The Inter Action Conference will generate the major output from the UK Foresight Programme’s project on Cognitive Systems and promises to be a particularly stimulating event, attended by scientists who have been involved in the project and some of the potential stakeholders in the research manifestos that we hope will emerge from it.

The UK Foresight programme aims to increase UK exploitation of science in the medium and long term by identifying new areas of science and technology currently at the basic research stages, which are likely to be fertile areas for future exploitation for society and the economy. Where appropriate, the programme seeks to identify actions to accelerate UK involvement in the research and help to realise those opportunities.

The Cognitive Systems project aims to provide a vision for the future development of research on cognitive systems through an exploration of recent advances in the life sciences and the physical and engineering sciences, partly by encouraging greater interaction between the two communities. The project has been running since April 2002 and many notable UK scientists are currently working to document the state of the art of the science, identify gaps and explore potential areas for interdisciplinary work and collaboration. Background information about the progress of the project can be found on www.foresight.gov.uk.

Dr John Taylor, Director General of the Research Councils, is chairing the conference. Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation, and a number of leading international scientists will be giving keynote addresses.

It will be held over three days with the first two days concentrating on the science with key speakers and group discussions. They will look at the areas proposed for debate during the preparatory work and consider the possibilities for future research and “grand challenge” systems, which might be stretch “targets” for future research.

The final day of the conference will be open to invited participants from a wider audience, including academics, research funders, government, industry and the press, and will explore the issues raised and the conclusions drawn from the first two days.

The conference is designed to be a highly participative and interactive event at which proposals and plans to take forward the ideas emerging during the project will be developed in real time. Not only will it bring together the many scientists who have been both involved and interested in the project but also those who might be applying the outcomes of the some of the novel research directions and collaborations the project will seek to identify and characterise. The environment provided at HP Labs enables the conference to have on-line interaction with colleagues from academia, research funders, government and business from within the UK and abroad during the Conference and immediately afterwards.

 

 

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