IMFD celebrates its 8th Workshop – Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data

With the participation of researchers and students of all levels, the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data its 8th Workshop at the Peñalolén Botanical Events Center in Santiago.

The event showcased the progress and projects carried out by the center's research lines, with an emphasis on the results and short- and medium-term projections of the various initiatives, consolidating its position as a key forum for the exchange of academic ideas. In addition, various initiatives from the Directorate of Innovation and Technology Transfer were presented, as well as a preview of the work being done by the new Digital Trust line.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the institute, IMFD Director Juan emphasized that "this workshop has been essential for sharing what we are doing, receiving feedback, and strengthening the work we do at the IMFD."

Along the same lines, Aidan Hogan, deputy director of IMFD, pointed out that "this generates a very enriching dialogue between the different areas of IMFD, which is key to our growth."

Diversity of topics and interdisciplinarity

At the meeting, IMFD researchers gave keynote speeches addressing different topics: Sergio Toro presented the "VOCES de la Araucanía" project, which involves dense data management for the analysis of public issues. Gonzalo Navarro spoke about faster and more extensive compact queries in graph databases.

In the second block, Cristian Riveros gave a demonstration of data streaming processing with the CORE project. Finally, Marcelo Mendoza presented the results of his study, "Disinformation, propaganda, and polarization: the phenomenon in the age of AI."

These keynotes were complemented by presentations from the privacy and data protection group, Matías Toro and Federico Olmedo, who discussed the scope of the new Data Protection Law and presented an overview of the current state of data privacy in Chile.

Technology transfer: Concrete results at maqui.ai

Among the topics discussed, IMFD Innovation Director Hernán Sarmiento reviewed the projects being developed in this area, such as Vincula, Desafío Público de Defensa del Estado (Public Challenge for the Defense of the State), Modelo de Priorización de las Listas de Espera (Waiting List Prioritization Model), among others, and highlighted maqui.ai, a regulatory search engine that organizes and connects legal information in the Chilean urban planning area.

"An important difference between IMFD and other centers is our Technology Transfer area, where we effectively transfer part of what our researchers are working on at different universities to applied projects," adds Sarmiento.

Large student presence

At the same time, a poster session was held featuring 30 research projects carried out by IMFD members. Each project addressed a range of topics, from data theory and methodology to their application in different disciplines such as computing, social sciences, and technological innovation.

"This space reflects the joint work promoted by the institute and allows us to develop new ideas, talk, and share, which strengthens the quality of our work," said Camila Díaz, executive director of IMFD.

With this eighth edition, the IMFD reaffirms its commitment to developing cutting-edge research on data, addressing it from its origin to its use and social impact.