Call for Papers

Workshop on Configuration 2019, Hamburg, Germany, September 19th and 20th September 2019 (Thursday & Friday)

1. Overview

Configuration is as a special type of design approach where the product being configured is composed from instances of a set of predefined component types that can be combined in ways defined by a set of constraints. This task requires powerful knowledge representation formalisms and acquisition methods to capture the variety and complexity of configurable products. Furthermore, efficient reasoning methods are required to support intelligent interactive behavior, solution search, satisfaction of user preferences, personalization, optimization, reconfiguration, and diagnosis.

The main goal of the workshop is to promote high-quality research in all technical areas related to configuration. The workshop is of interest for both researchers working in the various fields of Artificial Intelligence mentioned below as well as for industry representatives interested in the relationship between configuration technology and the business problem behind configuration and mass customization. It provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, evaluations, and experiences especially related to the use of AI techniques in the configuration context.

2. Topics

This year, the workshop will invite papers related to borders of configuration. Those are topics about the relation between configuration and:
– Virtual and Augmented Reality and their standardized data exchange formats – e.g. BIM or similar
– Concrete variant instances and their data – i.e. digital twins
– Runtime software activation
– Re-configuration, retrofits, spare parts selection,
– Distributed configuration and data analytics over multiple instances, i.e., IoT applications
– Neural Networks
– Adaptive Systems, machine learning
– Industrie 4.0
– Robots

However, also following typical workshop topics are welcome:

a) Configuration Problems and Models
Structure of configuration problems, knowledge representation, ontologies, fuzzy and incomplete knowledge, standardization of catalog exchange formats, feature models, configuration problems, representations for product and process configuration, product design and configuration.

b) Techniques for obtaining and/or maintaining Configuration Models
Knowledge acquisition methods, cognitive approaches, machine learning, data extraction methods, ontology integration, reconciliation of knowledge bases, knowledge elicitation, testing and debugging, knowledge understanding.

c) Reasoning Methods
Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) and extensions, preference based reasoning, description logics, rules, case-based reasoning, SAT-solving, Answer Set Programming (ASP), local search, genetic algorithms, neural networks, problem decomposition, optimization, multi-criteria optimization, symmetry breaking, cooperative configuration processes, reconfiguration of existing systems, explanations, distributed problem solving, benchmark proposals, knowledge-based recommendation, knowledge compilation.

d) Intelligent User Interfaces and Business Process Integration
Personalization, machine learning, explanations, recommender technologies, configuration web services, related software architectures, distributed configuration, integration into the production and selling process, configuration and mass customization.

e) Applications and Tools
Configuration tools, design tools, application reports, new application domains such as the Internet of Things (IoT), case studies, real-world challenges, test environments for configuration knowledge bases, configuration in related fields such as software configuration, service composition, and model-driven engineering, environments for feature model development and maintenance, design theories for applications and tools.

3. Paper Submission

Full papers are limited to 8 pages. Position statements and problem instances can be submitted as short papers limited to 4 pages. Both regular and short papers should be formatted in pdf according to the ECAI 2014 style guide (ECAI2014) and submitted to the EasyChair environment.
Each submission will be subject to peer review by at least two members of the program committee. Refereeing criteria are relevance to workshop topics, significance and novelty of the research, technical content, discussion of relationship to previous work, and clarity of presentation. A contribution submitted as a long paper may be accepted as a short paper, if the program committee considers it to be inadequate for a long paper but to present an important issue. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to register at the workshop and to present the paper. The proceedings of the event will be edited with an ISSN code.

4. Best Paper Award

Configuration Workshop 2019 presents a Best Paper Award.
Two papers will be recognized: (1) best paper, (2) best PhD student paper.

5. Important Dates

Full paper submission: June 3rd, 2019
Notification of authors: June 29th, 2019
Camera-ready papers due: July 31st, 2019
Registration deadline: Sep 1st, 2019
Workshop dates: Thursday & Friday, September 19-20, 2019

6. EasyChair Submission Website

Submit here: EasyChair submission Website

7. Local Organization and Registration

The Workshop on Configuration 2019 will be a stand-alone event. It will take place in Germany at the computer science campus („Informatikum“) of Hamburg University of Technology.

Venue and registration information will be available soon.

8. Workshop Chairs

Lothar Hotz, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Thorsten Krebs, encoway GmbH, Bremen, Germany
Michel Aldanondo, Toulouse University, Mines Albi, France

9. Retrieve future CFPs of the International Configuration Workshop

If you would like to receive CFPs of upcoming International Configuration Workshops you might considering to subscribe here: Configuration Workshop Mailinglist