Building on the success of the previous editions, the 4th International Workshop on Information Integration in Cyber Physical Systems (IICPS 2017) is soliciting quality submissions in all areas relevant to the design and operation of Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs).

CPSs integrate computational elements and physical processes into complex engineered systems, and can find application in a number of areas, including smart electric grids, smart transportation, building automation, medical technologies, next-generation air traffic management, and advanced manufacturing. CPSs are transforming the way people interact with engineered systems, just as the Internet has transformed the way people interact with information.

CPSs are inevitably introducing new and fundamental challenges that the research community will have to address in the coming years. A major challenge is that data collected within CPSs is likely to contain critical or sensitive information that needs to be adequately protected against a variety of threats. If fact, this information may become the target of malicious actors aiming at disrupting critical infrastructures for economic or political reasons. For instance, in smart grids, massive amounts of sensitive data from sensors and smart meters – including usage and billing information – must be collected, integrated and processed in order to optimize energy efficiency across interconnected microgrids at the city and national level: malicious actors may leverage this data in order to compromise real time pricing mechanisms, potentially resulting in serious financial consequences for both utility companies and consumers.

Additionally, CPSs provide limited capabilities in terms of in-situ information integration, attack protection and fault-tolerance. Most of the cyber-physical devices are embedded devices characterized by very limited resources, are prone to failures, and subjects to different types of attacks. In order to provide resiliency and security, CPSs must be heavily monitored through a large network of software and physical sensors deployed across the cyber-physical infrastructure. However, this process is expected to generate a volume of data that can rapidly exceed the data acquisition and analysis capabilities of current approaches. To further compound the problem, data sources in CPSs are geographically distributed and, in order to turn data into actionable information, we need new disruptive technologies and holistic approaches capable of integrating and processing data in a distributed and trustworthy manner, while avoiding time-consuming transfer of big volumes of data across geographically dispersed locations. With so many critical services relying on CPSs, ensuring adequate levels of security and reliability becomes of paramount importance.

The workshop aims at providing researchers and practitioners from different areas (CPS, security, remote sensing, reliable systems, systems engineering) with an interdisciplinary forum to present, discuss, and exchange ideas that address the challenges of next-generation Cyber Physical Systems. The workshop seeks submissions from academia, government, and industry presenting novel research results in all practical and theoretical aspects of information integration in Cyber Physical Systems.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Data production, management and organization
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Data formats and collection
  • Data filtering and processing
  • Data fusion
  • Monitoring and control
  • Reliability and security through data-driven approaches
  • Advances and challenges in reliability and security
  • Analytical and simulation studies
  • Experiences with real systems

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Smart grids
  • SCADA systems
  • Smart transportation
  • Vehicular ad-hoc networks
  • Building automation
  • Smart cities
  • Medical devices
  • Air traffic management systems
  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Wireless Sensor Networks

Manuscripts must address information integration challenges in one of the areas of interest in a scalable way. Manuscripts proposing interdisciplinary approaches and/or addressing the security of CPSs are highly encouraged.