Invitation

The Interface Foundation of North America cordially invites you to participate in the 40th Interface Symposium, the premier annual conference on the interface of computing science and statistics. The Foundation is a non-profit educational corporation founded in 1987 to sponsor the symposium and to publish the proceedings. IFNA also co-publishes the Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics. For further information about IFNA, visit our website at :

http://www.interfacesymposia.org

Call for Papers

The theme of Interface 2008 is RISK : Reality. Through the dual focus on the problems of information extraction, risk modeling, analysis and decision-making and on the computational technology and advances in tools to make characterization, quantization and evaluation of risk possible, this symposium will address issues central to understanding real risks and to conceptualizing potential risks and potential risks and risk management scenarios.

Contributed papers are specifically invited that pertain to any of the bulleted topics listed below.

Papers are also highly encouraged in the traditional focus areas of the Symposia including advances in data visualization, data mining, computational statistics, computational sciences, statistical computation, and statistical graphics; these advances need not have particular relevance to RISK.

Abstracts should be sent directly to: interface2008@niss.org

Deadlines for abstracts: 15 April

The submission must contain in a word document, text or latex file (NOT a pdf file):

Title
Speaker (clearly indicated) & speaker's affiliation
Co-authors (if any), each listed with affiliation

Abstract Text (300 word maximum)

Full papers received by 30 June 2008 will appear in the Proceeding of Interface 2008. (Length, format and other specifications will appear on the web and also in the Interface 2008 Program with Abstracts.)

Symposium Theme
RISK : Reality

Everywhere today RISK is assessed, projected, analyzed, managed. Decisions based on perceived RISK are made daily in every economic sector and, indeed each aspect of life. The pharmaceutical industry continually deals with risk of rare and unexpected side effects of marketed drugs. Homeowners and federal agencies like NOAA deal with the risk of Categories IV and V hurricanes. Security agencies deal with risk of terrorists crossing borders into the US. Federal agencies and companies risk unauthorized penetration of classified and/or proprietary databases. Nuclear power plants must manage risk of radiation escape; while other energy resource managers evaluate strategies to manage risk to the power grid.

Understanding RISK depends crucially on Information –
    First - Acquiring Information:
    • data acquisition
    • data bases
    • expert opinion

Second - Extracting Knowledge-
    Computational/statistical tools for:
    • massive data / data bases
    • high-dimensional data
    • streaming data
    • text

Third - Drawing Inference:
    • modeling complex systems
    • dynamic analytic processes
    • verification and validation of models and algorithms
    • decision theory

Managing RISK depends on understanding specific Contexts –
    • extreme events
    • natural disasters
    • infrastructure (e.g., energy)
    • communications & internet
    • portfolios
    • adversaries & human threats

Program Committee

David Banks (Duke University)
Dipak Dey (University of Connecticutt)
David Dunson (NIEHS)
Lutz Edler (German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg)
Alan Gelfand (Duke University)
Karen Kafadar (CU Denver) David Marchette ()
Steve Marron (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Wendy Martinez (ONR)
George Michailidis (University of Michigan)
Amy Nail (North Carolina State University)
Michael Porter (North Carolina State University)
David Rios-Insua (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos)
Yasmin Said (George Mason University)
Michael G. Schimek (University of Graz)
Richard Smith (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Jeff Solka (George Mason University)
David van Dyk (University of California-Irvine)
Ed Wegman (George Mason University)
Stanley Young (NISS)
Helen Zhang (North Carolina State University)

Local Host

NISS (National Institute of Statistical Sciences)
Alan Karr, Director
Nell Sedransk, Associate Director
919.685.9300

Local Arrangements

Durham Marriott
201 Foster Street
Durham, North Carolina 27701
For Reservations:
800 - 909 - 8375 (Group Name is: NISS)
Closing Date: 21 April 2008

Rate is $109.00/night

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) serves the Triangle Area with domestic and international flights.
Ground service to Durham (16 miles) via taxi or direct shuttle service to Durham Marriott.