A vibrant community of researchers and industry professionals explored cutting-edge developments in digital data processing technologies at the IEEE 4th International Conference on Digital Data Processing, hosted by the Katz School of Science and Health at the Museum in New York City.

“The conference fostered cross-disciplinary collaboration and served as a platform for exchanging ideas, making it clear that the future of digital data processing is rich with potential for innovation and that deep technical understanding is key to unlocking it,” said Dr. Honggang Wang, the general chair of the conference and chair of the Katz School’s Computer Science and Engineering Department.

The event, held on September 30 and October 1, covered a broad range of topics, from data management and machine learning to cloud computing and business analytics. One of the highlights of the conference was the keynote address, “Drilling Down Under the Surface of the Internet,” by Dr. Ping Ji, an expert in network security and data science and chair of computer science at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Dr. Ji’s speech emphasized the intricate and often hidden layers of the internet’s architecture, challenging the audience to look beyond the user-friendly interface of the web to understand the complexities that drive security, privacy and ethical challenges in today’s digital landscape. Her talk dissected the structural design of the internet and highlighted how monitoring deeper network activity can lead to more robust strategies for identifying and mitigating cyber threats.

“While most people interact with apps and web browsers on the surface of the internet, a deeper understanding of its core architecture is crucial for addressing cybersecurity concerns,” she said.

In addition to her keynote, the conference showcased 20 high-quality research papers on topics ranging from AI-powered systems and neural network-based data processing to medical applications of machine learning. Papers such as “Airfare Forecasting: A Deep Learning Approach to Flight Price Prediction” by Ayesh Meepaganithage; “Diabetic and Hypertensive Retinopathy Classification from Retinal Images using Dual Vision Transformer” by Harsha Koduri, and “A Topology of Inclusion: European Regions and the Digital Divide” by Simon Rudkin provided insights into real-world applications of advanced data processing techniques.

“The conference also emphasized artificial Intelligence and its applications,” said Dr. Youshan Zhang, the conference’s technical program co-chair and director of the AI program in the Katz School’s Computer Science and Engineering department. “I am very excited about the AI techniques presented at the conference.”

The event also featured a second keynote lecture, “Metaverse is Taking Off? Part 2,” by Dr. Nirwan Ansari of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Dr. Ansari outlined the technological trends shaping the metaverse since 2023, illuminating the broader implications of its growth on society, industry and digital culture.

Dr. Ansari touched on several key trends have emerged in the development of the metaverse, reflecting its ongoing evolution and growing impact across various industries: Integration of AI and Virtual Services, including virtual customer support, personalized recommendations and more intuitive interfaces within virtual worlds; Expansion of the NFT Market, non-fungible tokens that play a crucial role in shaping the metaverse’s economy; Blockchain’s Role in Social and Gaming, which is particularly prominent in games like Roblox and Fortnite; Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality, which are increasingly being used for business, education and entertainment; Metaverse for Commerce and Social Interaction, which is providing a platform for virtual shopping, real estate and socializing; and Concerns Around Privacy and Security, which are intensifying as the metaverse becomes more mainstream.

“These trends suggest that the metaverse is steadily becoming more integrated into various aspects of daily life, with its influence spreading from entertainment into sectors like education, healthcare and commerce,” said Dr. Ansari.