SICSA Research Themes
This is the list of SICSA research themes revised to take account of the
discussion at the SICSA committee on 3 May 2016. The following descriptions
will be used in the process of reviewing and recruiting theme leaders and may be
modified to take account of the wishes of theme members in consultation with
the theme leaders.
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Human-Computer-Interaction: SICSA already has a well-established
HCI theme. This continues to be an important area of work in Scotland.
As digital technologies become more and more pervasive there is a
continuing need for a focus on modes of interaction between people and
machines. As the depth and scale of the digitalisation of our societies
continues apace we will see the emergence of more complex interactions
involving complex assemblies of people, digital technologies and
infrastructure where effective interaction is essential to the delivery of
essential services in a safe, secure and resilient fashion.
Networking & Systems the digital infrastructure has become a critical
aspect of modern society. We have reached the stage where many
politicians and others see good access to the Internet and other digital
services as a basic human right. But research across Networks and
Systems continues to ensure that the infrastructure is safe, secure,
resilient, accountable, neutral, transparent, manageable, scalable,
predictable, … and is ready for the challenge of supporting waves of
innovation such as the Internet of Things.
Data Science: Covers the management and analysis of data to provide
the basis for the creation of new knowledge about the phenomena
captured by the data. A key aspect of this work is also the research into
how these techniques can help build a secure society while ensuring that
the rights of people to privacy, accountability and transparency are
preserved. This theme recognises that there is a large body of researchers
in Scotland working in Data Science both in the development of
fundamental new techniques in the management and analysis of data and
in the application of Data Science across a broad range of application
domains. In particular the close association of SICSA with The Data Lab
Innovation Centre focuses attention on the Digital, Financial, Health and
Energy sectors as key areas for the exploitation of these techniques.
Cyber-Physical Systems: This theme studies systems that are
embedded in the world and are intended to sense and change the
environment via actuators of one sort or another.
There is a wellestablished robotics activity in the SICSA Universities, and a growing
interest in the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT development will be critically
influenced by the need for cyber-resilience as more and more of our
physical surroundings become imbued with behaviour that is determined
by software interacting with a host of other such embedded things.
Research on security and resilience will be a key feature both as a
research challenge and as a major factor in the acceptance of IoT. This
theme is the main link point for the CENSIS Innovation Centre.
Theory, Modelling and Computation: This research theme encompasses
work on Theoretical Computer Science (including algorithms,
cryptography, security, database theory, verification), Programming
Languages, Logic and Mathematics. Here we will see the emergence of
new results and techniques that will help drive long term development
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such as new privacy techniques, new approaches to distributed ledger
technologies, program verification tools and techniques and new
programming languages that are better adapted to the modern
development and deployment environment.
Artificial Intelligence: There is a strong group of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
researchers in Scotland working both on gaining a deep understanding of
the nature of intelligence using computational thinking as a basis and in
the application of AI techniques in a range of domains. This theme will
provide a clear platform to further develop their work. AI techniques are
becoming ever more pervasive. In particular the use of algorithmic
techniques to interpret data and assist in the coordination of human and
machines in an intelligent manner. This area of work in particular has a
considerable impact on the resilience of our societies and understanding
the full effects of the embedding of AI in human activity is a key area of
work for this theme.
All of the themes listed above have a key role to play in understanding how we can
build a secure and resilient Digital Economy and Society. In order to coordinate this
work, each theme will designate an individual to help coordinate the cybersecurity
aspect of the theme and as a group these individuals will help to coordinate work on
cybersecurity and will interact with the cybersecurity network integrators.