Plenary Talks

Plenary Talk 1

Prof. Kenji DOYA
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan

Communication and Self-organization of Intelligent Agents

[Abstract]
Our brain is composed of multiple adaptive agents specialized in different learning algorithms and state-action representations. Most functional brain imaging studies assume that the brain modules that are required for a given task are activated and connected, but what mechanism allows such flexible operation is a big open question, both computationally and biophysically. In anther scale, our society in the near future will be supported by multiple AI agents working together with human experts. Then an important question is what is the right communication protocol for intelligent agents to achieve efficient collaboration and secure operation. This talk reviews ongoing studies on the communication and collaboration of multiple adaptive agents and aims to provoke thoughts on the mechanisms for self-organization of intelligent agents.

[Biography]
Kenji Doya took BS in 1984, MS in 1986, and Ph.D. in 1991 at U. Tokyo. He became a research associate at U. Tokyo in 1986, U. C. San Diego in 1991, and Salk Institute in 1993. He joined ATR in 1994 and became the head of Computational Neurobiology Department, ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in 2003. In 2004, he was appointed as the principal investigator of Neural Computation Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and started Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course (OCNC) as the chief organizer. As OIST re-established itself as a graduate university in 2011, he became a professor and the vice provost for research. He serves as the co-editor in chief of Neural Networks from 2008 and received Donald O. Hebb Award from International Neural Network Society in 2018. He is interested in understanding the functions of basal ganglia and neuromodulators based on the theory of reinforcement learning.

Plenary Talk 2

Dr. Sumei SUN
Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore

6G: What would be the key technologies and driving applications

[Abstract]
The fifth generation (5G) network, promising to provide much higher data volume, network energy efficiency and spectral efficiency, and much lower latency than the fourth generation (4G) network, aims to use one network to support the digital transformation in all industry sectors. The diversified use cases and associated performance requirements have made the 5G network management and optimization extremely challenging, motivating researchers and practitioners to study and design machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence algorithms to address these challenges. Meanwhile, we have been transiting to a hyper-digitally connected world catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is timely and important to look at the unaddressed gaps from 5G, and start preparing enabling technologies for 6G.
In this talk, we will start with a brief review on the 5G vision, and then look at some of the unaddressed gaps from 5G as well as the driving needs for 6G technologies. As examples, we will discuss the need for massive ultra-reliability low-latency communications (M-URLLC), intelligent and integrated aggregation of licensed and unlicensed spectrums, joint sensing and communication, and software-defined artificial intelligence-supported reconfigurability in system, network, and radio environment. Some early results will also be shared.

[Biography]
Sumei SUN is Head of the Communications and Networks Dept at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. She is also holding a joint appointment with the Singapore Institute of Technology, and an adjunct appointment with the National University of Singapore, both as a full professor. Her current research interests are in next-generation wireless communications, industrial internet of things, and integrated secure sensing-communications-computing design. She is a Fellow of the IEEE, Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology, member of the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications Steering Committee, and a Distinguished Speaker of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society 2018-2021. She’s also Director of IEEE Communications Society Asia Pacific Board, Chapter Coordinator of Asia Pacific Region in the IEEE Vehicular Technologies Society, and member of the IEEE Communications Society Globecom/ICC Management and Strategy Standing Committee.