Innaugural ACM Europe Conference set for 7-8 September in Barcelona | Cyber Security

Edited and prepared by Oscar Michel, Masters in Journalism, DCU.

Interview with Jim Ormond from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Jim explains what is the ACM Europe Conference taking place on September 7-8.

When is it on? 

7-8 September, 2017

How many years has it been going? 

This is the inaugural year

What was the inspiration to start it? 

Bring together European and world experts to discuss import trends in computing. Raise awareness of ACM activities in Europe.

What exciting things can people look forward to for the 2017 version?

A keynote address by Turing Laureate Silvio Micali on a new kind of distributed ledger. Panels with leading experts discussing cybersecurity and high performance computing.

What opportunities are on offer for people / startups / investors and companies attending?

Networking opportunities. Hear from leading experts about cybersecurity, high performance computing and blockchain.  

What tips would you give to people attending to get the most out of it? 

Attend all ACM Europe Conference events. Visit co-located meetings of leading European technology organisations.

How can people book tickets / when does it usually sell out?

Use this link to register: https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1949764

Who is Silvio Micali? 

He is a visionary whose work has contributed to the mathematical foundations of cryptography and has advanced the theory of computation. His keynote address for the ACM Europe Conference is titled “ALGORAND: A New Distributed Ledger.” Distributed ledgers are tamperproof sequences of data that can be read and augmented by everyone. As currently implemented however, distributed ledgers cannot achieve their enormous potential. Micali will present ALGORAND as a new, truly democratic and very efficient way to implement a distributed ledger. Unlike prior implementations based on proof of work, it requires a negligible amount of computation.

What will be said during the Cybersecurity Panel?

A roster of leading researchers and practitioners from Europe and around the world will examine the latest opportunities and challenges in the cybersecurity field. Panelists include Chris Hankin, Imperial College London (UK), Judith Gal-Ezer, Open University (Israel), Jeremy Epstein, National Science Foundation (US), Manel Medina, Politecnic University of Catalunya (Spain), and Gerhard Schimpf, Chair of the Committee of European Chapter Leaders. This panel will be followed by a reception to celebrate ACM fellows in Europe. Several ACM Fellows have already confirmed their presence.

What will be said during the  High Performance Computing pannel?

 The track will include a keynoteaddress by Katherine Yelick of the University of California at Berkeley titled “Breakthrough Science at the Exascale.” Within the next few years, exascale systems will become available to the scientific community. Professor Yelick will present some of the exciting science opportunities, discuss the need for algorithms and mathematics to advance along with system performance, and how the variety of workloads will stress the different aspects of exascale hardware and software systems. The keynote address will be followed by a panel, composed of top world experts in HPC. The panel will review progress and current plans for the worldwide roadmap towards exascale computing. Panelists include Mateo Valero, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain), Paul Messina, Argonne National Laboratory (US), Satoshi Matsuoka, Global Scientific Information and Computing Center (Japan), Alison Kennedy, High Performance Computing Center (UK),  Per Stenström, Chalmers University (Sweden), and Qian Depei, Sun Yat-sen University (China). The panel will be moderated by Thomas Skordas, Director for Digital Excellence and Science Infrastructure at the European Commission.

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