ACTIVITIES of the INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES of BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

STRUCTURE and STAFF During the period IIT-BAS consisted of static and dynamic organized units – departments, thematic groups, temporary teams and support offices. More than sixty highly qualified researchers, including 2 members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 3 Full Professors, 21 Associated Professors and 34 Research Associates are engaged in the following departments of the Institute of Information Technologies: Information Processes and Systems,, Artificial Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, Pattern Recognition, Intelligent Systems, Modeling and Optimization, Soft Computing.

Knowledge representation and processing, Distributed information nets, Databases and web-based systems, E-learning systems, Systems for analysis and processing of signals, images and speech, Decision support systems, Management information systems and information media. The scientific and applied activities are traditional investigations areas of the IIT – BAS and reflect the contemporary trends in the information technologies. Publishing in prestigious journals, successful cooperation in bilateral and multilateral projects with the universities of France, UK, Spain, Greek, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Russia, USA, Serbia, Slovakia, Portugal, Germany, Hungary and active participation in international scientific organizations as IFIP, IEEE, ECCAI, IFORS demonstrate that. Scientific and applied investigations of the IIT - BAS for are carried out in the following areas:

ACTIVITIES Numbers Scientific Research Projects 62 Scientific Research Projects with Scientific Investigations Fund of Ministry of Education and Sciences 49 International Bilateral cooperation and Academic Scientific Exchange 31 Publications 1360 Citations > 1000 European Union Funded projects 23 Applied Projects 125 State Budget Funding BGL Scientific Investigations Fund of Ministry of Education and Sciences BGL Applied projects funding BGL European Union Funding BGL Lectures hours Lab Exercises 7040 hours Conferences and Workshops 27 PhD students 69 Successful PhD graduation 15 Graduate Students 145 Habilitated Scientists for year Research Fellows for year Newly elected Associate Professors during last 10 years 10 Newly elected Research Fellows during last 10 years 25 Resigned Associate Professors and Research Fellows during last 10 years 36

Scientific and Applied Projects with: Fund of Ministry of Education and Sciences for Scientific Investigations; State Agency for Information Technology and Communications; Ministry of Defense; National Health Service; National Veterinary Service; Bulgarian National TV; Committee for Metrology and Standardization; Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) of Ministry of Economy and Energy; International Bilateral Cooperation and Academic Scientific Exchange; European Union Programs; Different Bulgarian Companies and Organizations. About 142 projects are carried out during the period 1997 – 2007: 62 Research projects; 31 International bilateral cooperation and academic scientific exchange projects; 23 European Union funded projects (Tempus, Inco-Copernicus, Phare, Leonatdo da Vinci, FP6, etc.); 125 Applied projects with different Bulgarian companies and organizations.

Educational Activities 69 PhD students (15 Successful PhD graduation); 145 graduating students of different Universities; IIT research fellows have been involved in information technologies education of Bulgarian Universities and Colleges students with pedagogical activity of lectures’ hours and 7040 lab exercises hours that averages about 30 courses for semester. The List of Courses Covers the Areas of: Discrete Mathematics and Informatics; Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning and Data Mining; Computer Systems and Computer Networks; Decision System Support; Digital Image Processing; Financial Engineering; Intelligent Multiagent Systems; Multicriteria Optimization; Operations Research; Operating Systems and Internet; Risk Analysis and Management; Software Engineering.

BASIC RESEARCH The research and development activities of the IIT are based on its scientific traditions, consistent with the modern tendencies of Information Technologies development and with the present socioeconomic reality in Bulgaria. They consider the research directions in the Information Technologies field, held in the European research areas and are mainly focused on investigations and developments, imposed by the transition of modern information society towards knowledge-based network society. А: Information Processes and Systems Systems for information processing; Non stationary signals processing; Fluid information technologies; Night vision devices modelling and design; Implementation of programmable logic and VHDL for system-level descriptions; Computer aided engineering in optical data storage. B: Artificial Intelligence Knowledge representation and processing with reuse of knowledge fragments and ontologies; Software systems for processing semantic information; Semantic Web approaches and services; Methods and architectures for domain-specific knowledge representation and processing.

BASIC RESEARCH C: C: Decision Support Systems Optimization and multicriteria decision making; Modelling and decision support systems. D: Pattern Recognition and Biometrics Segmentation and recognition of half-tone and colour images, text and graphics processing, 2-D and 3-D objects recognition and scene analysis; Speaker recognition; Neural networks and systems; Biometric based identification; Content Based Image/Object Retrieval (CBIR/CBOR). E: Intelligent Systems Integrating the processes of optimization and control in complex systems via intelligent procedures; Development of intelligent soft-sensing systems using neural systems, fuzzy logic and support vector machines; Network methods in logical and probabilistic intelligent systems. F: Soft Computing Analysis of dynamic systems under parameter uncertainties; Decision making support in multicriteria problems under uncertainties from fuzzy type; Risk management.

APPLIED ACTIVITIES The optimal conditions for applied investigation in the following directions were available in the IIT during the period : Development and maintenance of cooperative computers networks; Development of local web-based information systems; Development of intelligent systems for distributed knowledge processing; Development of systems for recognition of half-tone and colour images, text and graphics processing, 2-D and 3-D objects recognition and scene analysis; Development and applications of modern nets educational technologies; Development of E-learning systems; Development of educational and commercial optimization systems for decision support systems; Development of multimodal, multilanguages and multimedia interfaces for software systems, digital educational and business presentations; Development of systems for semantic information processing, approaches and semantic Internet services; Development of technology for digital processing and archive of the information.

PUBLISHING and CITATIONS The theoretical and applied investigations results of the IIT’s researchers for are shared as 1360 articles in international and national journals and conferences proceedings. The publishing activities are mostly in national journals and conferences and less in the prestigious international journals. Over 1000 citations in journals with or without impact factor, in national and international conferences proceedings, in on-line publications and dissertations are traced. The most of them are in international publications. It should be pointed out that the citations are connected mainly with the researchers currently working in IIT-BAS.

PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES The IIT - BAS publishes the following academic scientific journals: “Cybernetics and Information technologies” ISSN “Problems of Engineering Cybernetics and Robotics”, ISSN “Working Papers”, ISSN X. The IIT - BAS is the organizer of the bi-annual international conference AIMSA: Artificial Intelligence – Methodology, Systems and Applications; IIT - BAS together with the Institute of Information Transmission Problems of Russian Academy of Sciences is co-organizer of the International Workshop "Distributed computer and communication networks".

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION The investigations and the developments of IIT-BAS are successfully integrated in the international research space, which is demonstrated by the active partnership with foreign institutes and scientific organizations, and also by the publication activity of the Institute research staff. The Institute of Information Technologies works in close cooperation with the following academic institutions abroad: Institute of Informatics – Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia, University of Malaga, Spain, Poznan University of Technology, Poland, Institute of Information Transmission Problems – Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, International Center of Signal Processing – Finnish Academy of Sciences, Tampere, Finland, School of Economics – Helsinki, Finland, Institute of Industrial Informatics and Robotics – University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain, Commonwealth University in Virginia, USA, Brighton University, UK, Technical University of Crete, Greece, Computers and Automation Institute – Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary, Foundation Centre for Human Sciences, Paris, France, Consortium for Investigations and Continuous Education, Turin, Italy, Institute of Informatics – Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia, University of Applied Mathematics – Bonn, Germany.

Selected Projects supported by the Scientific Investigations Fund 1. Formation of highly qualified researchers in information technologies for knowledge processing and management, Development of second-generation GPS systems – selection, parallelization and implementation of algorithms for space and time adaptive processing on high- performance computing architectures used for GPS signal detection and tracking indoor and in heavy noise urban environments, Bulgarian scientific periodicals, Optimal planning of the details and units production for CNC metalworking machines, Beneficent RAIS Ltd., Study of data mining and knowledge discovery models for improving computer network security, Interactive algorithms and software systems supporting multicriteria decision making, Multiagent softsensing, Detection of signals reflected from moving targets in the presence of interference in communication networks, Development of a methodology and computer technology for education in virtual multimedia environment (on Festo's pneumoautomatics products basis), Investigation of the influence of electro-acoustic signals on birds, Models with uncertain information in multicriterial DSS,

Selected Projects supported by the Scientific Investigations Fund 12. Fast access methods by content to multimedia databases, Biometric parameters based identification, Constant false alarm rate processors, Research and development of methods for solving optimization problems in the communications, Syntheses of the devices for detection of radar signals in the presence of strong jamming, Modern information technologies for control of the investment risk, Wavelet based technologies in communication, A computer system for handwriting analysis and writer recognition, Neural networks for classification: Theoretical investigation and applied aspects, Information system for veterinary-medical sanitary control, Hough Detectors of moving target, Methods and tools for users access to global information resources in remote geographic regions, Investigation of models and systems with structure and parametric uncertainty, Printed and handwritten text recognition – methods and Cyrillic information technologies, Network structures in systems with artificial intellect,

Selected Projects supported by the EU 1. FP6/IST/ LOGOS – Knowledge-on-Demand for Ubiquitous Learning, ( – 2009; 2. COST 2101 – Identification on Biometric Parameters, 2006 – 2009; 3. FP6/IST/ INTRAWEBS – Intelligent Framework for Generating Open (Adaptable) Development Platforms for Web-Service Enabled Applications Using Semantic Web Technologies, Distributed Support Units and Multi-Agent Systems, ( – 2007; 4. FP6 INCO-CT HUBUSKA – Networking Centres of High Quality Research on Knowledge Technologies and Applications, ( – 2007; 5. ERASMUS ERASMUS/ETN-DEC/ – Thematic Network for Post Graduate Education in Computer Sciences, ( – 2007; 6. FP6/IST/ BIOSECURE – Biometrics for Secure Authentication Network of Excellence, ( – 2007; 7. CEEPUS/IICII/SR – Extended Mathematics, 2004 – 2007; 8. LEONARDO DA VINCI PP JASON – On-The-Job e-Training Skills to Deal with Digital Cultural Heritage Content, ( – 2006;

Selected Projects supported by the EU 9. LEONARDO DA VINCI PP KNOSOS – New Media Knowledge Village for Innovative e-Learning Solutions, 2003 – 2005; 10. LEONARDO DA VINCI PP ADONIS – Advanced On-the-job e- Training Solutions in e-Business for SME's, 2002 – 2004; 11. INCO-COPERNICUS PL AGILE – Automatic Generation of Instructions in Languages of Eastern Europe, ( – 2000; 12. INCO-COPERNICUS PL ARCHIMED – Advanced Multimedia System Architectures and Applications for Educational Telematics, 1998 – 2000; 13. INCO-COPERNICUS PR EMG-NET – European Research Network for Intelligent Support of EMG Studies, ( – 2000; 14. PHARE P-70/99 – Multimedia Project "Treasures of Thrace and the Thracians in Ancient Europe", ( 1999; 15. FP5/TR-4101/IN-4101 CAPE – Requirements towards the Frames and the Structure of Transport Telematics, 1998 – 1999; 16. INCO-COPERNICUS PL TRACE – Transfer of CHARADE Technology to Central and Eastern Europe, 1997 – 1999.

Selected Applied Projects 1. An expert system for healthful and dietetic nutrition. Agency IANMSP, Information Technologies in stone-cutting. Agency IANMSP and Papadopolus- Konstantinos Papadopulus Ltd., Multi-criteria model for investment preference assessment of economic enterprises. Agrotrade Pavlovi Ltd., Range of high reduction modules for transport and technical machines. National Innovation Fund – MEE and M&C Ltd., Combinatorial optimization of the naval activities. Bianor Ltd., Review for information technologies in National Health Insurance Fund for National Health Insuring Fund, Optimization of a linear schedule for the design, production and mounting of a mini refinery. Gallus Ltd., A software insurance of a system optimizing the supplies and orders. Monitor BG Ltd., Ground Penetrating Radar. Agency IANMSP and MSP Ltd., Software environment for e-learning and distant learning support in secondary school, Agency RSIKT, Development of Multiobjective Optimization Software. INOVATICS Ltd., A model of investment preference assessment under incomplete data. KOMINFTEX.BG Ltd., 2005/ Decision Support System for Solving Linear Multiobjective Problems. Agency RSIKT, 2004.

Selected Applied Projects 14. A method and program development for effective content based image retrieval in large DB of images. Agency RSIKT, New information technologies and interactive environments for vocational and life-long learning. Agency RSIKT, Management decision support system. Agency RSIKT, Digital technologies for electronic media. RETEL Ltd., INFO 3 – information system for scientific and application activities of GFI – BAS Development of website for auto transportation executive agency, A software system for the evaluation of lens’ decentration. OPTIX Ltd., Synthesize of apparatus for detection of radar signals in the presence of strong active and passive jamming. Ministry of Defense, 2001– INFO 2 - information system for scientific and application activities of CLHG – BAS Software for writing SCSI MMC2 optical writing systems. ALPIA Ltd., Development on inter-language localization of software products. Sophitek–East Ltd., Distance training system for the commanders and staffs of the operation-tactics units. Ministry of Defense, Information system for automatic entry, control and notes about veterinary-medical preparations, substances and nutrition adding's, 2001.

Selected Applied Projects 27. Software of the automatic control system of the concentrates mixture in the mining enterprise of Unior-Minier-Pirdop, Information system for veterinary - medical preparations. National Veterinary-Medical Service, Computer system for verification of State Emblem Replicas. State Agency for Standards and Metrology, Database development for virtual structures modelling, SOFITEX, Design of the Software "News Room" of the Bulgarian National TV, Development of a conceptual architecture of generalized information system for the Maritza-Iztok Ltd. pits service, Development of a graphical user interface, SOFITEX, Realization of a High speed Access to Internet of the Bulgarian National TV, BTV, Investigation of the micro machines parameters and their influence on the micro machines systems reliabilities. АМЕRITEX Ltd., Digital signals processing in multiprocessors system, Multiprocessors Systems Ltd., Microprocessor system for control with IBM PC/AT with digital and analog input/outputs, HTS Т. Kableshkov, Development of software tools for multicriteria risk evaluation in finance management. SOFITEX, Digital synthesis of high frequency complex signals, Multiprocessors Systems Ltd., 1997.