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Cognitive Systems - A Summary

cognitive Systems is the first of the new style Foresight Projects to be "completed" (end date Dec 2003). In practice, several project activities, including workshops and a final Stakeholder meeting are continuing in 2004.

"cognitive systems are natural or artificial information processing systems, including those responsible for perception, learning, reasoning, decision-making, communication and action"

Outcomes

The project is widely perceived as having been successful in:

  • Helping to define an emerging field of new science - cognitive systems - to which life and physical scientists are contributing, with the emerging definition of it being:
  • Identifying relevant groups of UK-based scientists and engineers, based in industry and academia, and bringing them together for interactive workshops at which common ground was established.
  • Identifying exemplar "grand challenges" that constitute fertile ground for further research.
  • Creating an accessible summary of the work done during the year, with the assistance of a consultant science writer (Michael Kenward) and distributing this to a wide range of relevant groups (CUGPOP, members of Research Councils and their Research Boards, selected scientists in other countries working on similar topics). A book is also in preparation.
  • Establishing "Foster Parents" (professional societies) to carry work forward in the years ahead, a framework of "Foresight Fellowships" (to be funded by EPSRC and MRC) for small cross-disciplinary pilot projects, and an "Action Plan" to ensure self-sustaining research networks.

The community concluded that:

  • As we rely more and more on complex systems for our essential services we will need self adapting, self learning systems to ensure their dependability.
  • Cognitive systems will be an important underpinning technology in the future as the ability to 'think' is built into more and more infrastructure and objects and information processing power becomes a commodity.
  • Cognitive systems will have significant economic and social implications.
  • In certain areas advances might only be possible with collaboration.
  • The neuroscience community needs better models and artificial cognitive systems to analyse the ever increasing amounts of information generated as they move to recording multi-neurone activity. Such technology could lead to significant advances in the treatment of mental disorders.

The Project Process

The OST designed and executed a successful project process in which brainstorming was followed by separate in-depth workshops for the life and physical scientists respectively, followed by a series of 3 interactive workshops (see figure). Scholarly research summaries were prepared for detailed discussion, ensuring academic credibility, with this followed by the identification of serious but tractable future challenges. There has been interaction with the stakeholders, who include representatives of relevant industry. This project process worked well.

process

Grand Challenges

The exemplar "grand challenges" will be addressed in workshops whose primary aim is to prepare the ground for major grant applications (e.g. to EPSRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust, relevant industry) that (a) span the life science/physical science divide; and are (b) tractable projects with clear science and engineering goals. The current list of prospective grand-challenge workshops includes:

Knowledge, Memory and Learning; Robotics; Self-Organisation; Speech and Language; Vision.

Post Project Action Plan will:

  • develop the networks created through the project;
  • develop exemplar co-operative research proposals;
  • influence research bodies;
  • develop links with commercial finance;
  • develop public debate; and
  • review best practice
  • communicate outcomes to a wider audience.

January 2004