CIMPLEX is one of the first H2020 FET projects which started recently (January 2015). Learn more about it from his coordinator Prof. Paul Lukowicz, head of the Embedded Intelligence Research Group of the German Research center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).

What are your research interests?
The overall focus of my research is on enabling digital systems to perceive and “understand” the real physical world. Originally coming from context aware wearable computing, I have over the last few years increasingly begun to focus on what I call “socially adaptive systems”. Thus starting from the question of how an individual system can be made to understand the actions and needs of an individual user, I investigate how complex, connected ensembles of digital systems can understand and support the human society at different levels and in different domains. Given the rapid spread of digital, context aware systems into all domains of our lives, I believe that understanding the interaction between human collectives systems and complex digital ensembles is not only scientifically interesting but also a crucial social need.

What about your new project, CIMPLEX?
CIMPLEX project will develop large scale, data-driven computational models with a high level of realism, coupled with participatory data-collection schemes and Big Data analysis methods. CIMPLEX will interconnect contagion progression (e.g. epidemics) with social adaptation, the economic impact and other systemic aspects that will finally allow a complete analysis of the systemic risk inherent to epidemics and social contagion processes in general. The consortium envisions models making predictions, which drive policy aimed at changing behavior and the situation in the real world. Data collection and analysis feeds detected deviations (between the real and the predicted effect) back into the models which readjust and make improved predictions driving new policies etc.
CIMPLEX will advance the state of the art in human/society centric technology to leverage the above fundamental theoretical advances to empower a broad range of users (from the average citizen, or an NGO to policy makers and business leaders) to interactively, collaboratively explore complex socio-economic phenomena and the effects of associated policy decisions. The corresponding techniques will not only make the modeling results but the entire process of modeling and data collection understandable to users of various backgrounds.

CIMPLEX has been selected under the Global Systems Science (GSS) initiative of the first FET Proactive H2020 call (short description of the other selected projects).

What about your experience working in FET projects?
I have been involved in FET projects since over 10 years. For me, FET is a unique funding instrument supporting research that is at the same visionary and highly relevant to real life applications.
The CIMPLEX project builds on my previous FET activities including the SOCIONICAL project (which was the first FET project I coordinated) and the FuturICT FET Flagships pilot. A team of world class scientists, which have been together through the Flagship pilot (and partially the SOCIONICAL project), and dedicated to a common vision and committed to interdisciplinary collaboration has been the key to a successful proposal.