Attend the FREE Interactive NICTA “Mini Briefing Sessions”

NICTA "Mini Briefings" Day, April 5,  ( Swan Room )

8.30 am - Registration & welcoming Coffee

8.50 am - Welcome comments and Introduction to NICTA 's
Research Program Bob Williamson, Chief Researcher

9.00 - 10.20 am - Mini Briefing number 1

“Ontologies and Topic Maps for Smart Information Use - Professor Toby Walsh”

Ontology encapsulate the relationships and rules for a given area of knowledge. They are important for artificial intelligence and knowledge representation. Ontologies enable smart information use and contribute to information sharing through more efficient use of available information. Ontologies form the backbone of Semantic Web - the next generation web with machine-processable content - which offers a whole new set of possibilities for enhanced government services delivery.

New Tools for Scheduling and Planning, Dr Doug Aberdeen:
In a five year collaboration with DSTO, University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, University of Aarhus, NICTA has been working on the development of planning tools for the defence environment that can deal with challenges of planning under uncertainty. NICTA's work on developing algorithms that will deal with real world planning has wide application in many scenarios such as operations planning, risk management, resource management, and decision support in environments that are characterised by uncertainty
 
Statistical Machine Learning in the Life Sciences and Health, Dr Alex Smola:
Statistical Machine Learning researches methods of creating intelligent devices that have the ability to learn. Ultimately, the aim is to build intelligent systems that adapt to user needs without needing a programmer to encode rules about how to act.  An important application area is the life sciences where machine learning techniques are being applied to  developing economically viable techniques for improved plant breeding for crops and to analysing, diagnosing cancer and improving therapies.

10.30 am - Morning coffee & tea break

11.am – 12.20 pm  - Mini Briefing number 2

The briefings will also cover two of NICTA's Priority Challenge Strategic Projects.  These focus expertise within NICTA and act as a catalyst for NICTA, external research, and domain based experts to work together to address major contemporary problems of scale and complexity, thereby developing solutions which will be of real benefit to Australia. A major effort in Disaster Prevention, Recovery and Response will highlight a range of technologies that will be targeted at enhancing public sector coordination and management of disaster scenarios.

Water Information Networks, Dr Stan Skafidis:
In 2005, NICTA launched NICTOR, a wireless sensor network technology platform that will be used to monitor and control critical infrastructure in Australia's horticulture and agriculture industries. Wireless sensor networks can deliver systems that can monitor what is happening in the environment, communicate with each other, and take action if necessary. Uses include sustainable agriculture, water management, environmental monitoring or managing infrastructure such as bridges, dams, and roads. They have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of data capture and to transform current methods of information gathering. This presentation will focus on current collaboration with Water Authorities to manage a key national resource.

Smart Transport and Roads, Dr Glenn Geers:
NICTA is contributing its fundamental understanding of technologies such video analysis, speech processing, machine learning, constraints programming, wireless communications systems and visualisation to develop to develop new systems that will monitor and measure traffic flows and provide better traffic management methods to improve traffic flows. This work will maximise the value from investment in roads infrastructure by allowing them to operate as efficiently as possible with greater reliability for users and reduced environmental impact.

Disaster Prevention, Recovery and Response, Dr Renato Iannella:
Aims to develop new technologies, systems, and services that will provide significant improvements to the devices, systems, information, and human processes that manage the mitigation of and response to natural disasters (e.g. cyclones) and man made emergencies (e.g.
terrorism).  The project is in collaboration with Queensland State Government agencies providing emergency services and will provide outcomes to enable improved information and resource coordination for all stake holders.

About NICTA

National ICT Australia, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Centre of Excellence, was formed by the Federal Government’s Department of Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts and the Australian Research Council. NICTA’s consortium partners are the Australian Capital Territory Government, the New South Wales Government, the University of New South Wales, and the Australian National University. With a focus on fundamental and use-inspired research, NICTA attracts, develops, and networks exceptional talent for Australia’s future prosperity.