TC 12 – Artificial Intelligence
Interview with B. Neumann, TC 12 Chair (1997 – 2003)
Prof. Bernd Neumann studied Electrical Engineering at Darmstadt, Germany and Information Theory at MIT, USA were he received a MSc. in 1968 and Ph.D. in 1971. After his studies, he joined the newly founded Institute for Computer Science at Hamburg University. Since 1982 he is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science and since 1986 he is Head of the Research Group on "Cognitive Systems". In 1988 he founded the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Hamburg which offers application oriented R&D in cooperation with industry. His main research area is Artificial Intelligence (AI) with special interests in Computer Vision, Foundations of Knowledge-Based Systems and applications in Diagnosis and Configuration. His professional responsibilities include the chairmanship of the national German AI Association (85 - 88), Program chairmanships of several national and international conferences on AI, Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. He is a scientific advisor of several European research institutes. He joined IFIP as a secretary of TC12 in 1995 and became Chairman of TC12 in 1997.
As a scientist with an engineering background Prof. Neumann has the strong desire to cover the whole span reaching from theoretical foundations to practical applications. In fact, his motto - taken from the German version of Gyro Gearloose - is "Dem Ingeniör ist nichts zu schwör" [Nothing is too difficult for the engineer].
Bernd is interested in music, plays violin in regular string quartet sessions and is President of a boys choir. In general, he likes travelling and if weather and other conditions permit, he flies with his little airplane, a Piper Cherokee.
The Delivery Co.: In your opinion, which are the most significant developments and activities of your TC since its foundation?
B. Neumann: I am particularly happy about the improvement of the focus of TC12 which is both expressed in the Aims and Scope and in the recent activities. We deal with topics which exemplify the role of TC12 as a bridge between AI technology on one side, and other IT areas as well as diverse application fields, on the other. With 3 successful subconferences in the last WCCs, TC12 has established this role and enjoys an increased visibility.
The Delivery Co.: Are there any current technical activities within the scope of your TC which you feel could have a significant societal/economic impact in future?
B. Neumann: One of the most exciting tasks of TC12 is to help pave the way from an information society to a knowledge society. AI technology may offer interesting solutions to such eminent problems as structuring web information and providing users content-based access. At the WCC in Montreal, the "Semantic Web" has been an important topic addressed by several speakers of the TC12 community.
The Delivery Co.: Are there any specific technical issues you find important for IFIP as a whole to address?
B. Neumann: I believe that providing advanced web services is an issue which calls for efforts of IFIP as a whole. In spite of - or better: because of - the recent problems of web-related industries, it is a pressing task to actively and proactively shape the web-based IT infrastructure of our future world. I would wish that IFIP can take a leading role here.