Where would you look to find new approaches to solving today’s economic, scientific, and social problems? If you answered Viña del Mar, Chile, from today through May 9, you’re right—as that’s where and when more than 250 thought leaders are gathered for the Microsoft Research Latin American Faculty Summit 2014 (opens in new tab). The attendees come from academia, government, and Microsoft Research, and represent an array of disciplines, including computer science, engineering, mathematics, and economics.
The theme of this year’s summit is “advancing science and technology through computing research.” To fulfill this ambitious objective, the participants are exploring the role of computing in modern research—especially in handling the data deluge that typifies much of today’s research, as well as the importance of computer science education, the emergence of what’s been called the “internet of things,” and the promise of machine learning. They are also examining trends in social computing and the use of computing in studying urban problems.
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Pictured from left to right: Managing Director of Microsoft Research India, P. Anandan; Vice President of Microsoft Research, Tony Hey; PhD Fellow Award Recipient, Carolina Fuentes; Chile’s Ministro de Economía, Luis Felipe Céspedes; GM of Microsoft Chile, Oliver Flogel; and Microsoft Research Faculty Summit Co-Chair, Jaime Puente
The event is held in partnership with Chile’s Ministry of Economics (opens in new tab), and, as befits one of Latin America’s premier computer-science conferences, the summit will pay particular attention to regional challenges. Microsoft Research has long been involved in this part of Latin America, given that Chile serves as the management hub for Latin American and Caribbean Collaborative ICT Research (opens in new tab) (LACCIR), a joint research center (opens in new tab) of Microsoft Research and top-tier Latin American universities. In fact, it was introduced in 2007, during the very first Latin America Faculty Summit, which was also held at Viña del Mar.
Tony Hey delivers his keynote on Data-Driven Computing
The three-day program features speeches, talks, workshops, panel discussions, and a DemoFest. The keynote addresses cover a variety of topics, including:
- Computing and astronomy, with a focus on ALMA (the world’s largest radio telescope) and astronomical visualizations via Microsoft Research’s WorldWide Telescope
- Big data, machine learning, and social computing
- Twenty-first–century education and the need to inspire the next generation of computer scientists
- Mobile and cloud computing
- The importance of technology in preparing for natural disasters
- The role of research in driving innovation
We’re looking forward to three stimulating days, filled with exchanges between people who are intent on using science and technology to make the world a better place.
—Jaime Puente (opens in new tab), Director, Microsoft Research Latin America
—Evelyne Viegas (opens in new tab), Director of Semantic Computing, Microsoft Research Redmond
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