Prof. Yannis Ioannidis
ACM President
Talk title
Interactive Digital Storytelling for Cultural Engagement
Abstract
As the modern extension of the ancient practice of storytelling, (interactive) digital storytelling relies on the use of multimedia assets to convey different types of stories. It has been used broadly as a term to cover a range of digital narratives from web-based stories to hypertexts, narrative computer games and even filmmaking. As a characteristic example, digital storytelling, or more generally story experiencing, has been established as an effective means of promoting visitor engagement in cultural sites, with significant potential to promote reflection and meaning making. This talk will present different approaches for story-centric experience design, focusing also on the role of agency, sociality, and personalization when combined with an interactive digital narrative. The application of interactive digital storytelling in different settings and with a variety of technological solutions, from mobile-based or web technologies to desktop or immersive VR, has produced valuable insight as to the most effective use of novel technologies to engineer engagement with our cultural past.
Bio
Yannis Ioannidis is the President of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). He is a Professor at the Department of Informatics and Telecom of the University of Athens as well as an Associated Faculty at the “Athena” Research and Innovation Center, where he also served as the President and General Director for 10 years. His research interests include Database and Information Systems, Data Science, Data Infrastructures and Digital Repositories, Recommender Systems and Personalization, and Interactive Digital Storytelling, topics on which he has published over 180 articles in leading journals and conferences and holds four patents.
His work is often inspired by and applied to data management and analysis problems that arise in industrial environments or in the context of other scientific fields (Social Sciences and Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences) and the Arts. He is an ACM and IEEE Fellow, a member of Academia Europaea, and a recipient of several research, teaching, and service awards. He is a co-founder of OpenAIRE, the international data infrastructure for Open Science in Europe, the technology director of the EBRAINS European Research Infrastructure on neuroscience, the coordinator of the implementation of the EU Node of the European Open Science Cloud, as well as of several AI/data-driven spin-offs. He is also a co-chair of the Global Climate Hub of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Prof. John Shawe-Taylor
IRCAI | International Research Centre On Artificial Intelligence – Director
Talk title
TBD
Abstract
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Bio
John Shawe-Taylor obtained a PhD in Mathematics at Royal Holloway, University of London in 1986. He subsequently completed an MSc in the Foundations of Advanced Information Technology at Imperial College. He was promoted to Professor of Computing Science in 1996. He moved to the University of Southampton in 2003 to lead the ISIS research group. He was the Director of the Centre for Computational Statistics and Machine Learning at University College, London from July 2006 till September 2010. From September 2010 till June 2019, he was been the Head of Department of Computer Science at UCL. He was appointed UNESCO Chair of Artificial Intelligence at UCL in 2018. He is Director of the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) under the auspices of UNESCO at the Jozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Prof. Bashar Nuseibeh
Dean of Science & Technology at
City St George’s, University of London, UK
Talk title
TBD
Abstract
TBD
Bio
Bashar Nuseibeh is Professor of Computing and Executive Dean of Science & Technology at City St George’s, University of London. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Software & Systems at Trinity College Dublin, an Emeritus Professor at The Open University, and Research Pillar Chair of the UK’s Responsible AI programme (RAi UK). Previously, he was an Associate Professor (Reader) at Imperial College London, and a Full Professor of Software Engineering and Chief Scientist of Lero – Ireland’s national centre for software research. He holds the number of honorary and visiting positions, including an Honorary Professorship at University College London (UCL), and Visiting Professorships at Imperial College London, the National Institute of Informatics (Japan), and University College Dublin (Ireland).
Bashar’s research lies at the intersection of software engineering, adaptive systems, and security & privacy. His work also addresses physical and psychosocial aspects of technology. He is the recipient of a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant on Adaptive Security and Privacy, and an ERC Proof of Concept grant that contributed to the commercialisation of his patented innovations. He has received many awards throughout his career including a 2002 Philip Leverhulme Prize, a 2012 Royal Society -Wolfson Merit Award, and the 2025 IEEE Computer Society’s Harlan D Mills Award.
Bashar is a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering and the ACM, and is a Member of Academia Europaea and the Royal Irish Academy.
Dr. Agiatis Bernardou
DARIAH Director
Talk title
From User Needs to Knowledge Ecosystems: Designing Human-Centred Infrastructures for Digital Cultural Heritage
Abstract
Digital cultural heritage has evolved from isolated digitisation projects into a complex ecosystem of interoperable research infrastructures, data services, and collaborative platforms. Yet, despite major technological advances, a fundamental question remains: how can these infrastructures be designed to support the real practices and evolving needs of their users?
This keynote explores the transition from user-centred digital initiatives to knowledge ecosystems that enable collaboration, interpretation, and knowledge creation across the cultural heritage domain. Drawing on over fifteen years of research on user requirements and digital scholarship, from early work within DARIAH and Europeana to archaeological infrastructures such as ARIADNE and recent findings from the ECCCH/ECHOES initiative, the talk examines how user needs have shaped the development of European research infrastructures.
Bio
Agiatis Benardou is President of the Board of Directors of DARIAH-eu, the European Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities, Teaching Fellow at the Department of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business and Senior Researcher at the Digital Curation Unit, ATHENA R.C. She has held posts as Research Associate at the Departments of Information Science and Critical Studies, University of Glasgow, and Visiting Scholar at the Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of California Berkeley. Agiatis has served as Teaching Fellow in Digital Curation at the Department of Media and Culture, Panteion University, and she is co-ordinating the core course on Applications of Digital Methods in the Humanities at the Department of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business. She holds a PhD in Ancient History from King’s College London.
Prof. Francesco Saverio Cataliotti
University of Florence/CNR-INO
Talk title
Quantum Security for data protection
Abstract
Quantum-based cyber-threats are reshaping the security landscape, exposing today’s encrypted data to present danger and future risks. This keynote offers a high-level view of how Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) can support quantum-safe protection for archives, museums, libraries, and cultural institutions. It will explain how QKD enables secure key exchange with eavesdropping detection and position it alongside post-quantum cryptography as part of a broader strategy to safeguard high-value public-interest data in the quantum era.
Bio
Francesco Saverio Cataliotti is director of the National Institute of Optics of the National Research Council (CNR). His research interests focus primarily on experimental work, conducted between the European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy (LENS) at the University of Florence, the Max Planck Institute for Quantitative Optics (MPQ) in Garching, Germany, and the Quantum Information Laboratory at the Scuola Superiore dell’Università di Catania. His work concerns the physics of atoms and their interactions with laser radiation, with broad perspectives ranging from quantum computing to the mechanical manipulation of single biomolecules to advanced sensing.
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