CALL FOR PAPERS'99

THE 9th EUROPEAN - JAPANESE CONFERENCE ON

INFORMATION MODELLING AND KNOWLEDGE BASES

May 24-28, 1999, Iwate Prefectural University, JAPAN

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the conference is to bring together experts from
different areas of computer science and other disciplines, who have a
common interest in understanding and solving problems on information
modelling and knowledge bases. We also aim to recognise and analyse new
areas on modelling and knowledge bases to which more attention should be
paid. Therefore cognitive science, philosophy and logic, as well as
linguistics are relevant areas, too.

TOPICS: Modelling of information is becoming more and more important in
information systems. Their databases, knowledge bases, as well as knowledge
management systems are growing all the time. Modelling helps to understand,
explain, predict, and reason on information manipulated in the systems, and
to understand the role and functions of components of systems. Modelling
can be made with many different purposes in mind and at different levels.
It can be made by emphasising users' conceptual understanding, or e.g.
efficient knowledge sharing in co-operative information systems. It can be
made on a domain level on which the application domain is described, on an
algorithm level, or on a representation level. On each level the objects
are different, and different rules govern the behaviour of them. Therefore
the concepts, rules and methods for modelling are also different. The
approaches for modelling in various application areas may differ
considerably, too. In this conference the interest is focused on modelling
of information, and the development and use of models in information
systems of various kinds. Scientific or technical papers of high quality
are sought on topics including, but not limited to the following. The
highest priority will be given to papers which are strongly related to
different aspects of modelling.

1.  Theoretical and Philosophical Basis of Concept Modelling and Conceptual
     Modelling
-   Concept formation, descriptions of concepts, conceptual change
-   Systems of concepts, theories of concept systems, and concept integration
-   Human concepts vs. formal concepts in the design of information systems
-   Formal ontologies and knowledge sharing, justification of shared knowledge
2.  Conceptual Modelling and Information Requirements Specification
-   Knowledge managemet for conceptual modelling
-   Recognition, use, and manipulation of information based on different
         ontologies and on different epistemological basis
-   Languages, tools and methods for conceptual modelling
-   Methods and systems for developing and using conceptual information
-   Conceptual information requirements specification for information systems
3.  Models in Intelligent Activity
-   Meta-modelling for the model building process
-   Relationships between conceptual modelling and problem solving
-   Modelling, understanding, human cognition and problem solving
-   Concept formation as intelligent activity in model construction, problem
         solving, and conceptual learning
4.  Collections for Descriptions of Concepts, Knowledge Base Design, and Data
     Base Design
-   Conceptual modelling for knowledge management
-   Active database systems and active knowledge base systems
-   Design methodologies and design tools
-   Modelling for the design of object-oriented data bases
5.  Human-Computer Interaction and Modelling
-   Metadata for human-computer interaction
-   Interfaces to data bases and knowledge bases,
-   Management of large conceptual schemata
-   Modelling in multimedia information systems
6.  Software Engineering and Modelling
-   Conceptual modelling vs. O-O modelling: similarities and differences
-   Use of design patterns and concept definition libraries
-   Modelling software engineering processes
-   SE methods as modelling tools; UML and other
-   Dynamic modelling of distributed systems
-   Modelling of multi-agent systems - modelling in multi-agent systems
7.  Applications
-   Modelling in virtual reality
-   Conceptual modelling in 3D environment
-   Modelling Global Cyber Society
-   Temporal modelling in information systems
-   Modelling in the WWW systems

HOW TO SUBMIT A PAPER:  Send five (5) printed copies of your paper (either
as a full paper, max. 20 double spaced pages, or as a short paper of max. 8
pages) to one of the PC co-chairs by January 15, 1999. The paper must be
original, and not submitted or accepted by any conference or journal. The
selection of papers is made on the basis of review, by the program
committee. The acceptance will be based on the originality of work, on the
suitability of the topic to the conference, and on the overall quality of
your submission. The acceptance letters will be sent by 28th February. In
the case of acceptance, you are expected to send your final paper for
inclusion in the preprints to arrive no later than 7th May, 1999. The text
must be ready for final publication in the book by the end of August 1999.

HOW TO SUBMIT A POSITION PAPER:  Send five (5) printed copies of your (max.
4 pages) to one of the PC co-chairs by January 15, 1999.  Research projects
of any scale are invited to illustrate innovative concepts, theories,
prototypes, or experiences. Time for presenting accepted position papers
will be allocated.

HOW TO SUBMIT A POSTER:  Send five (5) printed copies of your poster
hand-out material (max. 2 pages) and draft drawings of your poster to one
of the PC co-chairs by February 26, 1999.  Research projects of any scale
are invited to illustrate innovative concepts, theories, or prototypes.
During the conference, special space for posters will be reserved.

WORKING PRINCIPLES OF THE CONFERENCE:
-   The total number of participants is limited to 50.
-   The authors present their papers at the conference. The papers, poster
outlines, and position papers are included in the preprints. The final text
of the papers can be polished for publication after the conference. Only
actually presented papers will be published in the book.
-   The final book will be published through an international publisher.

CONFERENCE SITE: The conference will be hosted by the Iwate Prefectural
University (IPU), located at Takizawa (10 km north of Morioka city), Japan.
Iwate Prefecture (http://www.office.pref.iwate.jp/~kanko/access_e.html) is
in the North-eastern part of Tohoku region. Morioka is the capital city of
Iwate Prefecture. The Tohoku Shinkansen train service takes about 3 hrs
from Tokyo station (http://www.office.pref.iwate.jp/~kanko/access3_e.html)
to Morioka city. Iwate Prefecture has Hanamaki Airport with regular flights
to Osaka, Sapporo, etc.
(http://www.office.pref.iwate.jp/~kanko/access2_e.html).

Iwate is the name of Iwate mountain (2000m high), 10 km North of Morioka.
Iwate boasts great natural beauty. The Rikuchu Coast, a Rias-type coast
line with high cliffs and reefs offshore, the "Alps of the Sea", is
well-known as a natural museum of volcanoes. Hiraizumi is one of Tohoku's
most historically important towns. It was built by the feudal lord Kiyohira
Furukawa some 870 years ago. Though several wars ultimately destroyed
Hiraizumi, its glory lives on through the 3,000 National Treasures still
preserved in the Golden Hall of the Chusonji Temple,
(http://www.office.pref.iwate.jp/~kanko/toku_e.html) and in other places .

CONFERENCE FEE: The registration fee of approx. 50,000 Japanese Yen will
include the preprints, lunches and dinners during the conference,
refreshments in coffee breaks, a banquet party, a bus tour within Iwate
Prefecture, and the cost for the final book. The room and breakfast cost of
10,000 Japanese Yen per night, is to be paid to the hotel directly by the
participants.

Program Committee:
Eiji Kawaguchi, (Co-Chairman),  Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
Hannu Kangassalo, (Co-Chairman),   University of Tampere, Finland

Alfs T. Berztiss,   University of Pittsburgh, USA
Harold Boley,   German Research Center for AI, Germany
Silvana Castano,   University of Milano, Italy
Pierre-Jean Charrel,   Université Toulouse 1 & IRIT, France
Olga De Troyer,   Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Valeria De Antonellis,   University of Milano, Italy
Nicola Guarino,   National Research Council LADSEB-CNR, Italy
Hele-Mai Haav,   Institute of Cybernetics, Estonia,
Issam A. Hamid,   Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Jaak Henno,   Tallinn Technical University, Estonia
Tu Bao Ho,   Japan Advanved Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Koichi Hori,   RCAST, University of Tokyo, Japan
Matthias Jarke,   RWTH Aachen, Germany
Manfred Jeusfeld,   Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Yahiko Kambayashi, Kyoto University, Japan
Tadahiro Kitahashi,   ISIR, Osaka University, Japan
Yasushi Kiyoki,   Keio University, Japan
Pavel Materna,   Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Robert Meersman,   Free University Brussels, Belgium
John Mylopoulos,   University of Toronto, Canada
Björn Nilsson,   Astrakan Strategic Development, Sweden
Moira Norrie,   ETH-Zentrum, Switzerland
Setsuo Ohsuga,   Waseda University, Japan
Antoni Olivé,   Univ. Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain
Christine Parent,   Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Barbara Pernici,   University of Milano, Italy
Alain Pirotte,   University of Louvain, Belgium
Veikko Rantala,   University of Tampere, Finland
Colette Rolland,   University of Paris I, France
Yasuki Sekiguchi,   Hokkaido University, Japan
Cristina Sernadas,   Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal
Arne Sølvberg,   University of Trondheim, Norway
Yuzuru Tanaka,   Hokkaido University, Japan
Bernhard Thalheim,   Brandenburg Technical University, Germany
Takehiro Tokuda,   Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Benkt Wangler,   SU/KTH, Sweden
Roel Wieringa,   University of Twente, The Netherlands
Torao Yanaru,   Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
Naoki Yonezaki,   Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Esteban Zimanyi,   Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

The list of PC members is not complete, yet.

Organizing Committee
Issam A. Hamid, (Local organiser),  Iwate Prefectural University, Japan
Hannu Jaakkola, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Yoshitaka Shibata, Iwate Prefectural University, Japan

Addresses:
Eiji Kawaguchi,
Kyushu Institute of Technology
Dep. of E.E. and Computer Engineering
1-1 Sensui-cho, Tobata, Kitakyushu, 804-8550
Japan

Tel:  +81-93-884-3254   Fax: +81-93-871-5835
E-mail:  [log in to unmask]

Hannu Kangassalo
University of Tampere
P.O. Box 607
FIN-33101 Tampere
Finland

Tel:  +358-3-2156778      Fax:  +358-3-2156070      E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
___________________________________________________________
Preliminary information about the conference can be seen on the page
 http://www.pori.tut.fi/~hj/ejc99.html . Information on previous
European-Japanese conferences and conference books (1989-1997) can be seen
on the page http://www.cs.uta.fi/~hk/muu-toim-90.html.
____________________________________________________________




Hannu Kangassalo
Professor

University of Tampere
Department of Computer Science
P.O.Box 607
FIN-33101 Tampere
Finland

Tel.    	+358-3-2156778 (office)
        	+358-3-3681636 (home)
Fax.    	+358-3-2156070 (office)
E-mail. 	[log in to unmask]