DEADLINE FOR PAPER SUBMISSION: MONDAY JUNE 14th

AI-2004: Cambridge, UK, December 13th - 15th 2004
Organised by BCS SGAI: The British Computer Society Specialist
Group on Artificial Intelligence (an ECCAI Member Society)
CALL FOR PAPERS

http://www.bcs-sgai.org/ai2004/

AI-2004 is the Twenty-fourth SGAI International Conference on
Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence.

The scope of the conference comprises the whole range of AI
technologies and application areas. Its principal aims are to review
recent technical advances in AI technologies and to show how
these advances have been applied to solve business problems. To
meet these objectives, there will be two parallel streams of refereed
and invited papers, one on technology and one on applications.

The programme also includes tutorials to provide greater depth in
selected topics. Our aim is to have the widest possible appeal to
the industrial, commercial, government and academic communities
throughout Europe.

As in previous years the conference aims to bring together
researchers and developers from a wide range of academic,
professional and industrial backgrounds.  Delegates will have the
opportunity to discuss their ideas and problems with research staff
working at the leading edge of AI developments and with developers
with experience of the practical issues of getting systems into
operation. The conference will qualify for the IEE and BCS CPD
schemes.

This year, the conference will take place at the newly refurbished
Queens' College conference centre. In addition to the formal
sessions, the conference programme includes a welcome
reception and a Gala Dinner. Plenty of time has been inserted into
the programme to allow discussions with other delegates and time
to make new contacts and renew old acquaintances. AI-2004 offers
a valuable opportunity to keep up to date with developments in AI
and to share experiences in the practical issues of developing AI
based systems.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

The Technical Stream aims to present the best of recent
developments in AI, covering a wide range of technical areas.

Contributions are invited in the form of papers of up to fourteen A4
pages presenting original work in AI. Areas of interest include (but
are not restricted to): knowledge based systems; knowledge
engineering; semantic web; constraint satisfaction; intelligent
agents; machine learning; model based reasoning; verification and
validation of AI systems; natural language understanding; speech-
enabled systems; case based reasoning; neural networks; genetic
algorithms; data mining and knowledge discovery in databases;
robotics and pervasive computing.

The Application Stream is the largest annual showcase in Europe
of real applications using AI technology. Contributions are invited in
the form of papers of up to fourteen A4 pages presenting case
studies describing the application of AI to real-world problems.

Papers in recent years have covered all application domains,
including commerce, manufacturing and government, and every
major AI technique. In addition to case studies and specific
applications of AI, we would welcome papers that discuss issues
such as managing the transfer from research to production of AI-
based products. Papers are selected to highlight critical areas of
success (and failure) and to present the benefits and lessons of
value to other developers. Submitted papers should make these
points clear. Guidance notes for Application Stream authors are
available from the website.

Publication of Papers
The conference proceedings will again be published in book form
by Springer-Verlag. The books will be prepared from camera-ready
copy supplied by the authors of accepted papers. Formatting
specifications for the proceedings have been provided by the
publisher and are available from the website. Authors will retain
copyright in all papers published in the two volumes of proceedings.

As in previous years, the best six refereed papers in each stream
will be reprinted as a special issue of the international journal
Knowledge Based Systems.

Submission of Papers
Papers must be submitted as either Word 2000 or PDF files and
uploaded to the conference website by Monday June 14th 2004 at
the latest. Authors must indicate the stream to which their papers
are being submitted. At least one author of each accepted paper
will be expected to attend the conference to present it in person.
Presenting authors will be asked to register for the conference at
the discounted speakers' rate when they return the final camera-
ready printed versions of their papers.

Please note that once a paper is submitted it will not be possible
to add the names of additional authors, or rearrange the order in
which the authors' names appear after the title. Papers with more
than three authors should include an explicit statement of the part
played by each author in the work described. In general, only those
who made a substantial contribution to the work should be listed
as authors. Other contributors should be acknowledged.

Tutorials & workshops
The Conference Committee invites proposals for tutorials and
workshops to be presented on the first day of the conference.
These should be directed in the first instance to the Tutorial
Organiser.

Poster Session
A poster session is being organised to enable researchers and
others to present work in progress. Details are available on the
conference website.

Exhibition & Commercial opportunities
A tabletop exhibition will run alongside the Conference. This will
allow space for Ai companies to promote their wares and advertise
their job opportunities to the conference delegates. There will be a
limited number of spaces available and potential exhibitors are
encouraged to book early, as these will be on a first-come, first-
served basis. Exhibitors should contact the Exhibition Organiser.

Sponsorship
The Conference Committee is keen to make contact with any
organisations that may wish to sponsor the Conference, in whole or
in part. Sponsorship will ensure the highest visibility for the
benefactor, both through the appearance of the company logo on
all promotional literature and in references to the Conference in all
media exposure prior to and after the event. Potential sponsors
should contact the Deputy Conference Chair (Finance and
Publicity).

Prizes
There are sponsored prizes (a trophy plus £500) for the best paper
submitted in each stream and a trophy plus a cash prize for the
best-presented poster, awarded on the basis of delegate voting.

Machine Intelligence Competition
A permanent trophy awarded for one year plus a £1,000 cash prize,
sponsored by Electrolux, will be awarded to the winner of the
annual machine intelligence competition. This prize will be awarded
to the working system that is considered to be the most significant
step forward towards Machine Intelligence on display at the
competition. For details on eligibility for this competition please
contact the competition organizers Prof. Max Bramer
([log in to unmask]: British Computer Society Specialist
Group on Artificial Intelligence, SGAI) or Dr. John L. Gordon
([log in to unmask]: Applied Knowledge Research Institute, AKRI)

IMPORTANT DATES

Full Paper Submission: Monday 14th June 2004  (This deadline will
not be extended)

Notification of Acceptance: Monday 26th July 2004

Camera Ready Paper: Monday 6th September 2004 (at the latest)

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Conference Chair: Dr. Tony Allen, The Nottingham Trent University
([log in to unmask])

Deputy Conference Chair (Finance and Publicity): Dr Robert Milne,
Intelligent Applications Ltd  ([log in to unmask])

Deputy Conference Chair (Electronic Services): Dr. Alun Preece,
University of Aberdeen ([log in to unmask])

Deputy Conference Chair (Poster Session): Dr Nirmalie Wiratunga
(Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen) ([log in to unmask])

Technical Programme Chair:  Professor Max Bramer, University of
Portsmouth ([log in to unmask])

Deputy Technical Programme Chair: Dr Frans Coenen, University
of Liverpool ([log in to unmask])

Application Programme Chair: Professor Ann Macintosh, Napier
University ([log in to unmask])

Deputy Application Programme Chair: Richard Ellis, Stratum
([log in to unmask])

Research Student Organiser: Rosemary Gilligan (University of
Hertfordshire)

Tutorial Organiser: Prof. Adrian Hopgood, Nottingham Trent
University ([log in to unmask])

Exhibition Organiser: Bob Howlett, University of Brighton
([log in to unmask])

ALL CORRESPONDENCE SHOULD BE SENT BY EMAIL TO THE
CONFERENCE SECRETARY: [log in to unmask]

Note that papers must be submitted electronically. See the
website for details.