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Posted: Fri, October 15, 2004
Natural Computing Comes to Wales
The Natural Computing Applications Forum (NCAF) recently held one of its three annual UK meetings in Wales for the first time. The 2-day programme, supported by Know How Wales, included a
series of themed presentations focussing on Self Learning Autonomous Systems.Following the meeting Chris Williams caught up with Graham Hesketh, Chair of NCAF, and Dr Rajesh Ransing, organiser of the event and recent invitee to the NCAF committee. When was NCAF first launched and why?- GH NCAF was formed in 1990 as a user support group for a commercial neural network package, Neuralworks Professional. It was intended to be a regular forum for users, developers and vendors of neural network tools to discuss problems and solutions in the rapidly emerging field of neural computing applications. What are the current aims of NCAF and who is it for? - GH NCAF aims to promote widespread exploitation of natural computing technology by (1) providing a focus for natural computing practitioners, (2) disseminating information on all aspects of natural computing, and (3) encouraging close co-operation between industrialists and academics. It is suitable for people new to the field who want to know how computational intelligence techniques may affect us and our businesses - most meetings have a tutorial and a workshop on some aspect of soft computing. There are ample opportunities to meet and have informal discussions with technology providers and more importantly with other customers, so we can quickly put ourselves in the position of being informed customers. It is suitable for experts - it provides a platform for in depth presentations on new methods and applications. At an EPSRC workshop looking at Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities and Threats to neural computing, NCAF was cited by some of the UK's leading academics as a unique resource available to UK researchers. It sets the UK apart from the rest of Europe and the US in the opportunity it offers to meet other academics in a non-point scoring environment, and also as an effective match-making agency. It is suitable for small companies - whether involved in software supply, sensors, process control or consultancy, NCAF offers unparalleled access to staff from large companies and to leading academics - a source of advice and contacts not normally accessible. NCAF is now more than just a forum for discussion about neural networks. The remit of NCAF includes all techniques that move computer applications into areas that previously needed knowledge, judgement or scarce human resources. This includes Genetic Algorithms, Fuzzy Logic, Bayesian Belief Networks, Intelligent Agents and much more. Why did NCAF change its name from Neural to Natural? - GH As neural networks came of age, it became clear that the NCAF membership wanted to keep abreast of the whole range of new techniques, which are currently finding practical use alongside neural networks and conventional statistics. We had always done this to some extent, usually with one or two tutorials on non-neural network techniques each year, but we felt it was appropriate for NCAF to adapt to the changing interests of our membership more positively. Consequently, in January 2000 NCAF changed its name to the Natural Computing Applications Forum. We continue to emphasise real world applications, but the change in scope reflects the need to embrace a range of new algorithms to meet the challenges computing faces in the immediate future and recognises that many of the challenges have been solved in the natural world. Neural networks are our heritage, but if we are to flourish in the future we must be prepared to take more than one leaf out of life's book. Why is research into natural computing so vital? - GH We are in the middle of a data explosion. Computer systems, databases and indexable knowledge are growing at an alarming rate, and conventional programming methods are struggling to deal with the complexity. But nature abounds with examples of successful complex systems, and we can benefit by imitation. Neural networks were originally inspired by simple models of the neurons in the brain. As neuron models they were pretty poor, but they reproduced some of the pattern matching and function approximation behaviour of the brain quite effectively. Neural networks are now entering the statistical and operational research mainstream. They are one of the most powerful tools for finding patterns in large volumes of data. We must continue to research these and other natural computing techniques if we want to succeed in creating computational systems that can tame the ever-growing complexity of our technological society. In terms of this research, how is Wales positioned within the UK? - RR In Wales, we do have many internationally recognised research teams and a state-of-the-art infrastructure. For example, Aberystwyth University has world leading expertise on Robotics and Intelligent Systems. The Centre for Advanced Software and Intelligent Systems, a joint venture between the Computer Science Departments at University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Cardiff University, is a Centre of Excellence recognised by the Welsh Development Agency. Over the last four years, the University of Wales Swansea has also received substantial investment with the Digital Technium development, the £2.5M Agilent Communciations lab and the state of art Virtual Reality Cave. The research in Intelligent Computing at Swansea is world leading and has resulted in patented technologies. In this field we are also introducing two new postgraduate courses: MSc in Wireless and Intelligent Computing and MRes in Intelligent and Adaptive Computing. These courses are unique in the area of Natural Computing. Can NCAF benefit Welsh SMEs or is it just for computing experts? - RR I personally have been involved in NCAF activities for the last 2-3 years and what I liked about this forum is that they have achieved a very good balance between industry and academia. The discussions and presentations are useful for both communities, and the participation of the SME sector is vital to keep the balance- particularly in Wales. I am delighted that NCAF has been able to establish links with the recently formed Advanced Technical Computing Group, an IT Wales initiative, providing a forum for computing expertise. There is much internationally recognised research in Wales and we need such groups to assist in keeping Welsh business and industry informed. I am also pleased to announce that we have already planned a joint NCAF-IT Wales meeting in January 2006, specifically for Welsh SME's. The meeting will be themed to focus on Data Mining for SME's. How do you recruit new members to the Forum? - RR In Wales, we aim to work with established centres and forums to encourage their participation in meetings and develop a platform for knowledge interaction. Although members get discounted rate to attend all NCAF meetings, my objective is to encourage Welsh industries and Welsh University research students to attend at least some of our meetings to network with experts and gain knowledge. I am pleased to welcome NCAF to Wales and I hope we continue to have successful meetings in the future. Do you believe there is there a limit to the intelligence and self-learning power of computers? - GH Whether computers can actually achieve true intelligence or consciousness is a hotly-debated topic. Nevertheless, for all practical purposes I believe that there is no real limit to the apparent intelligence of a computer system. It will always be possible to build systems with more knowledge, greater reasoning capability and more life-like interaction with people. Full information on NCAF activities and membership can be found at www.ncaf.org.uk |
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