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December 8, 2004 - Over 300 attended the Smart World 2004 Conference at MIT, representing 94 different organizations from around the world. Speakers included experts from IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Intel, P&G and J&J, in addition to several speakers from MIT. Richard C. Larson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems at MIT, gave the keynote address on the topic of “Operations Research.” David L. Brock, Principal Research Scientist served as moderator and conference leader, and spoke on establishing a new research initiative at MIT called The Data Center. The MIT Industrial Liaison Program sponsored the daylong program, which was held at Kresge Auditorium.
The theme of the conference involved different perspectives on how to manage new streams of data anticipated from emerging technologies such as RFID, the Electronic Product Code (EPC), and sensor networks. Making sense of increasing amounts of data is an important issue for all business, government, and non-profit organizations. The ability to use data for quick and effective decision-making represents a new frontier in productivity improvement.
Other more advanced topics of the conference included distributed data management and the foundation for future intelligent infrastructures that will support business. Specifically, Dave Brock discussed a new computer language called “M” that will achieve “Semantic Modeling” by connecting data with mathematical models, yielding powerful new tools such as interoperable data modeling and interactive simulation.
Conference attendees also received several research articles that articulated the vision of The Data Center, and provided detailed analysis of intelligent data networks, the application of M, and examples of semantic modeling.
Formal research work at The Data Center will begin January 1, 2005. Because of the strong interest in Smart World 2004, The Data Center has planned three follow-up seminars in January. These are intended as forums for interaction and discussion. Topics include Interoperable Modeling and the M Language (January 12, 2005), Defining the Dictionary (January 20, 2005), and Business Applications (January 27, 2004).
For more information about The Data Center, or any of these programs, please contact Dave Brock, dlb@mit.edu or Ed Schuster, edmund_w@mit.edu. Additional information can also be found at www.mitdatacenter.org
Written by Edmund W. Schuster
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