.”
The Workshop also featured two keynote speeches from renowned scholars in the field. Dr. Arnak Dalalyan, professor at Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique, conducted a talk on “Parallelized Midpoint Randomization for Langevin Monte Carlo.” Highlighting the importance of such initiatives, Dr. Dalalyan noted: “Data science and machine learning are the key building blocks behind recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in generative AI. Organizing workshops in Armenia to discuss the latest research developments in these fields is essential for fostering growth and collaboration within the Armenian academic community.”
The submitted paper proceedings from the workshop will be published as an open-access edition by Logos Verlag, Germany. The best papers will be invited for submission in special issues of the Journal of Universal Computer Science (IF: 1.497 Scopus).
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.
