Central Annual Gathering of SRCE and User Communities
(Zagreb, February 28, 2024) - The University Computing Center of the University of Zagreb (SRCE), in collaboration with the University of Zagreb, is organizing the "Days of e-Infrastructure SRCE DEI 2024" conference from April 16 to 18. The conference will take place at two locations: the SRCE building at Josipa Marohnića 5 and the University of Zagreb building at Radoslava Cimermana 88. This year's conference is supported by the Ministry of Science and Education, the Rector's Council of the Republic of Croatia, and the City of Zagreb.
"The annual SRCE DEI 2024 conference is a central event where SRCE brings together users of its services and systems, scientists, researchers, teachers, students, librarians, IT personnel, institution leaders from the science and higher education system, and all those interested in further advancing the digital transformation of science and higher education. It is a place where we exchange knowledge and experiences with our community, presenting SRCE's services and projects designed based on their needs, all with the aim of providing support and facilitating their activities," highlighted Ivan Marić, the director of SRCE.
The SRCE DEI 2024 conference program includes over forty presentations, discussions, and panels divided into six thematic blocks, more than twenty workshops, over thirty poster presentations, and two invited lectures.
"In designing the conference program, we placed a strong emphasis on increased interaction with our participants and concrete examples of using advanced technologies and SRCE services. Interactive workshops will be held throughout all three days of the conference. We hope that in this way, we will provide our community with a deeper insight into what SRCE offers. Among the many workshops we have prepared, some are offered for the first time, such as 'Values of SRCE services and the reference model of the operation of higher education institutions,' 'CI/CD in GitLab,' 'Processing NGS data with the QIIME2 software package on the Galaxy platform,' and the workshop 'Two-Factor Authentication in the AAI@EduHr system,'" stated Dr. Slaven Mihaljević, President of the Program Committee of the SRCE DEI 2024 conference.
The conference program also features six thematic blocks, addressing research data, the use of supercomputers in research and teaching, the digitization of higher education, alliances of European universities, quantum communications, scientific publishing, and the innovation of the educational process using artificial intelligence technologies.
On the third day of the conference, as the mandated organization of the Republic of Croatia in the EOSC Association, a national tripartite meeting of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) will be organized. It will bring together representatives from the European Commission, the EOSC Association, the EOSC Governance Board, the Ministry of Science and Education, scientists, researchers, and numerous other representatives of the open science community. This year's edition will focus on the development of skills and competencies of scientists and researchers necessary for the application and development of open science and the utilization of all its benefits.
The first day of the conference will be held at the SRCE building and will be entirely dedicated to workshops, providing participants with the opportunity to acquire new or enhance existing knowledge in the application of information and communication technologies, with a primary focus on SRCE's digital services and resources.
The program of the second and third days will take place at the University of Zagreb building. The second day will begin with a ceremonial opening, followed by an invited lecture by Dr. Ivan Güttler, the Chief Executive Officer of the State Hydrometeorological Institute, on the topic "Hydrometeorological Services and Next-Generation Services: From Early Warning to Climate Neutrality." He will highlight the key features of active and future forecasting systems for modeling the atmosphere, water, and air quality, explaining the role of advanced computing and supercomputers in this context.
This will be followed by a panel discussion on "Research Data – How to Harness Their Full Potential?" where panelists will discuss the proper exploitation of the full potential of research data, ways in which publicly funded research infrastructures and the data they generate can support new opportunities and benefits for society, the opportunities and challenges of working with open data on research infrastructures, and how far we have come in opening research data obtained through the work of research infrastructures and what is being done at the policy level.
During the thematic block "Supercomputers in Research and Teaching: How Can SRCE Help You?" the resources for advanced computing at SRCE will be presented, along with their practical application in the work of scientists and teachers, and the opportunities that the application of new SRCE resources opens up for designing innovative approaches to research and teaching in higher education.
The progress of the European University of Cities in post-industrial transition – UNIC and additional information on activities carried out within European projects, as well as those that are still in the planning stage, will be presented in the thematic block "European Universities – UNIC Alliance."
The thematic block "Scientific Publishing and Good Editorial Practices" will explore the opportunities that large language models and artificial intelligence open up in the field of scientific publishing, as well as the ethical questions that come with them.
Quantum cryptography is one effective way to protect against various cyber threats. The thematic block "Brave New World - Are We Ready for New Types of Cyber Threats and Attacks?" will discuss the importance of the development and application of quantum cryptography and key distribution, and how they protect communication in environments such as critical infrastructure (industry, transportation, health, etc.) and other security-sensitive environments in Croatia, Europe, and the world. We will also learn about Croatia's efforts in protecting communication and cyber security in the upcoming quantum era and get acquainted with the project for the construction of the Croatian Quantum Communication Infrastructure - CroQCI.
The third day of the conference will begin with an invited lecture on the topic "Artificial Intelligence in Education: Making Students Matter," delivered by Professor Denise Whitelock, Director of the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University (UK). In her lecture, she will highlight the role of artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, in opening up new possibilities to foster student engagement, improve learning outcomes, and create a more efficient and effective educational environment.
This will be followed by the thematic block "Digitization of Higher Education – e-University Project," in which participants of the e-University project will present progress in project implementation and plans for future activities. Additionally, the thematic block "Innovation of the Educational Process with AI Technologies" will feature participants discussing the application of artificial intelligence technologies in the educational process in the digital age, with examples from teachers using AI in the educational process.
The conference's golden sponsors, Comping, Dell Technologies, and STORM Computers, along with silver sponsors Axians Hrvatska and MEP, have prepared workshops where participants can learn how to manage artificial intelligence through real-world examples in various industries, gain skills needed to combat advanced cyber attacks, find out about Zero-Trust Network Access architecture, and learn more about platforms that enable monitoring, management, and optimization of different components in data centers.
"For the third consecutive year, we have provided a space in the conference program for presenting the activities and achievements of the community in the form of poster presentations. This year, we will have over thirty of them divided into thematic categories: data science and research data, open science and open education, and the application of advanced computing in science, economy, and the public sector. We believe that all interested participants will have the opportunity to learn something new, exchange their experiences and thoughts, and acquire new knowledge and skills during the three-day program. We invite everyone to join us at the Days of e-Infrastructure SRCE DEI 2024 conference to continue improving the system of science and higher education together and facilitate its digital transformation," concluded Dr. Slaven Mihaljević, President of the Program Committee of the conference.
Participation in the events within the conference program is obtained by paying a registration fee depending on the category to which the participant belongs, and registrations open on February 29. All detailed information can be found on the conference's website.
