ICETA 2016

Peter Balco is working for HP Slovakia on the Lead Solution Consultant. His work is focusing on the BPM, IT processes, project management, cloud services and data centres. After graduation at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics Technical University of Košice in domain radioelectronic and telemetry systems he graduated DEA diploma and Ph.D. at the CEMCNRS, Montpellier, USTL II, France for the field optoelectronics and optoelectronic systems. He holds a Professional Diploma in Management MBA level 1 CUB Business School, a member of the Open University UK. He has many years of experience in managing IT TELCO operating environment as well as with the delivery of IT and Telco projects for large international organizations.

Abstract of presentation: The utilization of project management methodologies in education, requirements, possibilities and reality.

The phenomenon - the topic of project management oscillates heavily not only on professional circles for several years. From unknown topic that belonged in the past exclusively professionals who manage projects has become something of a necessity that belongs to primary education. Over recent years we have seen a mass campaign of private educational institutions that generated the number of certified project managers without experience, but with a diploma. The wave of project management training arrived into university environment who tried to go with the times. What are the results of this effort and what are the implications for practice?

In our contribution communicate the results of the analysis of practical knowledge relating to the education of project management and its impact on the real practice. We are referring to the experience as the views that have been gained in the educational process, workshops and research. Presenting the results are additionally confronted with opinions of professionals who are dedicated to real project delivery.

Mária Bohumelová achieved her Master degree in Music Education at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava. Then, she completed her MBA study at the City University of Seattle. During her career, she worked as the Director of the Office of the Vice-president of City University of Seattle as well as for Deloitte Tax and Slovenská pošta.

As a Fulbright scholar she studied Arts Management (uveď pracoviská, aj keby ich bolo viac) in USA. Since November 2010 she is the director of Research and Development department of the Slovak National Gallery. Here Mgr. Bohumelová coordinates research which includes effective documentation and recording of visual arts’ cultural heritage, its implementation and development of information technology and digitization of SNG collections. She is also a project leader in the extensive Digital Gallery project, financed by the Operational Programme Information Society. Since 2012 she is an external PhD. student of Knowledge Management at Vysoká škola manažmentu in Trenčín.

Abstract of presentation: Museums and Galleries: From Conventional Institutions to Learning Organizations

Slovak museums and galleries are considered to be conservative and dry institutions with their exhibitions concept not changed for years. Their approach contradicts to the perception of Information Age accenting innovativeness. Our paper shows how the principles of Knowledge Management can be effectively exploited for unfreezing this rigid state and educating their staff to make their steps towards Learning Organization – a model of contemporary institute.

Applications of Knowledge Managementduring thepreparation of an exhibition installed in the Slovak National Gallery revealed thatdigitized art[1]can be efficiently and effectively combined with presentations of original artefacts and bring synergy effects highly appreciated by its audience. In our paper, we analyze theprocesses leading to the most interesting specimens starting from their idea to their factual appearance at the exhibition. The learned lessons have been exploited for developing a series of methodologicalrecommendations. They can navigate staff of related institutions during their design and development of interactive projects in the future.

Education:

• 2015 – present: Fachhochschule des bfi Wien, Austria, Master degree – Banking and Finance
• 2013 – 2014: Strathfield College, Sydney, Australia, Diploma of Travel and Tourism
• 2009 – 2012: University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Austria
  Bachelor degree – International Accounting & Finance

Work Experience:

• 2015 - present: Sales consultant at Cisco Systems, Bratislava, Slovakia Main responsibilities – Cooperation with public sector; universities and local governments as a lead point of contact
• 2014: Staff Manager at Paul Strange Presents, Sydney, Australia
  Main responsibilities – Outdoors promotion for major Sydney’s festivals and events
• 2013: Freelancer at Raiffeisen Bank International, Vienna, Austria
  Main responsibilities - Supporting the department's relationship managers in coordinating the bank's governance and steering of its subsidiaries in the CEE; supporting the RBI Board of Management in coordination of Supervisory Board meetings and support of various network projects.
• 2012: Internship at Bank Austria, Vienna, Austria
  Main responsibilities - Cooperation with risk managers at the Underwriting department, data handling and checking, preparation of risk assessments and attending risk committees

Abstract of presentation: Internet: a tool or a threat?

The Internet is everywhere allowing us to access what, when and how we want, however it also has a darkside. We are spectators of growing cyber criminality, damaging not just individuals, but also entire countries.

The future lies within those companies which allow sharing of knowledge for the masses. How can a technological giant like CISCO inspire young people?

Sergey Chernyschenko was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine and graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk State University on applied mathematics. After obtaining PhD degree on computing in 1986, was, successively, head of Laboratory of Mathematical Modelin in Biology, head of Computer Science Department, dean of Applied Mathematics Faculty at Dnipropetrovsk National University; head of Department of Applied Mathematics and Social Informatics in Khmelnitsky National University. He was a supervisor of several Ukrainian national projects on mathematical modelling. From 2009 he is a visiting professor of Koblenz-Landau University, Faculty of Informatics. His e-mail address is svc@a-teleport.com

Abstract of presentation: E-Learning development in the context of Bologna process and international cooperation

In the presentation, different approaches to development of e-Learning systems in several countries of Europe (Germany, France) and Asia (China, Japan, and South Korea) are described. For the European conditions, a role of Bologna process is considered. Ways of development of international relations in the field of e-Learning, especially with East-European partners, are discussed.

Martina Drahosova graduated at the Faculty of Management at Comenius University in Bratislava, Department of Information Systems in teh field of marketing and doctoral studies with a focus on social media. Since the completion of a Master's degree she works in online marketing and deals with issues of social media. She is doing research in processing of structured and unstructured data in field of marketing and social media for business purposes. In thesis treated the issues of information and communication technologies through the introduction of Web 2.0 as well as analysis of efficiency of social media and threats associated with their use.

Abstract of presentation: The utilization of project management methodologies in education, requirements, possibilities and reality.

The phenomenon - the topic of project management oscillates heavily not only on professional circles for several years. From unknown topic that belonged in the past exclusively professionals who manage projects has become something of a necessity that belongs to primary education. Over recent years we have seen a mass campaign of private educational institutions that generated the number of certified project managers without experience, but with a diploma. The wave of project management training arrived into university environment who tried to go with the times. What are the results of this effort and what are the implications for practice?

In our contribution communicate the results of the analysis of practical knowledge relating to the education of project management and its impact on the real practice. We are referring to the experience as the views that have been gained in the educational process, workshops and research. Presenting the results are additionally confronted with opinions of professionals who are dedicated to real project delivery.

Gabriel Galgoci is a results oriented technology professional with a successful trackrecord managing and growing offshore operations supporting delivery of IT and Telecommunication services to AT&T‘s global business customers. With a sound understanding of the technology marketplace, IT trends, and strategies, Gabriel is a conceptual thinker with proven expertise in organization building, recruiting, general management, translating business strategies into action and most importantly, leading powerful teams in support of global delivery.

Gabriel has extensive operational experience in Customer Care and Service Delivery. He is currently managing teams located in multiple centers in a corporate environment in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Argentina, Italy, France, UK, Benelux and Nordic countries supporting service delivery and service assurance activities for commercial clients in EMEA region.

As Slovakia Country General Manager, Gabriel leads a cross-functional management forum to assure clear and consistent implementation of local management practices within Shared Service Centers, proactively focusing on cost optimization initiatives, and interfacing with global "Shared Services" functions across AT&T worldwide.

Gabriel began his career with AT&T in 1999 as a project manager coordinating service delivery activities for local clients in Slovakia. During his professional career with AT&T, he has held multiple supervisory positions in Global Managed Services. Before joining AT&T, Gabriel worked at IBM as an IT Specialist and at DHL in Slovakia.

A graduate of the Slovak Technical University, Gabriel studied personnel management, marketing, accounting, strategic planning and management and finance. As part of his continued education since joining AT&T, he earned Project Management-Master Certification from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Gabriel was one of only fifty leaders across AT&T selected to participate in the 2011 Accelerated Development Program (ADP) – a year-long, intensive AT&T experience designed to advance business acumen and increase the strategic perspectives of participants as preparation for future leadership opportunities.

Gabriel plays ice hockey, enjoys travel and gardening. He lives in Senec, Slovak Republic with his wife Silvia and son Samuel.

Abstract of presentation: Building workforce for the future

Having built the United States’ telegraph and telephone infrastructure in the last century, AT&T could once claim to be the company “where the future was invented.” But now the Dallas-based firm, like many in the technology sector, faces a future in which its legacy businesses are quickly becoming obsolete. With its industry moving from cables and hardware to the internet and the cloud, AT&T is in a sprint to reinvent itself.

The evolution presents an enormous HR challenge. AT&T employs about 280,000 people, most of whom got their education and foundational job training in a different era. The average tenure at the company is 12 years—22 years if you don’t count people working in call centers. But rather than hiring new talent wholesale, AT&T has chosen to rapidly retrain its current employees while striving to engender a culture of perpetual learning.

A Long View on Talent Management

The first task of AT&T’s program—dubbed Workforce 2020 (or WF2020)—was to identify the skills the firm would need and create a blueprint for sourcing them internally. Managers documented existing gaps and formulated “future role profiles” for themselves and their teams. Every manager in AT&T’s network and technology strategy organization, which constitutes roughly half the firm’s professional workforce, was assigned a new role and expected to get the training or credentials to fill it.

One principle of AT&T’s capability evolution program is to give every employee who wants it the chance to change with the organization in order to minimize the number of people who leave or lose their jobs.

Tools for Change

To help employees with the transition, human resources launched an online self-service platform, which provides a host of tools and processes for performance management, career development, and talent planning. It also offers workshops on a wide range of topics, such as virtualization and cloud computing, “technologies in motion,” and “the communication transformation.”

A career profile tool for assessing competencies, business experience, and credentials. It quantifies each person’s skills and generates a single talent-and-development profile that the employee can compare with new-job requirements to identify skills to acquire. The tool also helps workers find open positions across business units and links them to resources for developing proficiency in required competencies. A “click-through” feature allows people to instantly connect to a nearby employee in a similar role.

A career intelligence tool for making informed career decisions by analyzing hiring trends within the company and profiles of different. This tool also provides links to skills training.

Once employees have identified skill gaps through the self-service platform and in conversations with their managers, they take it upon themselves to fill them through online courses, certifications, and degree programs developed through a partnership between AT&T, Udacity, and Georgia Tech. The options fan out in a number of ways:

Individual courses.

Through May 2016, employees had taken more than 1.8 million emerging-technology courses. The majority of these were online. People also earn a badge—essentially a digital certificate of achievement—for completing certain tutorials and assessments.

Nanodegrees.

Curated course bundles created by Udacity, “nanodegree” programs deliver training and certification in high-demand technical specialties, such as software engineering, coding, and web development. Transforming a programmer into a software engineer, for example, typically involves 25 courses. Preparing that same programmer for IP networking takes eight courses, and for a security specialty, three courses. Nanodegrees usually take six to 12 months to earn.

Online master’s degrees.

Georgia Tech, Udacity, and AT&T teamed up to offer a fully accredited online master’s degree in computer science—the first of its kind delivered through aonline platform. AT&T has also opened the courses designed with Udacity and Georgia Tech to individuals outside the company, in an effort to seed the talent market with external candidates who will be qualified to fill future roles.

A New Model for Agility

What all this means is that AT&T—one of America’s largest companies—is attempting to become much more agile and take advantage of approaches common in start-ups. The firm is already organizing, motivating, and developing people through such techniques as crowdsourcing, marathon process cycles, and small, temporary process teams. This may be the most ambitious element of AT&T’s bid to reinvent itself—its aspiration to create a culture in which newly empowered employees can thrive. AT&T wants to invest in, rather than leave behind, those who helped build its position in the marketplace. But to remain profitable in the future, it has to move beyond the skills that once made it great.

Anna Grabowska has over 20 years of experience in distance education. In 1994 she received a master's degree at the University De Montfortin Leicester in the UK. In 2001 she defended her doctoral thesis with the title of a doctor of technical sciences at Gdansk University of Technology. Since 1995 she has been the manager of Autodesk Authorised Training Centre at Gdansk University of Technology (Academic Partner). In 1998-2004, she served as head of the Distance Education Centre at Gdansk University of Technology. She is a founding member of the Association of Academic E-learning, advisor at U3A online. Since 9 years she has been conducting meetings with the computer for seniors. She has been involved in several European projects dedicated to active aging (e.g. Learn with Grandma, Seniors Acting Together, ForAge, MATURE). Since 2014 she has been represented the company PRO-MED sp. o. o. in the project ERASMUS + SP4CE. She is responsible for designing and implementing a platform for communication and joint activities for students, teachers and companies.

Abstract of presentation: MOOCs in SP4CE - case studies (Strategic Partnership for Creativity and Entrepreneurship)

SP4CE stands for Strategic Partnership for Creativity and Entrepreneurship project which has been funded with support from the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ Programme in the period 1st September 2014 - 31st August 2016. The main purpose of SP4CE project is to design innovative e-learning tools for collaboration between students, enterprises and teachers. It concentrates on identifying users’ needs and supports the development of relations between them by mentoring and consulting activities. WordPress and Moodle were chosen for the portal development. It supports communication among three main target groups: coaches, mentors (teachers) and students. The portal connects companies, universities (schools) and young people who want to enter the labour market. In order to ensure the project sustainability the project partners took part in Moodle MOOCs. More over a dedicated SP4CE Learning Room in MoodleCloud was established in order to support a co-operation with the EMMA MOOCs team provider.

Ivan Hruska is a tenured executive with over 31 years of experience in the technology sector. Currently he is the Head of Central Europe Business at Global Logic. In his previous career he served as President of Ness Europe for ten years and other major companies. He also owned and operated a private software development company for nearly a decade.

He is also an investor and a board member in several start-ups in the Central Europe, and he serves as Chairman of the Board for the Košice IT Valley association. Ivan graduated from Technical University in Košice. Ivan enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and engaging in sports activities like skiing, mountainbiking, and TRX.

IT industry - what to change in the ICT education

Presentation will show how I see current situation in ICT education in Slovakia. It will start by problems with professional orientation of young people at basic and highschools. It will follow by Issues related to ICT education at highschools and how to change the whole ecosystem by “farming talents” on all levels. We need by fare more ICT graduates from Universities and Highschools as well. What we need to do to change it? We need to change syllabus and apply latest trends. It means a lot of trainings for teachers and closer cooperation with us - business companies. Weneed to join forces in research and innovations on the top of it. How to start innovation activities, technological parks and startup accelerators? Separate part will be about the role of local and central government. I will summarise what we have achieved and where we need to do much more and what we need from public authorities?

Mikuláš Huba received the MSc. and PhD. Degrees in Technical Cybernetics from Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava in 1974 and 1982, respectively. Since 1989 he was a Senior Lecture and Head of the Control Theory Group of the Institute of Control and Industrial Informatics and from 2008 Full Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. From 1996 to 2008 he worked as the Head of the university Distance Education Centre. Since 2008 he was also active in research at the FernUniversität Hagen, Germany, where he continued in 2010-2011 as the Mercator visiting professor. Currently he is leading Department of E-mobility, Drives and Automation of the Institute of Automotive Mechatronics. He is author and co-author of above 400 papers in journals and proceedings of international conferences and 20 monographs on Constrained, Nonlinear and Remote Control and about e-Learning.

Abstract of presentation: From E-learning to Industry 4.0

The paper presents the state-of-the-art in research, education and development of control methods, control structures, information a communications technologies and their applications in different types of industrial processes with the focus on mechatronic systems and new trends declared in Industry 4.0. Since its emergence in the late 1970s, mechatronics has become well-established as an academic subject, and is now researched and taught at a large number of worldwide universities and research institutions. In this paper we analyse methodology and basic common principles of four close scientific disciplines: automation, information and communication technologies (ICT) and mechatronics. We try to get to the heart of multidisciplinary engineering of which mechatronics is an excellent example, and point out how the integration of disciplines leads to new degrees of freedom in the corresponding new form of education in cooperation with industrial partners. Industry needs new engineers who can hit the ground running with a balance beetween theory and practice, an attitude of profesionalism, experience in multidisciplinary teamwork, and outstanding communication skills.Automation, mechatronics, and robotics remain key sciences of the 21st century bringing forth all the comforts and solving many inconveniences in everyday life. Nowadays, high production quality cannot be achieved without development and application of new methods and systems based on recent technologies in electronics, mechanics, control, electrical equipment and ICT. Many industrial processes and consumer electronic products have incorporated advanced control methods, micro-processors, programmable logic controllers and computers to enable and embed intelligence and more functionality in them. Multidisciplinary engineering systems have electronics, computers, and control as integral parts. Performance, reliability, low cost, robustness, and sustainability are absolutely essential. Mechatronics integrates the fields of mechanical, electrical, control, and computer engineering; this concentration was created because knowledge across these disciplines is essential to improve and/or optimize the functionality of modern engineering systems. Since its emergence in the late 1970s, mechatronics has become well-established as an academic subject, and is now researched and taught at a large number of worldwide universities and research institutions. Mechatronic engineering is one of the youngest engineering disciplines. It brings together mechanical, electrical, electronic and computer engineering: the essential part of the discipline is the integration of machines and systems involving these elements. The principal characteristic of the dominant branches is as follows:

• Mechatronics is the engineering discipline integrating technologies from mechanical engineering, electronics, and computing to create more intelligent devices and machines.
• Informatics is the science of processing data for storage and retrieval; a successful design of complex systems is highly dependent on how design information is represented, managed and retrieved.
• Automation – Control engineering concerns the design of process controllers based on understanding dynamic characteristics so that the process behaves in a desirable way. Industry needs new engineers who can hit the ground running with a balance beetween theory and practice, an attitude of profesionalism, experience in multidisciplinary teamwork.

Multidisciplinary education (Fig.1) in mechatronics for Industry 4.0 enables an engineer to perform initial design work in mechanical, electrical, control engineering and information technology and to communicate effectively with specialized design engineers in different disciplines (mechanical, electrical, ITC, power, etc.). Industry needs new engineers who can hit the ground running with a balance between theory and practice, an attitude of professionalism, experience in multidisciplinary teamwork, and outstanding communication skills. Universities need to shape their engineering curricula to better prepare students for professional practice.Control engineering methods and structures have a wide spectrum and extend to other engineering sciences, such as the application of mechatronics, from the traditional to the highly technical areas, such as car industry, medical areas, multisensor fusion, and micro/nanotechniques applications.

Fig.1. Mechatronics – multidisciplinary education system for Industry.4.0

Multidisciplinary dual education form is an effective integration of control theory and practical experience providing ideal start to improve professional career of students at many technical universities. The most important benefits it brings both students and industrial partners are practical training in industry companies, opportunity to acquire practical to skills on modern industrial plants and production equipment, as well as to feel how it is to be employed or learn what are the requirements and the culture of companies. At the same time, students have a great chance to be offered a job still during their studies.

Mechatronics students cross-train in control systems, electronic systems, computers and mechanical systems that integrate product design and automated manufacturing processes. Course work combines various skills to teach students a comprehensive approach to developing solutions for work-specific applications. As industrial applications are becoming more and more complex, industries need technicians with skills that cross a variety of disciplines.

Jozef Hvorecky is a Professor at the School of Management in Bratislava, Slovakia. He is also a Honorary Lecturer for the Laureate program of the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. The latter covers the entire planet by its online courses. During 45 year of his career, he taught at 17 universities in 12 countries of all continents.

As the author and coauthor, he has published 26 books and textbooks and more than 120 papers in journals and conference proceedings. His recent books are: Database Technologies (accompanied by a Problem Solver as its 2nd volume), Virtual Classroom (on effective online learning), and Last Will of a Researcher (on university management). He is keen of new educational technologies. For example, the Database Technologies textbook refers to his 30 lectures on YouTube; a memory key attached to its problem solver contains more than 200 sample databases.

Abstract of presentation: Museums and Galleries: From Conventional Institutions to Learning Organizations

Slovak museums and galleries are considered to be conservative and dry institutions with their exhibitions concept not changed for years. Their approach contradicts to the perception of Information Age accenting innovativeness. Our paper shows how the principles of Knowledge Management can be effectively exploited for unfreezing this rigid state and educating their staff to make their steps towards Learning Organization – a model of contemporary institute.

Applications of Knowledge Managementduring thepreparation of an exhibition installed in the Slovak National Gallery revealed thatdigitized art[1]can be efficiently and effectively combined with presentations of original artefacts and bring synergy effects highly appreciated by its audience. In our paper, we analyze theprocesses leading to the most interesting specimens starting from their idea to their factual appearance at the exhibition. The learned lessons have been exploited for developing a series of methodologicalrecommendations. They can navigate staff of related institutions during their design and development of interactive projects in the future.

EDUCATION

• 09/2006 – 06/2009 – Bachelor’s degree in Economics with distinction from the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences for an excellent state-final examination performance
• merit scholarship (for top 5% of students) obtained every year between 2006 and 2009
• since 09/2010 – Ph.D. candidate in Economics, expected year of completion: 2016
• since 09/2010 – teaching: Microeconomics, Development Economics, Statistics

• 09/2009 – 09/2010 – MSc. in Economics

• 09/2011 – 02/2012 – study period abroad, focus on Corporate Finance

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• since 07/2016 – Data Analysis & Research Manager
• leader of Analytics Department
• development of data products and taylor-made solutions for clients
• quantitative analysis of the behavior of labor market participants (job candidates and firms)
• participation in international projects within Alma Media Group
• deeply interested in data science and big data applications in online business
• 09/2014 – 06/2016 – Labor Market Analyst
• applying statistical methods to labor market data: predictive modeling, preparation of economic forecasts, estimation of trends in various industries and market segments
• working with relational databases (MySQL), statistical software (R) and web analytic tools (Google Analytics) on a daily basis
• creation and evaluation of KPIs
• examination of behavior of labor market participants, developing tools for data analysis
• monitoring the behavior of webpage users to improve the user experience, application of statistical clustering techniques for market segmentation and improvement of company's marketing activities
• preparation and interpretation of questionnaires and surveys

• 03/2012 – 08/2013 – Portfolio Management Analyst
• development of pricing/sales-support tools in VBA
• pricing of natural gas
• programming and maintenance of automated processes related to data analysis
• data analysis – short-term consumption forecasting, investigation of customer behavior, demand analysis
• performance monitoring of contracts, evaluation of their profitability and risk involved
• development and implementation of new retail products for Slovak gas market

PUBLICATIONS IN IMPACTED JOURNALS

• Empirical Analysis of Life Satisfaction in Female Benedictine Monasteries in Germany, Révue économique, 2016/1 pp. 143-166

• Benedictine Monasteries from the Point of View of Happiness Economics, Economics Bulletin, Vol. 32 No. 2 pp. 1215-1225

SELECTED COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• 03/2014 – 04/2014 – volunteering on organic farm in Laos, teaching English classes (local children)

• 2009 – 2011 – attending and delivering presentations at events organized by INESS (Liberty English and Entrepreneurship Camp (06/2009, 06/2010), Austrian Economics Seminar (03/2010, 04/2011))
• writing and translating articles about economic and social issues (published at INESS website)

• since 2008 – member and event participant

OTHER INFORMATION

• English (fluent), German (advanced), Spanish (basic), Slovak/Czech (mother tongue)

• MS Office (Expert), VBA programming (Expert), SQL (Expert), Google Analytics (Expert), statistical software – R, Stata (Intermediate), HTML (Intermediate)

• 07/2010, 08/2012 – Camino de Santiago – pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• 09/2013 – 05/2014 – round the world journey (traveled all around western U.S., Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia)

Abstract of presentation: How to Hire the Best Talent in the Area of Information Technology

The study will briefly sketch the most recent trends in hiring skilled IT professionals in Slovakia. The primary focus will be made on current tendencies in recruitment: how the job requirements of companies are changing and how their hiring strategies respond to challenges on the labor market. Due to increase in the number of new vacancies and ongoing drop in unemployment rate in the period between 2014 and 2016, hiring new employees becomes more difficult and competition among employers gets tougher. The study will describe how companies are currently looking for skilled IT professionals, what they can do to attract scarce workforce and how they are trying to motivate job candidates (the focus will be made on financial motivation (offered salaries) as well as non-financial one (benefits offered by Slovak companies in IT area will be compared to selected other industries).

Gabriel Juhas is a full professor of Applied Computer Science at Institute of Computer Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava. Gabriel was the dean and the vicedean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Slovak University of Technology (FEI STU). He is also the garant of the study program Applied Computer Science at FEI STU. He worked at several universities in Germany, namely at Technical University Berlin, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, where he received his habilitation in 2005. Previously, he was also visiting PhD student at BRICS, University of Aarhus in Denmark. His main research interest are theory of Petrinets and their applications in various areas focusing on business process modelling and process mining. He is also very interested in integration of Internet of Things with Big Datamethods and Data as a Commodity resulting in concepts of social networks of data, data markets, shared data and data ecosystems.

Abstract of presentation: ICT Eduaction Reform: Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today

We discuss the gap between the need for ICT experts and the ability of academia to produce graduates in ICT field. Based on hard statistical data, we try to answer why - to identify and quantify the main reasons of this gap. Based on this reasons we try to determine what should be changed - to determine the goals. The new focus on what we are able to change. Further, based on the best practices from the world we try to find out how to make the proposed change. We try to find out best solutions and call for realization.

Martin Klimo received his diploma in telecommunication engineering from the University of Transport and Communication (UTC) Zilina in 1973. From 1973 to 1990 he was an Assistant Professor on Technical Cybernetics at UTC. Since 1990 he works as Associated Professor and in 1993 he was appointed head of the Department of Information Networks. His research interests include communication theory, queuing theory and fuzzy logic implementation by nanotechnology. He focused to these disciplines from speech point of view: packet networks performance for voice transmission (VOIP quality), text-to-speech systems, and speech recognition. His actual interest is memristor based fuzzy computing. He participates in the project COST IC1401 MemoCIS and APVV 14-0560. He provides university courses in Networking theory, Communication theory and Principles of Informatics. His 15 PhD. students have been graduated. He is author of 3 books, 37 journal articles and 72 other papers. Most of his recent papers can be found at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martin_Klimo. More detailed CV can be found in Who is Who v Slovenskej republike and Oxford Encyclopedia.

Abstract of presentation: Trends in Computer Architectures II.

Today computers are staying on three cornerstones:

• von Neumann architecture,
• transistor as a switching element,
• Boolean logic.

While trends in replacing von Neumann architecture (that is suitable for algorithmic computing) by naturally massive parallel architecture suitable for cognitive computing was presented at ICETA 2015, we would like to continue by explaining why, from our perspective, the transistor should be replaced by memristor, and Boolean logic by fuzzy logic. The main reason for transistor replacing is its volatility. It means that data processing and data storing cannot be performed without an external source of energy. The first step is already done, when volatile RAM memories were replaced by non-volatile FLASH memories. However, CPU is still separated from the memory, and data are transmitted between the CPU and the memory. This leads to 2.3 MW energy consumption in Thiane2 supercomputer comparing with 25 W in the brain. Therefore, we need to replace the transistor by non-volatile element that can join data processing and memory functions. Memristors seems to be such as elementnowadays. The main feature of the memristoris its ability to gradually change its resistance from low restive ON state into high resistive OFF state, and keep this state without need ofan energy source. A lot of research effort has been dedicated to use memristors as a memory, and we believe they will appear in the near future.More challenging is their application as an element joining data processing and storing functionalities. Neuronal networks are such as example, where neuron transforms input values into the output value, and the program memory is made of synapsesweights and network topology. This approach is used in neuromorphic computing in which synapse weight is implemented by memristor resistance, and processing is performed by pulse trains. This approach allows to train the neuron by pulses sequences (short term and long term synapse plasticity). Different approach is based on fuzzy logic implementation by memristive circuit. Elementary functions Min, Max in Zadeh fuzzy logic can be implemented by antiserial connection of two memristors, and consequently they can be used for creating more complex fuzzy logic functions (e.g. in normal forms). This is very similar to implementation of Boolean logic functions, and programs contain implications instead of statements in contrast to the neural networks which have to be trained. To be clear, we underline that our aim is not to replace today computer by new one, but to support today computer by new type of accelerator suitable for naturally massive parallel computing – cognitive computing.

Stefan Kozak obtained the MSc from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava in 1970 and the PhD. in Technical Cybernetics from the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 1978. He worked at the Institute of Technical Cybernetics in the field of Control algorithms design and was leader of a research team at the Institute of Applied Cybernetics in Bratislava. Since 1984 he was with the Department of Automatic Control Systems at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology in Bratislava (between 1998 and 2006 he washead o f the department). Currently he is with the Institute of Automotive mechatronics at the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies, STU in Bratislava. His research interests include system theory, linear and nonlinear control methods, numerical methods and software for modeling, control, signal processing and embedded intelligent systems. He published over 230 research papers in conference proceedings and international journals, and organized five IFAC events held in Slovakia.

Abstract of presentation: From E-learning to Industry 4.0

The paper presents the state-of-the-art in research, education and development of control methods, control structures, information a communications technologies and their applications in different types of industrial processes with the focus on mechatronic systems and new trends declared in Industry 4.0. Since its emergence in the late 1970s, mechatronics has become well-established as an academic subject, and is now researched and taught at a large number of worldwide universities and research institutions. In this paper we analyse methodology and basic common principles of four close scientific disciplines: automation, information and communication technologies (ICT) and mechatronics. We try to get to the heart of multidisciplinary engineering of which mechatronics is an excellent example, and point out how the integration of disciplines leads to new degrees of freedom in the corresponding new form of education in cooperation with industrial partners. Industry needs new engineers who can hit the ground running with a balance beetween theory and practice, an attitude of profesionalism, experience in multidisciplinary teamwork, and outstanding communication skills.Automation, mechatronics, and robotics remain key sciences of the 21st century bringing forth all the comforts and solving many inconveniences in everyday life. Nowadays, high production quality cannot be achieved without development and application of new methods and systems based on recent technologies in electronics, mechanics, control, electrical equipment and ICT. Many industrial processes and consumer electronic products have incorporated advanced control methods, micro-processors, programmable logic controllers and computers to enable and embed intelligence and more functionality in them. Multidisciplinary engineering systems have electronics, computers, and control as integral parts. Performance, reliability, low cost, robustness, and sustainability are absolutely essential. Mechatronics integrates the fields of mechanical, electrical, control, and computer engineering; this concentration was created because knowledge across these disciplines is essential to improve and/or optimize the functionality of modern engineering systems. Since its emergence in the late 1970s, mechatronics has become well-established as an academic subject, and is now researched and taught at a large number of worldwide universities and research institutions. Mechatronic engineering is one of the youngest engineering disciplines. It brings together mechanical, electrical, electronic and computer engineering: the essential part of the discipline is the integration of machines and systems involving these elements. The principal characteristic of the dominant branches is as follows:

• Mechatronics is the engineering discipline integrating technologies from mechanical engineering, electronics, and computing to create more intelligent devices and machines.
• Informatics is the science of processing data for storage and retrieval; a successful design of complex systems is highly dependent on how design information is represented, managed and retrieved.
• Automation – Control engineering concerns the design of process controllers based on understanding dynamic characteristics so that the process behaves in a desirable way. Industry needs new engineers who can hit the ground running with a balance beetween theory and practice, an attitude of profesionalism, experience in multidisciplinary teamwork.

Multidisciplinary education (Fig.1) in mechatronics for Industry 4.0 enables an engineer to perform initial design work in mechanical, electrical, control engineering and information technology and to communicate effectively with specialized design engineers in different disciplines (mechanical, electrical, ITC, power, etc.). Industry needs new engineers who can hit the ground running with a balance between theory and practice, an attitude of professionalism, experience in multidisciplinary teamwork, and outstanding communication skills. Universities need to shape their engineering curricula to better prepare students for professional practice.Control engineering methods and structures have a wide spectrum and extend to other engineering sciences, such as the application of mechatronics, from the traditional to the highly technical areas, such as car industry, medical areas, multisensor fusion, and micro/nanotechniques applications.

Fig.1. Mechatronics – multidisciplinary education system for Industry.4.0

Multidisciplinary dual education form is an effective integration of control theory and practical experience providing ideal start to improve professional career of students at many technical universities. The most important benefits it brings both students and industrial partners are practical training in industry companies, opportunity to acquire practical to skills on modern industrial plants and production equipment, as well as to feel how it is to be employed or learn what are the requirements and the culture of companies. At the same time, students have a great chance to be offered a job still during their studies.

Mechatronics students cross-train in control systems, electronic systems, computers and mechanical systems that integrate product design and automated manufacturing processes. Course work combines various skills to teach students a comprehensive approach to developing solutions for work-specific applications. As industrial applications are becoming more and more complex, industries need technicians with skills that cross a variety of disciplines.

Abstract of presentation: Labour market disparities in Slovak republic or what is the future?

The record high employment rate in the second quarter of 2016 and its increasing tendency over past months is certainly a good news for Slovakia. Despite the vacancies creation, the labour market is suffering from the lack of qualified labour force. The increasing number of vacancies which cannot be filled and employers´ dissatisfaction with the quality of labour force is a very clear proof of it all. Also, the mismatch – quantity and quality-wise – between the demand and supply on the labour market is increasing. The 63 % of secondary school graduates and 53 % of university graduates do not work in the field of their study. The presentation will focus on how graduates are gaining foothold in the labour market, the forecasting of demand and supply on the labour market but also how it would be possible to tackle the mismatch on the labour market and what tools could be effective in doing so.

Mario Lelovsky is a professional and executive with over 25 years of experience in the ICT and audiovisual technology sectors. He runs his own company Media Control which provides complete home automation solutions and is a respected system integrator in the field of integrated control systems for buildings in Central Europe. Currently he has been reelected as the President of IT Association of Slovakia.

In his previous career he established and run companies BaSys CS and BaSys Czechrepublic for over 20 years.

Mario graduated from Slovak Technical University in Bratislava. Mario enjoys spending time with his family and his 3 kids and engaging in sports activities like skiing, mountain biking, sailing and motorsport.

Abstract of presentation: ICT industry requirements towards education system in Slovakia

What is the situation of ICT human resources and what young people really know of ICT?
Does the education system deliver the appropriate human resources to the ICT industry?
What are the major obstacles and possible solutions?
Who cares, who not and why?
What if we will not succeed?

Current position: University professor of internal medicine, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Martin

Work experience:

Previous Position: Vice-rector for research and doctoral study, Comenius University, Bratislava (2011-2015), Head of Dept. ff Informatics, Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic (2007), Minister of Education Advisor (2008-2010), University Professor, Comenius University, Jessenius School of Medicine, Martin (1981-)

Professional Experience: Research activities (computer analysis of heart activity, occupational risk management), Graduate of Distance Education „Course on Managing University-Industry Partnership“ IIEP UNESCO Paris and ECSM Brussels (2001), co-ordinator of Phare-Tempus Programs (ERQUAM, IQATFOQ, MED-NET, Management of Higher Education Institutions) (1996-2001), TEMPUS-UZDOC project (2013-2016), ERASMUS+PRIDE (2013-2016)

Professional Lecturing Experience: Comenius University, Jessenius School of Medicine in Martin: all subjects associated with Internal Medicine, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands (2002), University of Limerick, Ireland (2001), University of Edinburgh, Scotland, (1999), Mayo Clinic – Rochester, Minnesota, USA (1995). European and World Congresses Lecturer (Athens, Zaragoza, Copenhagen, Philadelphia, Jeruzalem, Zurich, Beer Sheva, Muscat, Beijing)

Publications: Textbook – Editor in Chief: Differential Diagnosis by Laboratory Medicine (Springer – Germany, Springer – India, Medico-Pharmaceutical PH – China, Paschalidis – Greece), Textbook – Editor in Chief: Medinfo (Osveta – Slovakia). Textbooks: 15+, Scientific Papers: 80+, scientific abstracts: 250+, scientific lectures: 330+

Abstract of presentation: ICT cannot change an education, we can change it with ICT

Everything that can be invented has been invented. (Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899). And now . . .let’s try to move our minds 30 years ago . . . 1986 . . . and try to see and predict a horizon of ICT availability and use in education and daily life . . . for 2016 . . . and now – try to be visionary for 2026. There is no single, universal, true, ideal educational model. Educational universe is overcrowded with „atomized“ methodologies.Sage on the stage era is over.We need to set a new mindset. We need to upgrade ourselves.

Data based on a parent survey led by Sandra Calvert (2006) of CDMC:

• 21 % of children age 2 and younger were using computers (mostly on their parents’ laps)
• 58 % of 3- to 4-year olds were using computers (independently)
• 77 % of 5- to 6-year olds were using computers.

Studies in the UK have shown that children have begun to use computers at ages as young as eighteen months to two and a half years.

Our children are “different species”. They have magical powers that would appear alien to us.They can see through walls. They can hear through walls. With their mobile phones, Internet-connected games systems, computers and text-messagers, they can connect with people regardless place, time and distance.The walls do not meanthe same thing tothem that theymeant to us!Digital education is notdigital analogues of past didactic principles, stone lecture hall, $1000 pencil, chalk or poster boardand teacher reading a static one-way information displaying them even throughtomorrow multimedia. The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply.

Education paradigm shifts, principal needs are: „massive investment“ into systemic change and teachers shift for new thinking, attitude and learning/teaching methods and to upgrade from „basic service ICT literacy“ to teachers/students interactive, didactic, social and creative digital skills, competencies and literacies. Total rethinking of society, people on/behind the scene + total rethinking of pedagogy is essential. Because it is not the tool that makes the learning experience, it is the pedagogy. Teachers should assist new generation that can use tools and create technology that will change the world in new ways. At the heart of 21st century learning is…learning. Learning is a gift. Even when pain is your teacher. (Maya Watson)

Katarina Pisutova holds an MA in Adults Education (2003) from the University of British Columbia in Canada and an EdD in Online and Distance Learning (2012) from the Open University in UK. She has designed and taught online courses for various non-profit organizations, for the University of British Columbia, University of Pittsburgh and Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, NY. She has also been a member of the Open Education Task Force for the Empire State College, one of the anchor partners of the OER University.

Abstract of presentation: Issues in Collaborative Online International Learning

Online communication enables international and intercultural cooperation of students without a need for costs and logistics connected with traveling. However, if the learning should be effective, it is necessary to built the online courses with regards to cultural barriers and differences. This article focuses on issues connected with course design for courses that include at international collaboration. It reviews a few cases of international collaborative courses from literature and personal experiences of the author to demonstrate how these issues influence learning process. Then the focus shifts onto general course design recommendations for building international online courses, ending with a practical list of issues and areas to focus on.

Prof. Dr. Ľubica Stuchlíková graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) in 1990, received the PhD degree in 1996 and was appointed associate professor in 2006. She works as a teacher at the Institute of Electronics and Photonics. From 2016 as full professor. Her fields of interest are electrical characterization of semiconductor structures, devices and materials since 1990 and computer aided engineering education, retraining, lifelong learning since 2000.

Her priority is education, training of new electrical engineers and popularization of science and technology for children and youth.

In 2004 she established educational portal „eLearn central“ as a co-author. Original interactive animations, educational and popularization elearning courses and modules have been created for the portal “eLearn central” by “eLearn central team”. She is head of this team and also cooperates with other teams in development of elearning projects using platform Moodle.

Abstract of presentation: Challenges of Education in the 21st Century

The technological environment of the 21st century has direct impact on education. Although our main domain is university education, we have to look more complexly on issues of basic education as well. Primary and secondary schools are our partners in common goal of raising experts for the future. Children, who start to attend schools today, will be employed as high skilled experts in 2034. We have no exact idea what kind of conditions, level of science and technology awaits them. Since we cannot predict the future, we should at least try to adapt teaching nowadays. Our basic task is to lead students to think critically, to work with high adaptability and flexibility and to support their individuality and creativity. Last but not least to increase intrinsic motivation of them about knowledge and learning of new ones. This article highlights the challenges of education in the 21st century. In the world we can see interesting solutions of these challenges, dealt with in today and future situations of education in Slovakia. Facing some of these challenges author sees the solution in effective application of ICT and new pedagogical approaches.