Dr. Fehmi Ben Abdesslem visited the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing between November 12th and 14th, 2024, as part of the AIoTwin project. His visit contributed to strengthening collaboration and knowledge sharing within the project. 

On November 12th, Dr. Ben Abdesslem delivered a public talk titled "Battery-Free IoT", organized by the Croatian Section of IEEE. The talk, attended by members of the IoTLab involved in the AIoTwin project, sparked engaging discussions on the potential and challenges of energy-efficient, battery-free IoT solutions.

In the following two days, Dr. Ben Abdesslem led two interactive sessions for the IoTLab members. The first session, Lecture on WebAssembly for IoT, introduced the fundamentals of WebAssembly and its potential applications in the IoT domain. The second session, Hands-On Practice of WebAssembly for IoT, provided participants with practical experience in creating, compiling, and deploying WebAssembly modules for IoT devices. Both sessions were streamed online for the wider AIoTwin consortium, enabling broader participation.

More information about the visit, can be found here.

Ivan Kralj participated in the third short-term staff exchange within the AIoTwin project. The exchange took place from April 10 to May 9 2024 at Research Institutes of Sweden, RISE.

During this period, Ivan collaborated with RISE researchers to tackle cutting-edge challenges in decentralized machine learning and Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Networks (ST-GNNs). The results of this exchange will be presented through a forthcoming conference and journal articles, building a strong partnership with RISE and advancing research in distributed ST-GNN training.

For those interested in a visual recap of this exchange, a YouTube video documenting highlights and key findings is available below:

At the 49th IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN), to be held from October 8th to 10th, 2024, in Caen, Normandy, France, Anna Lackinger will present the paper titled "Inference Load-Aware Orchestration for Hierarchical Federated Learning" on October 9th. The paper is co-authored by Anna Lackinger, Pantelis A. Frangoudis, Ivan Čilić, Alireza Furutanpey, Ilir Murturi, Ivana Podnar Žarko, and Schahram Dustdar.

This research is the result of a collaboration between the Distributed Systems Group (DSG) at TU Wien's Institute of Information Systems Engineering and the IoTLab at FER. The paper addresses the challenge of orchestrating machine learning workflows composed of hierarchical federated learning (FL) based training and model serving processes.

The Horizon Europe twinning project AIoTwin organised its 2nd Summer School on the intersection of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in September 2024 in the enchanting city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The event took place at the Centre for Advanced Academic Studies (CAAS) of the University of Zagreb, which offers a stunning view of Dubrovnik's Old Town's famous City Walls and Lovrijenac Fortress.

The event was organised in collaboration with the EU-funded SmartEdge project and brought together more than 40 participants from all over Europe. The programme of the summer school included invited talks, technical tutorials and hands-on sessions, as well as the technical programme of the workshop “Edge AI meets Swarm Intelligence” with paper presentations and poster sessions showcasing the latest research results by PhD students.

Key highlights of the Summer School include: 

• Keynotes by Aaron Ding (TU Delft) on sustainable and trustworthy edge AI for future computing, Stefan Nastic (TU Vienna) on computing paradigms for next-generation computing landscapes, Spyros Lalis (University of Thessaly)  on elevating drones to first-class citizens in the cloud-edge-IoT continuum. 
• Tutorials on doctoral education at KTH, insights on operating distributed computing continuum systems through active inference, exploring privacy-preserving computation techniques for edge AI, in-network programming and practical guidelines for startups with examples.
• Hands-on sessions included two open-source solutions: 1) AIoTwin orchestration middleware enabling edge orchestration of hierarchical Federated Learning workflows and 2) ColonyOS, an event-driven meta-operating system spanning edge and cloud environments.
• Joint technical workshop with the project SmartEdge on “Edge AI meets Swarm Intelligence”.

The event successfully promoted collaboration and networking between academics, PhD students and industry professionals through interactive sessions, giving researchers and participants the opportunity to share insights on edge AI, swarm intelligence and edge orchestration.

More information about the event with talk abstracts and slides can be found here, and photos from the event are included below ("More").

The project leader and head of the Internet of Things Laboratory at FER, Prof. Ivana Podnar Žarko, delivered a talk titled "Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT): Bringing Intelligence into the Physical World" at the Digital Futures cross-disciplinary research center in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 29th 2024.

The talk introduced the concept of AIoT as a continuous processing cycle consisting of four steps: sensing, learning, decision-making, and acting. This cycle was illustrated with concrete real-world use cases. The challenges of AIoT were also reviewed, highlighting its operation in a dynamic and heterogeneous environment with limited resources dedicated to real-time data processing, online learning, inference, and decision-making under time constraints. Additionally, it was noted that data streams from IoT devices are often incomplete, prone to errors, and unlabelled. The talk further emphasized that AIoT systems must adhere to strict privacy and security requirements to protect sensitive user data, ensure device integrity, and maintain the safety of the physical environment.

Find out more about the event and download the talk slides here.

At the IEEE International Conference on Edge Computing and Communications - IEEE EDGE 2024 held in Shenzhen, China from 7 to 13 July 2024, the paper "QEdgeProxy: QoS-Aware Load Balancing for IoT Services in the Computing Continuum" by Ivan Čilić, Valentin Jukanović, Ivana Podnar Žarko, Pantelis Frangoudis, and Schahram Dustdar was presented. The paper was accepted after an international review and presented remotely by Ivan Čilić.

The work results from a collaboration between IoTLab at FER and DSG at TU Wien on orchestration and routing in Computing Continuum (CC). The paper introduces QEdgeProxy, an adaptive and QoS-aware load-balancing framework specifically designed for routing client requests to appropriate IoT service instances in the CC. QEdgeProxy integrates naturally within Kubernetes, adapts to changes in dynamic environments, and manages to seamlessly deliver data to IoT service instances while consistently meeting QoS requirements and effectively distributing load across them. 

Following the success of the inaugural AIoTwin Summer School in Šibenik last year, we are delighted to announce the forthcoming second edition scheduled for September 16th to 20th 2024, set to take place in the enchanting city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The event will be organized in collaboration with the EU funded SmartEdge project. The summer school program includes invited talks, technical tutorials, hands-on sessions with advanced hardware, poster sessions showcasing the latest research by PhD students, and other insightful presentations and discussions. In addition, the program includes a technical workshop on “Edge AI meets Swarm Intelligence“, featuring insightful presentations and discussions on cutting-edge research.

The call for papers for the technical workshop on “Edge AI meets Swarm Intelligence“ is open by June 15th, 2024.

Join us to be part of a transformative learning journey shaping the future of AIoT and Edge AI.

🔶 Logistics
Dates: 16th to 20th September 2024
Venue: University of Zagreb / Sveučilište u Zagrebu Centre for Advanced Academic Studies (CAAS)

🔶 Tentative agenda
🔹 16-17 September – AIoTwin Summer School: Keynote talks, Tutorials, Hands-on sessions
🔹 18 September – Joint Sessions SmartEdge & AIoTwin:
Technical Workshop on “Edge AI meets Swarm Intelligence”, Poster session, SmartEdge open-door demonstration
🔹 19-20 September – SmartEdge Summer School: Keynote talks, Hands-on sessions

Further details regarding the Summer School schedule, activities and sign-up procedures will be circulated soon.

RISE recently organized a highly successful hands-on training tutorial on WebAssembly (Wasm) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Internet of Things (IoT). The event welcomed participants from UNIZG-FER, TU Berlin, and TU Vienna, highlighting the widespread interest in these cutting-edge technologies.

During the morning session, led by expert Fehmi Ben Abdesslem, attendees delved into the fundamentals of WebAssembly and explored its potential to enable developers to execute high-performance code across diverse platforms. Moreover, the session explored the intersection of AI and IoT, shedding light on how AI algorithms can enhance IoT applications, making them more intelligent and efficient.

In the hands-on tutorial that followed, participants gained practical experience implementing WebAssembly modules and integrating AI functionalities into IoT devices. Guided by experienced instructors and real-world examples, attendees acquired essential skills to effectively leverage these technologies.

The event then transitioned into an afternoon Hackathon, providing participants with the opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills in a collaborative setting. Mentors were on hand to offer guidance and support as teams worked towards developing innovative IoT solutions. Overall, the event was a success, fostering learning, collaboration, and innovation in the exciting field of WebAssembly and AI for IoT.

In today's landscape of rapid innovation, obtaining funding, facilitating collaboration and maintaining reproducible research standards are critical to driving progress. The first AIoTwin Research and Innovation Management Training, organized by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), brought together experts to address the various aspects of the dynamic research environment. Participants gained valuable insights and practical strategies to navigate this ever-evolving terrain.

Further details of the programme can be found below.

Dr. Pantelis Frangoudis & Dr. Ilir Murturi from TUW visited the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing as part of our AIoTwin activities. Their visit from February 26th to February 28th marked the second expert visit, demonstrating the collaboration and knowledge sharing on the AIoTwin project.

Dr. Frangoudis delivered a public talk titled “SMTaaS: Serving problem-solving workloads over the computing continuum” on February 26th at FER, hosted by the Croatian Section of IEEE, and attended by members of our IoTLab involved in the AIoTwin project, the talk spurred insightful discussions.

Following the talk, both mornings saw Dr. Frangoudis and Dr. Murturi leading interactive lectures tailored to the IoTLab members and streamed online to the rest of the AIoTwin consortium. Both lectures centered around Distributed Computing Continuum Systems, with Dr. Frangoudis focusing on the introduction, technologies, and orchestration aspects, while Dr. Murturi covered emerging approaches for intelligent, self-adaptive, and secure operation.

The slides of the public talk, and more information about the visit, can be found here. 

We're excited to share a recap of our achievements in 2023, a year in which we set out to advance research and innovation in the field of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) through a collaboration between the University of Zagreb - Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER), Technische Universität Wien (TUW), Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), and Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE). 

Key Moments: A Year in Review 

• Kick-off Meeting in January: We launched the project with a dynamic kick-off meeting, setting the course for Y1 of the project. 

• Short-Term Staff Exchange: Ivan Čilić from FER took part in a short-term staff exchange at TUW, fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration. 

• Public Presentation: Prof. Ivana Podnar Žarko presented the project to a wider audience during the National Information Day of the Horizon Europe Programme in Croatia and presented our vision of AIoT which brings artificial intelligence into our physical environment. 

• Hands-on Workshop: TUB organized an intensive hands-on workshop on knowledge graphs, AI models with VisionKG, and learning on edge devices with Flower, providing participants with practical insights. 

• Technical Blog Post: Jicheng Yuan and Duc Manh Nguyen from TUB published their first technical blog post on training AI models with VisionKG, demonstrating our cutting-edge research. 

• AIoTwin Summer School: We hosted the inaugural AIoTwin Summer School in Šibenik, Croatia, bringing together renowned experts and researchers for a stimulating event with keynote talks, tutorials, hands-on training, and a poster and pitch session for PhD students. 

• Expert Visit: Lodovico Giaretta from RISE delivered three presentations on Graph Neural Networks and Graph Representation Learning in decentralized environments during an expert visit to FER, further deepening our collaboration. 

• Croatian Symposium on Artificial Intelligence: Prof. Ivana Podnar Žarko presented the project at the Symposium on AI organized by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU), showcasing our contributions to the field of AIoT. 

• Open Day Demonstration: We presented the AIoTwin project to enthusiastic visitors during the Open Day at FER, generating interest in our work. 

Stay tuned for more exciting updates in 2024! 

On Saturday, November 25, 2023, the Open Doors Day of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) took place and attracted numerous visitors. This event offered the public, especially high-school students, the opportunity to explore the study programmes available at FER and learn about the ongoing research projects. Numerous departments and laboratories showcased their work, including the Internet of Things Laboratory.

Ivan Kralj, Katarina Mandarić, Ivan Čilić, Dora Kreković, and Mislav Has presented the recently completed IoT-field project, which encompasses a comprehensive IoT solution from sensors through an interoperable platform to a user application for monitoring crops and meteorological conditions in the field. Attention was also drawn to the urban garden set up in the FER courtyard and the quantity of the harvest.

Visitors were particularly interested in the involvement of students in projects, and it was emphasized that, over the course of more than 3.5 years of the IoT-field project, students were actively engaged, resulting in a significant number of group projects, as well as undergraduate and graduate theses.

In addition to IoT-field, we presented the AIoTwin project, highlighting our collaboration with technical universities in Vienna and Berlin, as well as the RISE research center in Sweden. A new concept, the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), was introduced and explained. AIoT brings artificial intelligence into our physical environment and removes the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds, opening up new possibilities for device intelligence and autonomy in the physical environment.

Furthermore, assistants shared their experiences and impressions from their undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral studies with the visitors, mostly high school seniors and eighth-grade elementary school students.

This Open Doors Day of FER has, traditionally, proven to be extremely informative, contributing to the promotion of studies and science.

More photos from the event can be found below.

Dr. Lodovico Giaretta (RISE) was the first expert to visit UNIZG-FER from 8th to 10th November 2023 as part of the AIoTwin activities. Lodovico presented a series of three lectures with a special focus on Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) and decentralized systems and shed light on these cutting-edge technologies.

On November 8th, he gave a public talk entitled "Causal Temporal GNNs as Decentralized Memory Networks," , co-organized by the IEEE Croatian Section,  which was open to the general public to provide a broad audience with a glimpse into the evolving landscape of GNNs and decentralized systems.

In contrast, the following two presentations were tailored for members of the AIoTwin project, offering a more specific exploration of these cutting-edge technologies.

• Decentralised Data Mining using Gossip Protocols: This lecture introduced the broad family of Gossip Protocols and presented a detailed analysis of a few key use cases and specific techniques.
• Graph Representation Learning with Graph Neural Networks: This lecture introduced the broad topic of Graph Representation Learning (GRL), with a particular focus on Graph Neural Network (GNN) techniques.

During the lectures Lodovico explored the foundational principles of GNNs, their diverse applications, and the inherent challenges associated with decentralized systems. Attendees gained a better understanding of the dynamic nature of graphs, the implications of temporal changes on algorithms, and the intricacies of decentralized inference in GNNs.

Are you interested in applying for a postdoctoral research fellowship in the field of AI and IoT or distributed systems in general?

Candidates with a PhD degree can apply for a scholarship (EUR 3,625.00 per month, non-taxable) granted by the Croatian Science Foundation. Only citizens of the EU or a country associated with the Horizon Europe program can apply.

A postdoc would work at FER under the supervision of Prof. Ivana Podnar Žarko, the AIoTwin coordinator, as a member of the IoTLab within the Twinning project - AIoTwin - funded by the Horizon Europe program from June 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025 (exact dates are flexible).

The Croatian Science Foundation is accepting applications for this position until December 1. Contact Prof. Ivana Podnar Žarko <ivana.podnar@fer.hr> as soon as possible if you are interested.

After the successful completion of the 1st AIoTwin Summer School, the AIoTwin Consortium held the Plenary Meeting in Šibenik on Friday, September 8, 2023. The work package leaders presented the status of activities in their work packages, reviewed the achieved KPIs and set the plans for the following period until the end of 2023. Here are some highlights:

• one short-term staff exchange was successfully completed, another is still planned until the end of 2023
• two short-term trainings were successfully organized in 2023
• one expert visit is planned for October/November 2023
• the first summer school has achieved all set objectives
• all 4 Research Domains were covered by the project activities, with a strong focus on RD1 and RD2
• two joint conference publications and one joint journal publication are planned and on their way.

We are looking forward to the new project results!

The first PhD forum within the scope of the AIoTwin project was held as a part of the 1st AIoTwin Summer School in Šibenik from September 4th to September 7th, 2023. 11 PhD students actively participated and presented their research topics and the results obtained within their doctoral studies through the short pitch-talk presentations. Afterwards, the participants had the opportunity to discuss their research ideas and contributions with other participants and senior researchers from the AIoTwin consortium at the poster session.

We are thrilled to announce that the final program for the 1st AIoTwin Summer School is now available! The programme includes four keynote lectures, six comprehensive tutorials and two intensive hands-on workshops. In addition, we are organizing a boat trip and a visit to the St. Nicholas' Fortress, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Programme Details: https://www.aiotwin.eu/_download/repository/SummerSchool2023-DetailedProgram-v1.pdf

The AIoTwin Consortium is looking forward to this exciting learning journey at the intersection of the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence.

We call for doctoral students to participate in the PhD Forum organised as part of the 1st AIoTwin Summer School in Šibenik, Croatia on September 6, 2023.

The PhD Forum offers doctoral students the opportunity to present their work and discuss the details of their original contribution with top academics – professors and senior researchers working in the field of IoT and AI - from leading European universities. The aim is also to encourage interaction and networking between doctoral students from different universities. 

Deadline for submission of Extended Abstracts: August 25, 2023

Further information about the PhD Forum and particpation is available here.

And all information (programme, venue, registration) about the 1st AIoTwin Summer School can be found here.

The first public presentation of the project was held on May 24, 2023, during the National Information Day of the Horizon Europe Programme, organized by the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes. The project coordinator Ivana Podnar Žarko presented the objectives and activities of the project, as well as the expected results, outcomes and long-term impact. She also explained the process of proposal preparation, from the selection of research topics, SWOT analysis of IoTLab and formation of the consortium, to the definition of project activities.

We hope that the presentation will encourage participants to prepare new project proposals for Horizon Europe calls under the "Widening participation and spreading excellence” sub-subprogramme.

More information about the event is available here.

We are pleased to announce that the first AIoTwin Summer School will be held in Šibenik, Croatia. Šibenik is a unique city on the Adriatic coast with two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: The Cathedral of St. James (Šibenik Cathedral) and the Fortress of St. Nicholas.

Dates: 4-8 September, 2023

Venue: Educational campus inside the Fortress of St. John’s

We launched the project “AIoTwin: Twinning action for spreading excellence in Artificial Intelligence of Things” on January 1, 2023, funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme.

The AIoTwin kick-off meeting took place from January 31st to February 1st 2023 in sunny Zagreb, Croatia, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing of the University of Zagreb (UNIZG-FER). 16 participants from all four partner countries took part in the fruitful discussions to launch the project activities by getting acquainted with each other’s expertise and technological offerings, and also discussing the details of future collaboration aiming at cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence for the Internet of Things.