Logic List Mailing Archive

FOIS 2006 (Formal Ontology in Information Systems), Baltimore MD, Nov 2006

Call for Participation

FOIS-2006 <http://www.formalontology.org/fois-2006/fois-2006.htm/> 

International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems

November 9-11, 2006
Baltimore, Maryland (USA)

November 8, 2006: Co-located Workshop: Biomedical Ontology in Action
<http://www.imbi.uni-freiburg.de/medinf/kr-med-2006/>  (separate
registration required).

Early registration is through October 9, 2006.
Late registration will begin October 10, 2006. 

The conference hotel is: Inn at The Colonnade.
<http://www.doubletree.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=BWICUDT>
The Inn at the Colonnade is right off the John Hopkins University
campus, about a 5-10 min walk from the conference location, the new
Charles Commons facility.

To register for FOIS 2006, please enter the appropriate information at
the registration website
<https://www.seattletech.com/registration/index.php?%20confno=584&stgun
iv=119&PAYMENTS=TRUE>.
________________________________

Conference Description

Since ancient times, ontology, the analysis and categorisation of what
exists, has been fundamental to philosophical enquiry. But, until
recently, ontology has been seen as an abstract, purely theoretical
discipline, far removed from the practical applications of science.
However, with the increasing use of sophisticated computerised
information systems, solving problems of an ontological nature is now
key to the effective use of technologies supporting a wide range of
human activities. The ship of Theseus and the tail of Tibbles the cat
are no longer merely amusing puzzles. We employ databases and software
applications to deal with everything from ships and ship building to
anatomy and amputations. When we design a computer to take stock of a
ship yard or check that all goes well at the veterinary hospital, we
need to ensure that our system operates in a consistent and reliable
way even when manipulating information that involves subtle issues of
semantics and identity. So, whereas ontologists may once have shied
away from practical problems, now the practicalities of achieving
cohesion in an information-based society demand that attention must be
paid to ontology. 

Researchers in such areas as artificial intelligence, formal and
computational linguistics, biomedical informatics, conceptual modeling,
knowledge engineering and information retrieval have come to realise
that a solid foundation for their research calls for serious work in
ontology, understood as a general theory of the types of entities and
relations that make up their respective domains of inquiry. In all
these areas, attention is now being focused on the content of
information rather than on just the formats and languages used to
represent information. The clearest example of this development is
provided by the many initiatives growing up around the project of the
Semantic Web. And, as the need for integrating research in these
different fields arises, so does the realisation that strong principles
for building well-founded ontologies might provide significant
advantages over ad hoc, case-based solutions. The tools of formal
ontology address precisely these needs, but a real effort is required
in order to apply such philosophical tools to the domain of information
systems. Reciprocally, research in the information sciences raises
specific ontological questions which call for further philosophical
investigations. 

The purpose of FOIS is to provide a forum for genuine interdisciplinary
exchange in the spirit of a unified effort towards solving the problems
of ontology, with an eye to both theoretical issues and concrete
applications. 
________________________________

Organizing Committee

Program Chairs
Brandon Bennett (University of Leeds, UK) brandon@comp.leeds.ac.uk 
Christiane Fellbaum (Princeton University, USA and Berlin Brandenburg
Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany)
fellbaum@clarity.princeton.edu 

Conference Chair
Nicola Guarino (ISTC-CNR, Trento, Italy) guarino@loa-cnr.it

Local Chair
Bill Andersen (Ontology Works, USA) andersen@ontologyworks.com 

Publicity Chair
Leo Obrst (The MITRE Corporation, USA) lobrst@mitre.org
________________________________

Important Dates

Early registration is through October 9, 2006.

Late registration will begin October 10, 2006. 
FOIS-06 Conference: November 9-11, 2006 
________________________________

Programme Committee

*=09Bill Andersen (Ontology Works, USA) 
*=09Nicholas Asher (Department of Philosophy, University of Texas
at Austin, USA) 
*=09Nathalie Aussenac-Gilles (Research Institute for Computer
Science, CNRS, Toulouse, France) 
*=09John Bateman (Department of Applied English Linguistics,
University of Bremen, Germany) 
*=09Brandon Bennett (School of Computing, University of Leeds, UK) 
*=09Stefano Borgo (Laboratory for Applied Ontology, ISTC-CNR,
Italy) 
*=09Joost Breuker (Leibniz Center for Law, University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands) 
*=09Roberto Casati (Jean Nicod Institute, CNRS, Paris, France) 
*=09Werner Ceusters (New York State Center of Excellence in
Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo) 
*=09Tony Cohn (School of Computing, University of Leeds, UK) 
*=09Matteo Cristani (University of Verona, Italy) 
*=09Ernest Davis (Department of Computer Science, New York
University, USA) 
*=09Martin D?rr (Institute of Computer Science, FORTH, Heraklion,
Greece) 
*=09Carola Eschenbach (Department for Informatics, University of
Hamburg, Germany) 
*=09J?r?me Euzenat (INRIA Rh?ne-Alpes) 
*=09Christiane Fellbaum (Cognitive Science Laboratory, Princeton
University, USA and Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and
Humanities, Berlin, Germany) 
*=09Antony Galton (School of Engineering and Computer Science,
University of Exeter, UK) 
*=09Aldo Gangemi (Laboratory for Applied Ontology, ISTC-CNR, Roma,
Italy) 
*=09Pierdaniele Giaretta (Department of Philosophy, University of
Verona, Italy) 
*=09Michael Gruninger (University of Toronto, Canada) 
*=09Nicola Guarino (Laboratory for Applied Ontology, ISTC-CNR,
Trento, Italy) 
*=09Udo Hahn (Jena University, Germany) 
*=09Jerry Hobbs (University of Southern California, USA) 
*=09Eduard Hovy (University of Southern California, USA) 
*=09Ingvar Johansson (Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical
Information Science, University of Saarbr?cken, Germany) 
*=09Werner Kuhn (IFGI, Muenster) 
*=09Fritz Lehmann (USA) 
*=09Alessandro Lenci (University of Pisa, Italy) 
*=09Leonardo Lesmo (Department of Computer Science, University of
Torino, Italy) 
*=09Bernardo Magnini (Centre for Scientific and Technological
Research, ITC, Trento, Italy) 
*=09David Mark (Department of Geography, State University of New
York, Buffalo, USA) 
*=09William McCarthy (Michigan State University) 
*=09Chris Menzel (Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University,
USA) 
*=09Simon Milton (Department of Information Systems, University of
Melbourne, Australia) 
*=09Philippe Muller (Research Institute for Computer Science,
University of Toulouse III, France) 
*=09John Mylopoulos (Department of Computer Science, University of
Toronto, Canada) 
*=09Leo Obrst (The MITRE Corporation, USA) 
*=09Barbara Partee (University of Massachusetts, USA) 
*=09Massimo Poesio (Department of Computer Science, University of
Essex, UK) 
*=09Ian Pratt-Hartmann (Department of Computer Science, University
of Manchester, UK) 
*=09James Pustejovsky (Department of Computer Science, Brandeis
University, USA) 
*=09David Randell (Imperial College London, UK) 
*=09Robert Rynasiewicz (Johns Hopkins University, USA) 
*=09Barry Smith (National Center for Ontological Research and
Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, USA; Institute for
Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science, Saarbr?cken, Germany) 
*=09John Sowa (Vivomind Intelligence Inc., USA) 
*=09Veda Storey (Department of Computer Information Systems,
Georgia State University, USA) 
*=09Richmond Thomason (University of Michigan, USA) 
*=09Mike Uschold (The Boeing Company, USA) 
*=09Achille Varzi (Department of Philosophy, Columbia University,
USA) 
*=09Laure Vieu (Research Institute for Computer Science, CNRS,
Toulouse, France) 
*=09Chris Welty (IBM Watson Research Center, USA) 
_______________________________

Co-located Workshop: Biomedical Ontology in Action
<http://www.imbi.uni-freiburg.de/medinf/kr-med-2006/> .

November 8, 2006, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Workshop organized by the National Center for Ontology Research (NCOR)
and the Working Group on Formal (Bio-)Medical Knowledge Representation
of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).

Co-located with FOIS 2006. 

Please note that this workshop requires separate registration and
separate payment of the Workshop fees at the above site.
________________________________

Registration

Academic:
Early: $250
Late: $300
Onsite: $350

Corporate / Government
Early $300
Late: $400
Onsite: $450
 
Student:
Early: $50

Late: $75
Onsite: $100

Early registration is through October 9, 2006.
Late registration will begin October 10, 2006. 

To register for FOIS 2006, please enter the appropriate information at
the registration website
<https://www.seattletech.com/registration/index.php?%20confno=584&stgun
iv=119&PAYMENTS=TRUE> .
________________________________

Accommodation

Hotel: Inn at The Colonnade
<http://www.doubletree.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=BWICUDT>.
This is the conference hotel. The Inn at the Colonnade is right off the
John Hopkins University campus, about a 5-10 min walk from the
conference location, the new Charles Commons facility. Special
conference hotel rate is $129. Mention that you are part of the FOIS
conference.
________________________________

Conference Location

The conference will take place at the very new Charles Commons facility
of Johns Hopkins University. Charles Commons featuresconference space,
a central dining facility, and a major campus bookstore. 

Charles Commons is located at 33rd Street between Charles and St. Paul
Streets, Baltimore, Maryland. The address is: Charles Commons, John
Hopkins University, 3301 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland
21218

Some links for John Hopkins University <http://www.jhu.edu/> :

John Hopkins University Main (Homewood) Campus Map.
<http://www.jhu.edu/~tour/map.html>  

John Hopkins University Map (pdf).
<http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/visitor_in
formation/how_to_get_here/homewood_campus/pdf/campus_map_0206.pdf>  

Visitor Information for Johns Hopkins University.
<http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/visitor_in
formation/how_to_get_here/homewood_campus/pdf/campus_map_0206.pdf>  

Driving directions to John Hopkins University, and additional maps.
<http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/visitor_in
formation/how_to_get_here/homewood_campus/index.cfm>  

Johns Hopkins University, Wikipedia entry.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University>  
________________________________

Sponsors

Ontology Works, Inc. <http://www.ontologyworks.com/>  is a leading
source of ontology construction software, ontology-based database
software, and ontology-based information integration software.
________________________________

Baltimore

The following are some useful links for information about the city of
Baltimore, Maryland. 

The Official Home Page of the City of Baltimore, Maryland
<http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/> .

Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association
<http://www.baltimore.org/> .

Wikipedia - Baltimore, Maryland
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland> .
________________________________

Programme

Provisional FOIS-06 schedule
<http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/brandon/FOIS-06/schedule.html> .
________________________________

Accepted Papers

List of accepted papers
<http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/brandon/FOIS-06/accepted/accepted.html> .
________________________________