Workshop on Configuration 2015, Vienna, September 10- 11 (Thursday & Friday)
Workshop Website: blogs.helsinki.fi/confws-15
1. Overview
Configuration can be interpreted as a special type of design approach where the product being configured is composed from instances of a set of predefined component types that can be combined in ways defined by a set of constraints. This task requires powerful knowledge representation formalisms and acquisition methods to capture the variety and complexity of configurable products. Furthermore, efficient reasoning methods are required to support intelligent interactive behavior, solution search, satisfaction of user preferences, personalization, optimization, reconfiguration, and diagnosis.
The main goal of the workshop is to promote high-quality research in all technical areas related to configuration. The workshop is of interest for both, researchers working in the various fields of Artificial Intelligence mentioned below as well as for industry representatives interested in the relationship between configuration technology and the business problem behind configuration and mass customization. It provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, evaluations, and experiences especially related to the use of AI techniques in the configuration context.
2. Topics
Workshop topics include but are not limited to the following ones:
a) Configuration Problems and Models
Structure of configuration problems, knowledge representation, ontologies, fuzzy and incomplete knowledge, standardization of catalog exchange formats, feature models, configuration problems, representations for product and process configuration, product design and configuration.
b) Techniques for obtaining and/or maintaining Configuration Models
Knowledge acquisition methods, cognitive approaches, machine learning, data extraction methods, ontology integration, reconciliation of knowledge bases, knowledge elicitation, testing and debugging, knowledge understanding.
c) Reasoning Methods
Constraint satisfaction problems and extensions, preference based reasoning, description logics, rules, case-based reasoning, SAT-solving, local search, genetic algorithms, neural networks, problem decomposition, optimization, multi-criteria optimization, symmetry breaking, cooperative configuration processes, reconfiguration of existing systems, explanations, distributed problem solving, benchmark proposals, knowledge-based recommendation, knowledge compilation.
d) Intelligent User Interfaces and Business Process Integration
Personalization, machine learning, explanations, recommender technologies, configuration web services, related software architectures, distributed configuration, integration into the production and selling process, configuration and mass customization.
e) Applications and Tools
Configuration tools, design tools, application reports, case studies, real-world challenges, test environments for configuration knowledge bases, configuration in related fields such as software configuration, service composition, and model-driven engineering, environments for feature model development and maintenance, design theories for applications and tools.
3. Paper Submission
Full papers are limited to 8 pages. Position statements and problem instances can be submitted as short papers limited to 4 pages. Both regular and short papers should be formatted in pdf according to the ECAI 2014 style guide (Download from https://blogs.helsinki.fi/confws-15/files/2015/01/ECAI2014.zip) and submitted to the EasyChair environment (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=confws15).
Each submission will be subject to peer review by at least two members of the program committee. Refereeing criteria are relevance to workshop topics, significance and novelty of the research, technical content, discussion of relationship to previous work, and clarity of presentation. A contribution submitted as a long paper may be accepted as a short paper, if the program committee considers it to be inadequate for a long paper but to present an important issue. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to register at the workshop and to present the paper. The proceedings of the event will be edited with an ISSN code.
4. Best paper award & Journal route
Configuration Workshop 2015 introduces Best Paper Award.
Two papers will be recognized: (1) best paper, (2) runner up. Award selection procedure:
- Chairs appoint a committee of 3 scholars to identify the best paper
- While submitting the final version, the authors declare whether their article competes for the best paper award or not. All papers, whether theoretical or application-oriented, are eligible. Workshop chairs are allowed to participate.
- Based on reviewers’ grades and author declaration, the committee identifies a short list of 4-9 papers. Reviewers’ grades do not constitute a definitive constraint since papers can be substantially improved following reviewers suggestions.
- Each member of the committee after a quick reading votes for a number of best paper nominees (e.g. 2-3 votes per member, determined by committee).
- The 3-4 papers with the most votes are carefully read by the committee.
- The committee meets face to face (during the WS) to select the best paper and the runner up. The prize motivation is written and communicated.
Additionally, best papers will be considered for publication in a special issue of AI Communications.
5. Important Dates
Abstract submission (to EasyChair, no more than 200 words): Friday, April 10 2015
Paper submission: Friday, May 1, 2015, Sunday, May 10, 2015
Notification of authors: Friday, May 22, 2015, Friday, June 5, 2015
Camera-ready papers due: Friday, June 20 2014, Tuesday, June 30 2015
Registration deadline: Friday, July 10, 2015
Payment deadline Friday, August 28, 2015
Workshop dates: Thursday & Friday, September 10-11, 2015
6. Local Organization and Registration
The Workshop on Configuration 2015 continues the series of successful workshops started at the AAAI’96 Fall Symposium and continued at IJCAI, AAAI, and ECAI conferences since 1999. Beside researchers from a variety of fields, past events also attracted a significant number of participants from industry (major configurator vendors such as Tacton, SAP, Oracle, Encoway, or IBM-ILOG, as well as from end-users Siemens, Renault, HP, or DaimlerChrysler).
In 2015, the configuration workshop will be a stand-alone event. It will take place in Vienna, Austria at the conference center of Siemens AG Österreich; for details see blogs.helsinki.fi/confws-15/venue/. The workshop lasts one and a half days on Thursday&Friday, September 10-11, detailed time to be defined.
The registration fee for the Configuration Workshop 2015 is 150€. This includes workshop sessions, electronic proceedings, coffee breaks, lunch, and workshop dinner; for details see blogs.helsinki.fi/confws-15/registration/.
7. Previous Configuration Workshop
For detailed information about the previous Configuration Workshop held in Novi Sad (Serbia on 25th and 26th September 2014), please visit confws.ist.tugraz.at
7. Workshop Committee
Workshop Chairs:
Juha Tiihonen, Helsinki University, Finland
Andreas Falkner, Siemens AG Österreich, Austria
Tomas Axling, Tacton, Sweden
Program Committee and local organization: see blogs.helsinki.fi/confws-15/organization/