SPEAKERS

Keynote Speakers (Alphabetize by Last Name)

Assoc. Prof. Maria Fazio University of Messina, Italy

Maria Fazio is Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Messina. She is a member of the Editorial Review Board of several international journals, coordinator of the e-Health Continuum Research Lab and a senior member of the Future Computing Research Lab at the University of Messina. She is currently the Coordinator of the Master's course in Data Science at the University of Messina. She is co-founder of Alma Digit, which is an SME and academic Spin-Off at the University of Messina aimed at process automation in the Cloud. She is coauthored of more than 300 papers in the field of Distributed Systems. Her current research interests include intelligent microservice orchestration, Agentic AI deployments, security in IoT-Edge ecosystems.
Speech Title: AI-driven strategies for optimized services management in the Compute Contiuum
Abstract:The Compute Continuum has transformed digital infrastructure from isolated data centers into a pervasive, heterogeneous ecosystem of hardware components ranging from IoT sensors to hyperscale clouds. However, critical challenges still need to be investigated for maintaining seamless scalability and deterministic performance across such a fragmented landscape. The transition towards AI-native strategies for distributed computing, including the deployment of autonomous agents and federated learning models operating within the infrastructure itself, creates new opportunities to achieve a zero-touch and self-healing computing ecosystem. These advanced methodologies offer new perspectives for future research aimed at maximizing resource efficiency and sustainability in the Compute Continuum.

Prof. Zheng Yan Xidian University, China IEEE Fellow, IET Fellow, AAIA Fellow, AIIA Fellow

Dr. Zheng Yan is currently a Distinguished Professor at Xidian University, China. She earned the Doctor of Science in Technology from Helsinki University of Technology. She is a Stanford World top 2% scientist, an Elsevier highly cited Chinese researcher, and a ScholarGPS World Top 0.05% Highly Ranked Scholar. Her research interests are in trust, security, privacy, and data analysis. She has published more than 450 papers in prestigious journals and conferences, with 300 as the first or corresponding author. She has authored two English books, used for teaching for nearly a decade. She invented 220+ patents including 50 PCT patents, with more than150 patents adopted by industry, most of them are solely invented by her. Some of these patents have entered international standards and widely used. She has received numerous awards, including the Nokia Distinguished Inventor, IEEE TCSC Award for Excellence, IEEE TEMS Distinguished Leadership, N²Women Star in Computer Networking and Communications, three EU awards, two IEEE TC best journal paper awards, Shaanxi Natural Science Award, etc. She is currently a member of IEEE Fellow Committee. She serves as a Co-EiC of Information Sciences and an Area Editor/Associate Editor for 60+ esteemed journals. She founded the IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and serves as its Steering Committee Co-chair. She has contributed to more than 50 conferences as a General Chair or TPC Chair and delivered more than 50 keynotes and invited talks. She is a Member of Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and a Fellow of IEEE, IET, AAIA, and AIIA.

Prof. Tao Zhang Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), China

Dr. Tao Zhang is a Full Professor at Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST). He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Seoul and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He also holds a B.S. in Automation and an M.Eng in Software Engineering from Northeastern University, China. Dr. Zhang is the Founding Chair of the IEEE Computer Society Macau Chapter and Conference Chair of the IEEE TCSE. He is a Fellow of BCS, a Senior Member of ACM and IEEE, and a Distinguished Member of CCF. He is also a Distinguished Visitor of the IEEE Computer Society. He has over 100 publications in top venues like ICSE, TSE, and TIFS. He has served as General Chair for conferences including ISSRE 2027, APSEC 2025, and SANER 2023, and regularly serves on program committees for ICSE, FSE, ASE, and ISSTA. Dr. Zhang is an Associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE TSE, an Associate Editor for IEEE TRel, JSS, and OJCS, and an Editorial Board Member of EMSE and SCP.

To be announced soon...