Accepted Special Sessions

List of Accepted Special Sessions

  • ESKM-SS1: Network Design and Graph Computation
  • ESKM-SS2: Special Session for Young Researchers
  • ESKM-SS3: ICT Systems to Enhance the Social Good
  • LTLE-SS1: Advancing Language Education through Technology: Innovations, Best Practices, and Future Directions
  • LTLE-SS2: Advancement in Artificial Intelligence and Learning Environment
  • DSIR-SS1: The New Model Core Curriculum and Institutional Research for Healthcare Professional Education in Japan
  • DSIR-SS2: Research Related to Dropout Prediction and Dropout Prevention at Universities
  • DSIR-SS3: Institutional Research in universities to encourage students to qualify for the national examinations
  • DSIR-SS4: Data science education for undergraduate Non-STEM Students
  • SCAI-SS1: 2nd Special Session on Applied Informatics in Finance and Economics (AIFE 2024)
  • SCAI-SS2: Emerging techniques and tools in cybersecurity and digital forensics
  • SCAI-SS3: Network Security and Artificial Intelligence
  • SCAI-SS4: Generative AI and Creativity Support
  • SCAI-SS5: AI competence in SMEs: learning and adaptation strategies for predictive maintenance
  • SCAI-SS6: Special Session on Next-Generation Multimodal XAI
  • BMOT-SS1: Business management systems and strategies for the revitalization of regional economies
  • SBIT-SS1: Latest Issues for Business Management
  • IDDC-SS1: Artificial Intelligence Applications for Creative Digital Content Creation
  • DSTM-SS1: Decision Science on Decision Making Process
  • DSTM-SS2: Organizational Behavior in Management

IIAI AAI 2024 Special Sessions

ESKM-SS1: Network Design and Graph Computation

Organizer: Yao Hu
Affiliation: Keio University
Country: Japan
Sumarry: The Special Session on “Network Design and Graph Computation” explores cutting-edge research and practical applications at the intersection of network design and graph computation. Networks serve as fundamental models for representing complex systems across various domains, including transportation, communication, social interactions, and biological systems. Effective network design is crucial for optimizing resource allocation, enhancing efficiency, and improving overall system performance.

This session aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to discuss recent advances, challenges, and opportunities in network design and graph computation. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Graph algorithms and optimization techniques for network design and analysis.
  • Novel approaches for modeling and analyzing complex networks.
  • Graph-based machine learning and deep learning methods for network analysis and prediction.
  • Applications of network design and graph computation in transportation, telecommunications, social networks, and biology.
  • Scalable and efficient graph computation frameworks and platforms.

Through presentations of original research, case studies, and discussions, this special session provides a platform for exchanging ideas, fostering collaborations, and advancing the state-of-the-art in network design and graph computation. Researchers and practitioners from academia and industry are invited to contribute their latest findings and insights to this dynamic and interdisciplinary forum.

ESKM-SS2: Special Session for Young Researchers

Organizer: Daisuke Ikeda
Affiliation: Kyushu University
Country: Japan
Summary: We are organizing a special session for young researchers, including students, to provide an opportunity for them to present their original work and receive feedback from experts in the field. To support active discussion, we are planning to arrange a longer QA time for each presentation.

The topics of interest in this special is the same as ones of ESKM. The papers submitted to this session will undergo the same peer-review process as the regular papers and will be published in the conference proceedings. We hope for many submissions from young researchers and expert participants in the field.

ESKM-SS3: ICT Systems to Enhance the Social Good

Organizer: Kouichi Hirata
Affiliation: Kyushu Institute of Technology
Country: Japan
Summary: We are facing many challenges locally and/or globally, such as erosion in community, aging population, climate change, pandemics, and so on. Information and communication technology (ICT) systems are expected to play many roles in our future society to tackle or solve these issues.

The special session on “ICT Systems to Enhance the Social Good” is a meeting point for researchers, students, and ICT professionals interested in developing such systems to enhance the social good under such circumstances.

The topics of interest in this special session include, but not limited to; ICT systems about pandemics/epidemics, diseases about crops, or zoonotic diseases; ICT systems for cyber security or privacy protection.

LTLE-SS1: Advancing Language Education through Technology: Innovations, Best Practices, and Future Directions

Organizer: Michiyo Oda and Yuichi Ono
Affiliation: Reitaku University
Country: Japan
Summary: This Special Session invites submissions on the rationale, theories, pedagogies, and best practices for the use of digital technologies to enhance first/second/foreign/additional language teaching and learning. We encourage researchers, scholars, and practitioners to share their latest research, insights, and experiences in leveraging technology to transform language education. The goals are as follows:

  • Engage scholars, researchers, and practitioners in sharing and discussing their latest research in technology-enhanced language learning.
  • Share insights into the design, development, evaluation, and enhancement of technology-enhanced language learning environments.
  • Provide directions for future research collaborations and ongoing improvement of TELL practices.

We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics related to TELL, including but not limited to:

  • Theoretical foundations and perspectives of TELL
  • TELL and Second Language Acquisition Theory
  • Educational psychology implications for TELL
  • Digital pedagogy and instructional design principles in TELL
  • Language Teacher’s Professional development
  • Content development and practice for TELL
  • Assessment and evaluation of TELL
  • Supporting the acquisition of less widely taught languages
  • Universal Design and Implications for Just TELL

LTLE-SS2: Advancement in Artificial Intelligence and Learning Environment

Organizer: Kouseke Mouri (Hiroshima City University) and Yin Chengjiu (Kyushu University)
Country: Japan
Summary: This Special Session focuses on advancing research and development in the field of Artificial Intelligence in Education and Adaptive Learning Environment. It aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange among researchers in artificial intelligence, computer science, education, cognitive science, psychology, and related fields.
We welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Assessments
  • Authoring Systems
  • Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics
  • Game-Based Learning Systems
  • Instructional Planning and Strategies
  • Interaction Design and Learning Interfaces
  • Intelligent Pedagogical Agents and Learning Companions
  • Machine Learning in Education
  • Natural Language and Dialogue
  • Ontology, Metadata and Linked open data
  • Semantic Web technologies, Service-oriented architectures
  • Self-regulation Learning and Metacognition
  • Tutoring strategies
  • Web intelligence

DSIR-SS1: The New Model Core Curriculum and Institutional Research for Healthcare Professional Education in Japan

Organizer: Yoshikazu Asada
Affiliation: Jichi Medical University
Country: Japan
Summary: The Model Core Curriculum (MCC) for medical, dental, and pharmaceutical education in Japan was revised in 2022. The new MCC, developed with the concept of outcome-based education, represents a significant change. It will be implemented for students starting in the 2024 academic year. Consequently, universities are developing new curricula based on this updated MCC.
Another important aspect of medical education is accreditation based on global standards. The initial accreditation phase is nearly complete, with some universities already having undergone their second accreditation. Areas 3 (student assessments) and 7 (program evaluation) have been challenging aspects of Japanese medical education. Since these areas are linked to educational outcomes, changes in the MCC could also impact accreditation.
Moreover, the educational environment’s adaptation in response to COVID-19 remains a significant topic. The implementation of various technology-enhanced learning methods has become crucial for healthcare professional education, not only during the pandemic but also in its aftermath.
In light of these developments, this special session aims to share: (1) the current state of curriculum development based on the new MCC, (2) the relationship between the new MCC and medical education accreditation, and (3) related IR case studies.

DSIR-SS2: Research Related to Dropout Prediction and Dropout Prevention at Universities

Organizer: Naruhiko Shiratori
Affiliation: Kaetsu University
Country: Japan
Summary: The dropout rate at universities varies depending on the situation of each university, but a high dropout rate not only has a significant negative impact on student recruitment and quality of education at universities, but also wastes time and money for both students and universities. The dropout rate of universities in Japan as a whole is reported to be around 2% in FY2022, but this is the figure for Japan as a whole, and varies greatly from university to university and department to department. What should IR organizations do in response to the dropout rate, and how should they use data available inside and outside the university to conduct analysis to support decision-making on measures to prevent dropouts? This special session will discuss various issues related to dropout, accepting various perspectives on efforts to improve the dropout rate, including student status predictions, measures to improve the dropout rate, and predictions of students who will drop out. We will accept a wide range of levels of analysis, from micro-level (student-level) analysis, such as predicting and analyzing student status, to middle-level and macro-level analysis, such as comparative analysis of dropout rates among departments, measuring the effectiveness of dropout prevention measures in departments, and examining dropout rates among universities, and discuss the results of these presentations.

DSIR-SS3: Institutional Research in universities to encourage students to qualify for the national examinations

Organizer: Kenjiro Sakaki (Tenshi college), Kunihiko Takamatsu (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Affiliation: Tenshi College
Country: Japan
Summary: In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) proposed the establishment of Institutional Research (IR) in Japanese universities. Most universities have since launched this department. One of the objectives of the IR department is to reform the education system in order to advance higher education. Universities can be classified into two categories. The first type is designed to enable students to qualify for the national examination. The second type includes the universities excluding those under the first type. We can refer to the former as a national license-type university. MEXT promotes higher education reforms in universities. However, the curriculum of the national license-type university has to conform with the rules in order to obtain a qualification for the national examination from the corresponding ministry. Hence, there should be a difference between the IR in a license-type university and a non-license-type university. We will discuss the differences and similarities between the IR in license and non-license-type universities.

DSIR-SS4: Data science education for undergraduate Non-STEM Students

Organizer: Shuntaro Iseri & Shintaro Tajiri
Affiliation: Kanda University of International Studies(S.Iseri), Hokuriku University(S.Tajiri)
Country: Japan
Summary: In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has been supporting the promotion of data science education at universities in recent years. In fact, MEXT has developed a policy system (“MDASH: Approved for Mathematics, Data science and AI Smart Higher Education”) to certify systematic educational programs that aim to increase students’ interest in mathematics, data science and AI, and to develop their basic ability to understand and use them appropriately.
However, there are several practical issues in data science education. In particular, a certain number of Japanese Non-STEM students prefer non-STEM studies because they are not good at mathematics and computers, and the challenge is how to increase the interest and literacy of such students in learning about data science. This is a common challenge for many non-STEM undergraduate educations.
In this session, we would like to discuss how effective data science education should be for non-STEM students through the introduction of practical examples of data science education for non-STEM students and subsequent discussion.

SCAI-SS1: 2nd Special Session on Applied Informatics in Finance and Economics (AIFE 2024)

Organizers: Masanori Hirano, Kei Nakagawa, Yoshiyuki Suimon, Hiroki Sakaji
Affiliation: Preferred Networks, Inc., Nomura Asset Management Co, ltd., Nomura Securities Co., Ltd., Hokkaido University
Country: Japan
Summary: With the recent development of informatics and AI technologies, they now play a key role in financial markets and economics. For example, for analyzing a large amount of financial information, computational informatics is necessary to handle them. Moreover, artificial market simulations, computational economics, natural language processing including large language models for finance and economics, and deep learning applications for many financial-related and economics-related challenges are also popular. More recently, alternative data exploration for wider informatics approaches is also gaining popularity in the financial and economic industries. Those new technologies have been developed not only by academic researchers but also by market participants. For more development, the collaboration of many participants having various backgrounds is now necessary. In this session, we aim to give them the specialized opportunity to gather and discuss new challenges in finance and economics. In organizing the second edition of the special session following the last year, we highly appreciate paper submissions from wider financial and economic topics and participation from the wider area, including academic and industrial areas.

SCAI-SS2: Emerging techniques and tools in cybersecurity and digital forensics

Organizers: Jaouhar Fattahi
Affiliation: Associate professor at Laval University, Canada (https://www.ulaval.ca/la-recherche/repertoire-corps-professoral/jaouhar-fattahi)
Country: Canada
Summary: This special session explores the latest advancements in the domains of cybersecurity and digital forensics. With the increasing complexities of wireless communication networks, the importance and intricacy of security requirements have surged. Traditional security technologies may prove inadequate in addressing the needs of open, dynamic, mobile, heterogeneous, distributed, and wireless computing environments. Hence, there is an ongoing imperative to create environments that facilitate collaboration among diverse applications while maintaining rigorous security standards. Digital forensics, broadly defined, involves the application of scientific methods to investigate and analyze evidence related to crimes or legal issues occurring over the Internet. It plays a pivotal role in criminal investigations, legal proceedings, and upholding the integrity of evidence in the legal system. The main objective of this session is to bring together researchers and practitioners in the fields of cybersecurity and digital forensics, encouraging discussions on emerging methodologies for building secure systems and networks, as well as conducting digital forensics. The session particularly encourages contributions related to formal methods and papers presenting innovative approaches incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) methods and techniques. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Cryptographic protocols
  • Cryptography and Cryptanalysis
  • Quantum cryptography
  • Network security
  • Hardware security
  • Software security
  • Formal Methods for security
  • Biometrics
  • Wireless and mobile security
  • Network forensics
  • Mobile device forensics
  • Computer forensics
  • Memory forensics
  • Database forensics
  • Email forensics
  • Cloud forensics
  • Malware forensics
  • Social media forensics
  • Audio and video forensics

SCAI-SS3: Network Security and Artificial Intelligence

Organizers: Muhammad Arif Khan and Syed Usman Jamil
Affiliation: Charles Sturt University Australia
Country: Australia
Summary: Network security is one of the critical discipline for securing users’ data and personal information. Cyber attacks from criminals are increasing on wireless and wired networks day by day causing financial, emotional and personal loss to businesses and individual users. Modern day data and communication networks are diverse in nature including various Internet of Thing (IoT) devices, edge networks and ever-changing dynamic applications. These various components of wireless and wired networks make network security very challenging.
Network security techniques ensure that there are legitimate users accessing the services on a given network and stop any unauthorised use of network resources. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques are finding their place in every discipline of networks. This workshop proposal aims to bring cutting edge research in network security using AI and ML techniques.
The topics of interest for the proposed workshop are (but not limited to): network security, network forensics, AI and ML for network security, intrusion detection, cyber attack frameworks, Privacy and Security, Network anomaly detection, network traffic analysis, IoT-based Networks and their security, Network vulnerability detection and prevention.

SCAI-SS4: Generative AI and Creativity Support

Organizer: Hiroaki FURUKAWA
Affiliation: The University of Kitakyushu
Country: Japan
Summary: This session discusses about generative AI and creativity support systems. Generative AI continues to evolve rapidly, moreover it can be expected to play a role in supporting humans in a variety of fields. Particularly noteworthy is the trend toward using generative AI in the fields of creativity support.
Previously, AI was considered difficult to demonstrate creativity. However, the `Large Language Model’ (=LLM) represented by ChatGPT, has enabled imitation of creativity by learning from the vast amount of textual data on the Internet. From the above, generative AI shows great potential for supporting creativity. On the other hand, the research fields of creativity support at the dawn of generative AI should be actively discussed in terms of usefulness and safety. In this session, we would like to deepen the discussion from a broad perspective of creativity support, including methodologies, practical examples of using generative AI, and comparisons of creativity between humans and generative AI. Finally, we hope to further developments in the research fields of creativity support and the return of our knowledge with the public.

SCAI-SS5: AI competence in SMEs: learning and adaptation strategies for predictive maintenance

Organizer: Ivo Bukovsky
Country: Czech Republic
Summary: This topic addresses the learning and adaptation strategies necessary for SMEs and their employees to effectively use AI in predictive maintenance. It emphasizes the importance of building AI competency within the organization, overcoming training challenges and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

SCAI-SS6: Special Session on Next-Generation Multimodal XAI

Organizer: Takafumi Nakanishi
Affiliation: Musashino University
Country: Japan
Summary: In recent years, the rapid advancement of multimodal AI has ushered in a wide array of algorithms and applications, including generative AI. Against this backdrop, fairness, explainability, and transparency of the outcomes derived from or generated by AI models are paramount. This special session invited many papers on multimodal AI and/or multimodal explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). We welcome submissions for the following main themes:

  1. Fundamentals and Principles of Multimodal XAI: Investigations into the integration of different modalities (text, image, voice, etc.) and the explanation of AI decision-making processes.
  2. Application Cases of Multimodal XAI: Studies showing successful implementations of multimodal XAI in real-world scenarios and its applicability across various domains.
  3. Ethical and Social Impacts: Research into the ethical and social ramifications of multimodal XAI, including technical measures to mitigate negative impacts.
  4. Multimodal Applications: Examination of appropriate and efficient multimodal applications and their development.
    This special session aimed to delve into the challenges and opportunities at the cutting edge of multimodal AI, significantly contributing to advancing the field.

BMOT-SS1: Business management systems and strategies for the revitalization of regional economies

Organizer: Hidekazu Iwamoto
Affiliation: Josai International University
Country: Japan
Summary: This special session offers business management systems and strategies for the revitalization of regional economies. Based on all aspects (theories, applications and tools) of business management systems and strategies, the special session will discuss the practical challenges aspects of the topic.

SBIT-SS1: Latest Issues for Business Management

Organizer: Hiroyuki Ono
Affiliation: Chiba Institute of Technology
Country: Japan
Summary: In recent years, with the development of ICT, companies are required to carry out activities in all aspects such as improving business efficiency and collaborating with other companies and so on. Furthermore, it is necessary to create new services for the future based on various information not only from companies but also from outside. In addition, as we enter the corona era and our lifestyle is changing rapidly, we need to build an enterprise structure that quickly responds to the external environment. The purpose of this session is to share information on solutions and evaluation methods by taking up various problems in management work that are necessary in various aspects of business management. Moreover, we expect to accelerate the studies and to create a new research field through the introduction of best practice, failure case, and work-in-progress issues by contributed papers.

IDDC-SS1: Artificial Intelligence Applications for Creative Digital Content Creation

Organizer: Min Song
Affiliation: Yonsei University
Country: Korea, South
Summary: Artificial intelligence is making waves in content creation, changing how we approach this creative process. The creation of long-form content has traditionally been a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. But with the arrival of AI content creation tools, this is rapidly changing. AI technologies are revolutionizing the way we create, curate, and optimize content. Content creation with AI is reshaping how we think, create, and share. Therefore, this special session seeks the current best practices and applications for how AI helps make digital content creation in more creative manner. We are soliciting papers and posters that embrace such pioneering works and studies.
The special sessions includes below topics:

  • storyboard generation
  • long, cohesive story generation
  • consistent character generation
  • 2D/3D animations by AI
  • text rending in text to image generation
  • consistent multi-character generation
  • text to video generation

DSTM-SS1: Decision Science on Decision Making Process

Organizer: Takaaki Hosoda
Affiliation: Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology
Country: Japan
Summary: Research on the decision-making process explores how individuals or groups make choices. It examines factors influencing decisions, such as cognitive biases, emotions, and social influences. Studies often analyze decision-making models, strategies, and their outcomes. Understanding this process can lead to insights into improving decision-making effectiveness in various contexts, including business, psychology, and public policy. This special session focuses on the decision-making process for human activity. Based on several theories, this session aims to discuss various topics about decision making.

DSTM-SS2: Organizational Behavior in Management

Organizer: MORIHIKO IKEMIZU
Affiliation: Advanced Institute for Industrial Technology
Country: Japan
Summary: Organizational behavior theory is an academic field that studies the behavior and interactions of individuals and groups within organizations, and the factors that influence them. This field seeks to better understand how people behave in organizations, why they behave in certain ways, and the impact this has on the organization as a whole. This session will specifically address effective leadership, teamwork, motivation and engagement within organizations.