Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, announced it organized a seminar to highlight the challenges in sifting accurate information from social networking platforms, especially during ’referral-based crowd-sourcing’.

The seminar led by Victor Naroditskiy was titled ’Finding Answers using Social Networks: Verification in Referral-based Crowd-sourcing’. More than 25 students, researchers and faculty members participated in the event that was held at the Masdar Institute premises that also included a question and answer session for the benefit of the audience.

Dr. Joe Cecchi, Provost, Masdar Institute, said: "Hosting renowned experts for seminars is part of Masdar Institute’s initiative to raise awareness among the students and the general community on the practical applications of advanced technologies. As a research-focused institution, we also aim to emphasize the importance of highlighting the outcome of various research activities in science, engineering and technology. We are confident the insights offered by Victor Naroditskiy at the seminar will encourage the students to seek innovation and benchmark themselves in the world of scientific research. We thank the UAE’s leadership for their continuous guidance in consolidating the status of Masdar Institute as one of the world-class institutions".

Victor Naroditskiy is a post-doctoral researcher in Prof Nick Jennings’s group at the University of Southampton in the UK. Engaged in the study of incentives from both theoretical and practical angles, Naroditskiy approaches game-theoretic problems with algorithmic solutions and computational tools. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science under the guidance of Amy Greenwald from Brown University, Rhode Island.

Naroditskiy said: "Social networks facilitate efficient and fast search for rare information. This process occurs as individuals who are already involved in the search, share their quest with their friends, in effect ’referring’ them. This type of crowd-sourcing is termed as �referral-based’. In this work, any team that is seeking information incorporates verification in the crowd-sourcing process, helping filter out false submissions before they reach the center. It is important to note that the problem of verification is in no way specific to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Network Challenge, but a subject of current research in crowd-sourcing tasks including content annotation, user recommendations, and disaster relief".

The seminar at Masdar Institute is significantly relevant to both the corporate sector and the general community in the UAE. According to the law firm DLA Piper, only 41% of the businesses surveyed in the UAE have a social media presence, compared to 76% in the UK. Of the UAE companies that do have social media presence, 26% do not have a social media policy outlining for employees as against 17% in the UK, putting the company and employees at risk, says the survey report.

Established as an on-going collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow. With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, Masdar Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change.


 

 

 

We accept Guest Posts