Deployment of AI today affects all branches of science and industry. The focus period symposium on Robust AI for Science and Industry tackled explainability from different angles.
On September 22-24 visiting scholars, invited speakers and researchers from different fields gathered in Halmstad to discuss matters of reliability and trust in AI for increasingly complex applications. The guaranteeing of AI performing a set task safely is today a practical problem, rather than a theoretical one, as lead focus period organizer Grzegorz J. Nalepa put it.
The over 60 participants of the symposium were welcomed to Halmstad by Thorsteinn Rögnvaldsson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor with specific responsibility for research and doctoral education, and by Cristofer Englund, Dean of the School of Information Technology at the university. Both emphasized the importance of regarding meeting points like the symposium a possibility for networking and the start of new collaborations.
Rewarding exchanges
The symposium marks the end of the first part of the focus period, where visiting scholars finish their research stay with the three meeting days. First period visiting scholar Chinyere Chidera Okechukwu, PhD student from University of Hradec Kralove in Czech Republic, brought with her questions regarding the use of AI in agriculture and expertise in information knowledge management.
“We are investigating robust AI for sustainable agriculture. We want to develop systems for virtual replicas of farms and I’m developing a framework on global food digital twins and supply chain viability”, she explains.
Modern equipped farms already have sensors, and even drones, that gather information of what is happening at them. AI, governed by humans, would gather and monitor the information and give the farmers feedback of how to maintain the farm or the best course of action to take when circumstances change or there is a problem.
“One of the biggest challenges is adaptation and education on technology. Looking at small farms and in less developed countries, we need to include digital literacy and infrastructure in the processes for AI implementation. This shows the interdisciplinarity of the subject”.
On being part of a focus period Chinyere Chidera Okechukwu has positive experiences:
“I found being in place in Halmstad was very rewarding in the sense of exchange with the other visiting scholars and the faculty staff”.
The ongoing focus period organized at Halmstad University is themed “Robust AI for Science and Industry” and stretches from September 7 to October 9, 2026.
Focus Period
More information on the main page of the focus period Robust AI for Science & Industry.
Symposium
Find the complete program for the focus period symposium September 22-24, 2026.