IDEaS Symposium 2024

The International Defence and Security (IDEaS) Symposium is an annual event that is sponsored by IEEE and IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society. IDEaS Symposium 2024 will be held on 15th May 2024 jointly with ICHMS2024. The theme is “Best of Two Worlds: Human-AI Teaming for Effective Decision-Making” with aims to bring together subject matter experts from Military, Government, Industry, and Academia to discuss challenges and R&D directions and demonstrate concepts and technologies of trustworthy teaming between human and artificial intelligence (AI) or autonomy for effective command and control (C2) decision-making. 

Presentations are expected to provide insights on the challenges and trustworthy tools that demonstrate effective AI-enabled human-autonomy teaming in defence and security C2 operations.  These tools should provide timely responses and trusted and verifiable AI decisions related to broad defence and security contexts such as advanced C2, training, and after-action analysis systems for continental surveillance, etc.

IDEaS 2024 Schedule:

Morning (0815-1200) 

1. 0815-0900 Opening Remarks by Dr. Jaspinder Komal, Assistant Deputy Minister (Defence Research and Development Canada), Department of National Defence, Canada, and Major General Karsten Stoye, Military Advisor to the Director General EUROCONTROL.

2. 0900-1000 Keynote Speeches by:
Mr. Pete JW Saunders (Director General, RCAF NORAD Modernization Office)
Mr. Siegfried Usal (Vice President, Thales Digital Solutions)
Dr. Edward Tunstel (Chief Technical Officer, Motiv Space Systems, Inc.)
Professor Saeid Nahavandi (Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Chief of Defence Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)
LCol David Dunwoody (Deputy Director, Digital Transformation Office, DND Canada)
LCdr Joseph W Geeseman (Co-Chair of NATO Human-Autonomy Teaming Specialist Committee, Science & Technology Portfolio Manager, Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges Program Office, US Navy)

3. 1030-1200 Panel: Human-AI Teaming for Air Operations chaired by Dr. Geoffrey Ho (Group Head, DRDC Toronto)
Panelists: LCol Jean Leymarie (Concept Development Section Head, RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre), Kevin Di Filippo (Lockheed Martin, Canada), and Dr. Wenbi Wang (Defence Scientist, DRDC Toronto).

Afternoon (1300-1730) Panels of Human-AI Teaming

1. 1300-1400 Panel on Land Operations chaired by Mr. Jack Collier (Group Head, DRDC Suffield)
Panelists: Mr. Anthony Faust (Program Manager, DRDC Suffield) and Dr. Scott Fang (Defence Scientist, DRDC Toronto).

2. 1400-1500 Panel on Sea Operations chaired by Dr. Aren Hunter (Group Head, DRDC Atlantic)
Panelists: Dr. Mae Seto, (Professor, Dalhousie University) and Dr. Daniel LaFond (Thales Research and Technology Canada).

3. 1530-1630 Panel on Space Operations chaired by Dr. Geoffrey Ho (Group Head, DRDC Toronto)
Panelists: Major Cody-Jean “Pinky” Carignan (Deputy Project Director, NORAD Future CAOC Capability), Dr. Shadi Ghajar-Khosravi (Section Head, DRDC Toronto), and King Ma (Complex System Inc.).

4. 1630-1730 Panel on Improving Test and Evaluation Efficiency and Effectiveness chaired by BGen Gary Hogan (Rtd)
Panelists: MGen Kathryn Toohey (Rtd) Australian Army, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld (Rtd), Royal Australian Air Force, and Vice Admiral Michael Noonan (Rtd), Royal Australian Navy.

Sponsors:

General Chairs:

Ming Hou (Canada)

Saeid Nahavandi (Australia)

Organizing Committee:

LCol David Dunwoody (Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, Canadian Armed Forces)

LCol Edgar Reuber (EUROCONTROL and German Air Force)

LCdr Joseph W Geeseman (Medical Service Corps, United States Navy)

Ming Hou (Defence Research and Development Canada)

Saeid Nahavandi (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)

(Anneloes) Maij (Royal NLR – Netherlands Aerospace Centre, the Netherlands)

Professor Moayad Aloqaily, MBZUAI, UAE

Dale Richards (Thales, United Kingdom)

Jessie Chen (United States Army Research Laboratory, USA)

Stefan Wolfgang Pickl, (University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany)

Eddie Tunstel (Motive Space Systems, USA)

Michael Hardy (KBR, Australia)

Vinod Puri (CSIRO, Australia)

International Technical Program Committee:

LCol David Dunwoody (Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, Canadian Armed Forces)

LCol Edgar Reuber (EUROCONTROL and German Air Force)

LCdr Joseph W Geeseman (Medical Service Corps, United States Navy)

LCdr Adam Bradly (Medical Service Corps, United States Navy)

Dr. Ming Hou (Defence Research and Development Canada)

Dr. Dale Richards (Thales, United Kingdom)

Dr. A. Anneloes Maiji (Royal NLR – Netherlands Aerospace Centre, the Netherlands)

Dr. Jessie Chen (United States Army Research Laboratory, USA)

Dr. Adrian Stoica (JPL – NASA, USA)

Dr. Eddie Tunstel (Motive Space Systems, USA)

Dr. Michael Hardy (KBR, Australia)

Professor Moayad Aloqaily, MBZUAI, UAE

Professor Saeid Nahavandi (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)

Professor Vinod Puri (CSIRO, Australia)

Professor Kostas N. Plataniotis (University of Toronto, Canada)

Professor Arash Mohammadi (Concordia University, Canada)

Professor Marina Gavrilova (University of Calgary, Canada)

Professor Henry Leung (University of Calgary, Canada)

Professor Mehrdad Saif (University of Windsor, Canada)

Professor Axel Schulte (University of the Bundeswehr, Germany)

Professor Stefan Wolfgang Pickl (University of the Bundeswehr, Germany)

Professor Rodney Roberts (Florida State University, USA)

Professor Abdollah Ebbie Homaifar, North Carolina A&T State University, USA)

Professor Anthony A. Maciejewski (Colorado State University, USA)

Abstract Information for Prospective Panel Organizers.

Since the symposium will provide a forum for panel discussions on the theme topics, prospective panel organizers are invited to submit Abstracts electronically to the conference General Chair at Ming.Hou@forces.gc.ca. Abstracts (1 page) should be concise but contain sufficient details about the proposed discussion topics and  panelists (maximum 5) with the abstracts of all panelists (half page each) to allow critical review.

Deadlines:

Submission of Panel Abstracts: January 26th, 2024

Acceptance Notification for Panel Abstracts: January 30, 2024

Deadline for early registration: February 1, 2024

IEEE 2024 ICHMS and/or IDEaS Registration Link (payqlick.com)