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Building upon their ongoing partnership, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) and Boeing will co-organise the Machine Learning and Data Analytics Symposium (MLDAS) on March 3-4 in Doha. |
The symposium will focus on the various applications, recent advances and new solutions in the fields of machine learning and data analytics. MLDAS will also feature a series of discussions and case studies by industry leaders from around the world.
The deadline for submitting research abstracts has been extended to January 31.
“Co-organising this symposium with Boeing brings our relationship to a new level,” said Dr Ahmed K Elmagarmid, executive director of QCRI. “To date, our joint work in data analytics research has been focused on addressing specific problems, but this event will provide an open venue to a wider research audience for the exchange of ideas in an area of science that is growing in importance to science and industry alike.”
Boeing and QCRI signed an agreement in early 2013 to jointly investigate ways to better recognise patterns, correlations and anomalies in massive amounts of data through machine learning algorithms and data analytics techniques applicable to aircraft maintenance data. This agreement will result in the development of statistical and analytical methods for learning predictors and detectors in airplane health management.
“Our collaboration with QCRI broadens and deepens Boeing’s engagement in Qatar, where we already have strong customer and stakeholder relationships,” said Jeff Johnson, president of Boeing Middle East. “Scientists, technology leaders and students from across the globe will gather in Doha to share ideas, identify solutions and foster
partnerships.”
Researchers and students are invited to submit research abstracts related to the domain and, if accepted, will be asked to present their research at the symposium. Submission guidelines and other details about the symposium can be found by visiting
www.mldas.org
Dr Mohamed J Zaki, principal scientist, QCRI, and symposium co-chair, said: “It serves as a launching pad for the data mining, machine learning and data analytics initiative at QCRI. Partnering with Boeing reflects our two primary goals of cutting-edge science for big data analytics and real-world applications.”
Data analytics focus on extracting meaningful and actionable information from large volumes of data, with the goal of enabling optimal decision-making, improving business performance and provoking new questions.
Machine learning is an expanding research domain where algorithms are developed to learn from data, helping process massive amounts of data by applying predictive techniques.
Couple looking to buy property in Egypt ‘duped of QR150,000’
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An Egyptian resident and his wife have filed a complaint with the Capital Police Station, alleging that they have been duped of QR150,000 by a real estate “agent”, local Arabic daily |
The couple claimed that the money was given as payment for the allocation of some housing units in a real estate project in Egypt, the report states.
According to the woman, she and her husband were visiting a fair in Doha when they evinced interest in buying property in Egypt. They met a man who claimed to be associated with a real estate investment firm in Egypt. He also said the company had a representative in Qatar, according to the report.
The man made an offer for two flats in a particular real estate project in Egypt. He also asked them to make a down payment and give the rest of the money over 96 months, the couple said.
According to the woman, the man showed them photocopies of some documents to prove that it was a genuine project. She booked two flats - one in her name and the other in her husband’s name - and made an initial payment of QR 57,000. The couple then continued making payments to the company in instalments, the
report further states.
The couple realised that something was wrong when they visited a government authority during a holiday in Egypt and inquired about the location of the project and whether construction of the flats had started. The officials informed them that the document pertaining to allocation of land for the project was forged, according to the report.
The couple told the police that they met representatives of the company who were marketing the project and were told that the amount paid by them – as well as the money paid by some of their relatives - would be returned on the condition that they would not seek legal action against them.
However, the couple claimed that the money was yet to be returned to them or their relatives, the report states.
TAMUQ hosts international conference
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The second annual Liberal Arts International Conference hosted by Texas A&M University at Qatar ( TAMUQ) started at Education City’s Hamad bin Khalifa University Student Centre yesterday. |
The three-day event, sponsored by Qatar Petroleum, and titled (Re)thinking Global Connectedness: Critical Perspectives on Globalisation, is organised by the University’s Liberal Arts programme in collaboration with The Initiative in Professional Ethics (TIPE), an umbrella organisation for all ethics-related activities at Texas A&M.
Dr Troy Bickham, Liberal Arts programme chair and professor of history at TAMUQ described the conference as a great opportunity to introduce leading academics in the social sciences and humanities to Qatar as a subject for academic inquiry and a source for teaching and research collaborations.
The theme is geared to provide critical insight on questions regarding globalisation, how it has impacted daily lives and what challenges it poses.
Dr Leslie Seawright, assistant professor of English at the university and the conference chairperson, said this year’s event has more presenters, more panels and more keynote speakers than last year.
The event features lectures and panels for students, faculty and staff of educational institutions and research centres in Qatar. It is attended by more than 88 leading scholars from six continents and represent 45 different institutes.
Opening day keynote speaker was Dr Philippa Levine, Mary Helen Thompson Centennial professor in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin, US. Her address, ‘Gendering Globalisation: A Historian’s Perspective,’ launched the conference.
First phase of vehicle recall campaign begins
The Ministry of Business and Trade (MBT) has announced that the local distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Qatar has started implementing the first phase of the recall campaign. MBT had previously announced that the dealer would recall certain vehicles to equip them with the Brake Override System (BOS). Accordingly, the campaign commenced yesterday, to install the system free of charge on Lexus vehicles RX350 (model 2010), a statement issued by the MBT said.
The ministry had said earlier that it had finalised all the necessary procedures to recall more than 40,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles to install the BOS. This drive followed two months of meetings between the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) at the ministry and the local agent of Toyota and Lexus, Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co (AAB).
All the phases of the recall campaign were discussed and a co-ordination and follow-up mechanism adopted.
Qatar supports steps taken to resolve Iranian N-issue
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Qatar has expressed satisfaction over the steps taken to reach a long-term comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, enabling Iran to fully enjoy its rights to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
This came in a statement delivered by Qatar’s Ambassador to Austria Ali Khalfan al-Mansouri, during a meeting of IAEA Board of Governors which focused on the IAEA director general’s report on “Monitoring and Verification in the Islamic Republic of Iran in Relation to the Joint Plan of Action” that was signed in Geneva on 24 November last year between the Group 3 +3 (France, the UK, Germany and the US, Russia and China) and its implementation began last Monday.
The ambassador expressed Qatar’s support for the IAEA’s efforts in monitoring and verification activities on measures related to the nuclear field and the joint action plan signed between the Group 3 +3 and Iran in Geneva in accordance with the arrangements set out in the director general’s report.
Al-Mansouri, while welcoming Iran’s agreement with the IAEA on 11 November last year on document (GOV/INF/2013/14) and its agreement with the Group 3 +3 on 24 November last year as well as the practical steps that have been and will be taken to implement these agreements and other commitments, said: “We call for transparency, clarity, and full co-operation in good faith in the implementation of these agreements. We also call for updating the board of governors with latest developments and consulting them.”
The ambassador stressed that the substantive progress in the implementation of these agreements and other commitments will give strong support to the organisation and the NPT, adding that maintaining the NPT is a shared responsibility for everybody and achieving its objectives in full, especially free the Middle East of nuclear weapons, achieve the universality of the treaty and take serious steps toward nuclear disarmament.
