working groups
profiles of WGs
 
 
WG for Artificial Intelligence
, KTIML MFF UK, Malostranské nám. 2/25, 11800 Praha 1

The group currently consists of 23 people interested in information exchange and dissemination of results of their work in various subfields of AI.

The group was founded originally as the Czech representative of the European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (www.eccai.org). Members of the group receive news about events, publications and other information sources organized/provided by ECCAI (vast part of which is mediated by a regular bulletin issued six times a year) and also some relevant news (e.g. on conferences) out of the ECCAI scope.

The above-outlined information flow is communicated via direct mail broadcast to the members. Any member may also pass a message to the rest of the group by mailing it to the humble distribution robot at .

 
Czech Pattern Recognition Society - CPRS
, Astronomický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., 251 65 Ondřejov

Czech Pattern Recognition Society (CPRS) was founded in Prague in June 1992 under the name "Czechoslovak Pattern Recognition society" as a working group of the Czech Society for Cybernetics and Informatics - CSKI. In the same year was accepted to the IAPR- International Association of Pattern Recognition. After the split of Czechoslovak Federation in 1993 it has changed its name to Czech Pattern Recognition society, but still it keeps its Slovak members and represents their interests in IAPR. Its purpose is the ongoing exchange of information and experience regarding the state and technology of pattern recognition and computer vision and its applications.

Topics of interests mainly concern:
- general and special pattern recognition, methodological problems
- computer vision
- image processing
- speech recognition
- image fusion
- scene processing
- artificial neural networks
- applications in: astronomy and astrophysics, biomedicine, remote sensing,
- robotics, industry.

CPRS consists of approximately 30 individual members. Major activities to pursue the goals are the International Seminars (organized at the Czech Technical University), International Conferences and Workshops (CAIP '95, STIPR '97, CPRW 2000) and domestic regular seminars.

web: http://www.utia.cas.cz/CPRS
 
The ECDL Working Group
, ČVUT FEL, K333, Karlovo nám. 13, 121 35 Praha 2

The concept of ECDL – European Computer Driving Licence consists of the syllabus, which defines the present understanding of the notion "computer literacy", of reliable and objective methodology how to test and certify corresponding skills/knowledge as well as of the ECDL brand name and logo. In June 1999, CSKI obtained the license to use ECDL concept in Czech republic. Thus CSKI joined the family of members of the ECDL Foundation consisting in the year 2002 of 25 national licensees representing national professional informatics societies.

Two main aims of the ECDL working group are to supervise implementation of ECDL and maintenance of ECDL F quality assurance system in our country and to design and run CSKI actions promoting ITC literacy. All the crucial decisions have to be approved by the CSKI Board but the ECDL Working group is supposed to prepare all necessary documents and summarize the relevant arguments for the Board. The working group established a specific body called the Authorization Committee headed by the General Inspector of ECDL-CZ. This committee is responsible e.g. for the site visits at the companies interested to become authorized ECDL test centers and for the random audits of the ECDL test sessions organized by the authorized test centers. An important part of the authorization process is education of the relevant personnel for ECDL activities – all such educational activities are organized by the ECDL working group, too.

Moreover, the group ensures contact with ECDL F, prepares localized (translated) versions of the ECDL tests and evaluates quality of the Czech teaching materials applying for the right to bear the ECDL logo.

 
WG for Semiotic
, Ústav teorie informace a automatizace

The group was founded at the beginning of the 70th under the leadership of Czech logician Otakar Zich. It assembled specialists from different fields of interest such as mathematicians, linguists, philosophers, psychologists and some colleagues active in theory of different arts. In the year 1977 the activity of the whole group had to be stopped because of Prof. Tardy having signed the "CHARTA 77" document. The group was re-established in February of the year 1990 under the leadership of a colleague of O. Zich, a logician P. Materna, and teatrologue I. Osolsobě. It exists as a national organization in cooperation with semiotic colleagues in Slovakia and abroad, and the similar interdisciplinary oriented organizations in the Czech Republic.

Many meetings (lectures) were arranged (10 pro year) and 3 conferences, the national, one with international participants and the last one under the supervision of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, SG-CSCI is a collective member of it. The proceedings were prepared and will be published in Czech Republic and Austria. -In the 9Oth two semiotic editions were published: The Czech and the Slovak Semiotics (Austria-1992) and the bibliography from the field in Znakolog (Graz-1996). A study about semiotic situation in the Czech Republic was published in Zeitschrift fur Semiotik (Tubingen-1994).

What concerns the international presentation, the individual members took part in many conferences all over the world and in the congresses of IASS/AIS : there is a Czech representation in the Executive Committee. At the occasion of the 7th congress of IASS/AIS, Dresden, 1999, a round table, concerning Czech semiotics and the jubilee of Prof. Tondl, a doyen of the Czech semiotics and a honorary member of the CSKI, was arranged.

Even if the tuition in semiotics has not a long duration, the Czech universities in Prague (Charles university), Plzeň, Pardubice and Brno offer it in their curriculums in last five years. What concerns the publication, a special journal does not exists but in many journals of different fields (aesthetics, sociology, natural sciences , etc) is possible to find irregularly some items.

web: http://www.cska.ifac.cz/node/5
 
Committee for IFIP
, KSI MFF UK, Malostranské nám. 25, 118 00 Praha 1

Committee for IFIP acts as an interface and at the same time it coordinates the contact between the Czech Republic and the worldwide organization IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing). The IFIP belongs to the oldest expert organizations in information and communication technologies worldwide. The Czechoslovakia became its member in the year 1960, the year of the establishment of the organization.

[more on IFIP a ČSKI]

web: http://ifip.webcentrum.muni.cz
 
WG on Computer Science & Society
, Katedra počítačů FEL ČVUT, Karlovo nám. 13, 121 35 Praha 2

The working group on Computer Science & Society deals with problems initiated by the influence of computer science on the society on its way to an information society. One of the main aim of this working group is to initiate preliminary solutions of nationwide problems, which are caused by interference of spheres of the legislative lobby, governmentadministration, suppliers of computing equipment, and providers of related software. We are trying to initiate the opposing position for selected materials, e.g. of the Office for the State Information System. The outputs of the working group are presented in public media in such a way, that the community has also acquired independent information and suggestions.

web: http://sen.felk.cvut.cz/ias
 
WG for Logic, Probability and Reasoning Studies
, Ústav informatiky AV ČR, v.v.i., Pod Vodárenskou věží 2, 182 07 Praha 8 - Libeň

Working group for logic, probability and reasoning studies both the theoretical foundations of logic and probability theory and also their applications, mostly in computer science, artificial intelligence, datamining, economy and for modelling of social behaviour and human interaction.

 
WG for Medical and Biological Cybernetics
, Laboratoř biokybernetiky a počítačové podpory výuky,
Ústav patologické fyziologie 1. LF UK, U nemocnice 5, 128 53 Praha 2

Activities of the group are oriented towards utilization of simulation methods in visualizing, analysis and control of dynamic systems in the human body and the possibility of communication of the obtained results through multimedia and Internet.

Main topics of interest are:
- control systems of the human body (body-fluid homeostasis, endocrine regulations, locomotion subsystems, blood circulation)
- functional properties of the nervous system, neural computing.

Orientation:
- basic scientific research
- clinical usability
- medical training (training simulators, multimedia training)

Activities:
Most of the above mentioned topics are being worked on in the framework of the research initiative (grant number MSM 111100008, responsible person Jiří Kofránek) and PhD theses. The results have been published at the conferences and journals both in the Czech Republic and abroad.