HKUST(GZ) Wins Bid to Host World’s Top Database Conference
The?47th?International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB 2021)?announced?that the team led by?Prof.?CHEN?Lei,?Acting?Head of Data Science and Analytics Thrust at HKUST(GZ) and Chair Professor at HKUST Department of Computer Science and Engineering, had won the bid to host?VLDB?2024?at the?Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (HKUST(GZ)) in?the?Nansha?district?of Guangzhou.?This?would?mark the second time for a?Mainland?Chinese?city?to host?the event, following?its 2014 edition?in?Hangzhou.?
VLDB is?recognized as one of?the top three international conferences?among?the database community.?First convened?in 1975 in the United States, the conference?aims at?facilitating?research and exchanges of database technologies around the globe.?Since then,?every edition of?VLDB conference?has brought?together thousands of experts, scholars,?and industry leaders from all over the world.?Papers presented at the conference?have introduced game-changing?and?innovative ideas?that have?made?substantial contributions?to the field.?
2024 marks the 50th?anniversary of VLDB.?Winning against?University College London?in the running to host VLDB 2024, HKUST(GZ), represented by Prof. Chen and his team,?has proven its?academic strength?and?efforts put into?thorough preparation,?and,?most importantly, its?standing in the field of data science.?
An IEEE Fellow and ACM Distinguished Scientist,?Prof. Chen is a?world-leading?expert in?the field of?database?who currently?serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the?VLDB Journal, co-Editor-in-Chief of?IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE), and Secretary of Executive for?the VLDB Endowment. He received the ACM SIGMOD Test of Time Award in 2015 and the VLDB Excellent Demo Award in 2014. Prof.?YI?Ke, a member of Prof. Chen’s database research team at HKUST, carried off two ACM SIGMOD awards in 2015 and 2016.?
Prof. Chen Lei,?Acting?Head of Data Science and Analytics Thrust at?HKUST(GZ) and?Chair Professor at HKUST Department of Computer Science and Engineering?
As Prof. Chen put it,?winning the bid?is of great significance to?HKUST(GZ). Believing in the timeless?proverb?“Knowledge?is?Power”, he said, “In this digital era, we acquire knowledge from data and databases are the cornerstone of the entire information world.?HKUST(GZ)?will build on past successes and make VLDB 2024 a high-standard channel for?disseminating research?outcomes?and advances in database management, covering all issues at the cutting edge of database and information system research, so that database and artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, vendors, practitioners, application developers,?and users will have an open, fair, inclusive,?and innovative international platform for exploring and exchanging views on big data research and cooperation.”?
Speaking of HKUST(GZ)’s??academic?approach, Prof. Chen said the focus?of the University?was?to inspire?curiosity-driven?exploration?of knowledge?and support?mission-encouraged?research.?Well?placed in the?integrative and?innovative?ecosystem of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao?Greater Bay Area, HKUST(GZ) will leverage the strengths of HKUST and its unique positioning in the world and focus on the?trending?issues, areas of interest,?and?pain points facing?the database community, pushing the frontiers of database research and knowledge.?With?these?goals in mind, HKUST(GZ) will revitalize?the VLDB conference that has?run?for more than four decades, drawing more?participants?and?fostering?industry collaboration and technological innovation, and thus?advancing?the development of?the?database?field?for the world.?
Prof. Chen noted that?VLDB?2024 would be the first-ever top-notch international academic conference to be hosted by?HKUST(GZ). He said, “We will show to the world the commitment of?HKUST(GZ)?and the?Greater Bay Area?to?walking on?the right path,?pursuing?truth,?and?capitalizing on local strengths?while?having a global vision. Hosting the VLDB conference will present HKUST(GZ) an opportunity to?showcase to?the??world?what underpins?its unique talent pool – high-end?novel?resources, complementary economic base and industrial chains,?leading?national?policy incentives, and housing support.”?
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Prof. Chen (first from left) at VLDB 2014 held in Hangzhou?
“We are convinced that?HKUST(GZ)’s global vision and capacity to engage with the world, along with the Greater Bay Area’s strengths, will draw more international talents in the industry to this new?campus?in?the?Nansha?district?of Guangzhou,?so that it will play its due role in cultivating innovative talents for the country and creating the first database talent pool in the Asia-Pacific region?that appeals to international stakeholders,” added Prof. Chen.?
Today,?the burgeoning field?of?data science and analytics?has?shown an increasing emphasis on?cross-disciplinary integration,?branching out to?knowledge and skills?integral to other?fields?such?as computer science, statistics, and mathematics.?In supporting cross-disciplinary education and research,?HKUST(GZ)?has adopted?a?unique Hub structure?that?cuts across conventional?disciplinary?boundaries.?
Prof. Chen leads the?Data Science and Analytics Thrust under the Information Hub. Building on HKUST’s?expertise?in big data and data science, the Thrust advances data science and analytics by unifying?statistics, machine learning, optimization, and their related techniques.?Devoted to the?areas?of?Data-driven AI & ML, AI-driven Data Science & Analytics, Data visualization and Infographics, the Thrust will expand the applications of data science and analytics,?creating?end-to-end solutions?that will?solve real-world problems and benefit society.?
