IEEE DSAA

IEEE DSAA Conference Guide

1. What is IEEE DSAA?

IEEE DSAA sponsorship

The IEEE International Conference on Data Science and Advanced Analytics (IEEE DSAA) is finally sponsored by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. DSAA is also technically sponsored by ACM through SIGKDD and the American Statistical Association (ASA).

The IEEE DSAA is coordinated by the IEEE Task Force on Data Science and Advanced Analytics (IEEE TF-DSAA) at tfdsaa.datasciences.org.

The IEEE DSAA conference website is at www.dsaa.co.

DSAA conference at-a-glance

Generally, IEEE DSAA lasts for three to four days with the first day focusing on industry and government data science innovations, showcases, policy debate, and training. In a four-day mode, DSAA has its conference reception in the evening on the first day, conference opening on the second morning and the conference banquet on the third evening.

The opening session summarizes the conference arrangements, statistics of submissions and acceptance, the main program, and logistics, etc. by the lead general chair and program chair, and the local arrangement chair. The banquet will be hosted by the conference with the award ceremony, steering committee chair’s brief, possible social program, and a brief introduction to the next year's conference.

Parallel technical sessions will cover paper presentations from the Research track, Application track, Special Sessions, and other tracks if any (such as journal tracks and poster tracks). An Industry/Government Forum or Industry Day may be held on the first day to widely engage industry and government data scientists and policy-makers. Data Science School may be hosted in parallel to the main conference sessions and special sessions on the second-third days as mini-data science courses including lectures and tutorials. DSAA has unique arrangements of a Trends & Controversies session, and an Industry Invited Talk session, in addition to exhibitions and job fair and matching if possible. Conference organizers may add social programs to the budget within the schedule and budget permit.

IEEE DSAA standing

As a pioneer event in the era of data science, IEEE DSAA aims to be a flagship in the data science and analytics field. It provides a premier forum that brings together interdisciplinary researchers, cross-domain industry/government practitioners, as well as end users of data science and big data analytics. It covers all data science and analytics related areas, including statistical, probabilistic and mathematical methods, machine learning, data and business analytics, data mining and knowledge discovery, enterprise data science, and various data science applications, practices, tools and evaluation. Submissions on big data and analytics infrastructure, storage, retrieval and search, as well as social issues including fairness, ethics, trust, privacy and security are also welcome. These aims are assured by

Double blind review and 10-page submission in the IEEE 2-column format
A competitive acceptance rate (suggest to be about 10% for long-presentation papers and less than 25% for both long and short presentation papers) for the main tracks. Here long and short presentation papers only differ in terms of presentation time while both have to retain the same length as their submissions
Joint technical sponsorship by IEEE, ACM and American Statistical Association
High-caliber leaders (e.g., H-index, experience in chairing top-tier conferences, etc.) hired as general and program chairs
Prestigious keynote speeches by world-leading researchers and industry leaders
Strong inter-disciplinary and cross-domain culture including industry/government engagement
Strong engagement of mathematics, statistics, analytics, informatics, and computing

All papers accepted by the main conference and special sessions will be published by IEEE and included in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library where papers for different tracks should be clearly distinguished by their track names. The conference proceedings will be EI indexed through INSPEC by IEEE.

DSAA has been widely recognized as a dedicated data science conference with high standard, some of the recognitions are as follows.

Highly cited DSAA papers per the Google Scholar
DSAA continuously ranked in the Google Scholar Metrics
DSAA in computer science theories of CCF conference rank

Refer to DSAA Awards for more information about DSAA awards.

IEEE DSAA history

IEEE DSAA conferences have been held as follows:

IEEE DSAA2020, 6-9 Oct, 2020, Sydney, Australia (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)
IEEE DSAA2019, 5-8 Oct, 2019, Washington DC, USA (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)
IEEE DSAA2018, 1-3 Oct, 2018, Turin, Italy (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)
IEEE DSAA2017, 19-21 Oct, 2017, Tokyo, Japan (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)
IEEE DSAA2016, 17-19 Oct, 2016, Montreal, Canada (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)
IEEE DSAA2015, 19-21 Oct, 2015, Paris, France (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)
DSAA2014, 30 Oct-1 Nov, 2014, Shanghai, China (Website, Proceedings, DBLP entry)

2. How to bid for hosting IEEE DSAA?

Bid proposal

Proposals for hosting a future edition of IEEE DSAAs are always welcome and should be sent to contacts@dsaa.co, the Steering Committee Chair or any member of the Advisory/Steering Committees two to three years before the proposed conference year, e.g., submitting the proposal for hosting DSAA'2025 in the year 2022 or 2023. A bid proposal may address the following items and provide the corresponding justification:

Proposed organizing committee (with full contacts), in particular
- high-profile leaders as general chairs (2-3 from different regions and disciplines)
- high-profile researchers as research track program chairs (2-3 from different regions and disciplines)
- world-leading business leaders as application track program chairs (2-3 from industry/government and different regions)
- experienced local organizing teams (including Local Arrangements Chairs)
The conference city, venue and dates
Local host institutions and support
New features and activities
Engagement plan for industry/government organizations and sponsors
Cross-disciplinary engagement plan
Supporting plan for student and early-career professionals
Diversity, integrity, equity, and conflict of interest assurance
Plan for promotion and publicity
Budget plan (IEEE budget form, translation to US dollars if local currency is different from US dollar)
Local and global transportation information
Accommodations covering different levels of requirements
Visa requirements

A bid proposal may not exceed 20 pages. One of the lead general or program chairs (with full contacts including mobile number and skype account) in the field of DSAA is nominated as the main contact for the bidding communications and responding to clarifications and inquiries during the proposal review. The contact chair should present the proposal to the IEEE DSAA's annual Advisory/Steering Committee meeting hosted by the current year of the DSAA conference, and takes questions and suggestions if any.

Refer to Call for Hosting DSAA Proposals for more information about preparing the proposals.

General/program chairs nomination

DSAA aims to be a flagship conference in data science and analytics thus is rigorous with the profile of core function chairs. This particularly applies to the DSAA general chairs, Research program chairs, and Application program chairs, who are expected to be well recognized in the respective communities, justified by high H-index, citations, previous experience in chairing/hosting top-tier conferences in the relevant areas, in addition to ensuring diversity, equity, integrity and conflict of interest of the organizing committees and conference operations. The lead chairs of a bid proposal are encouraged to discuss with the DSAA Steering Committee about candidates for these core roles before their confirmations. The DSAA Steering Committee decides who is qualified for taking the above core roles and may request an adjustment of or make recommendations to these positions.

Location and venue selection

Generally, IEEE DSAAs are held in major cities in Asia, Europe, and America iteratively. Places with easier access by international travelers and broader data-related businesses and companies are preferred, given the nature of DSAA. IEEE DSAA is generally held in a quality hotel (five stars) convenient to travelers with a variety of accommodation options surrounding the venue to satisfy different needs.

Sponsors and supporters

Besides technical sponsors including IEEE (CIS), ACM (SIGKDD), and ASA, DSAA has received wide support from many major industrial and professional organizations. Conference organizers are encouraged to actively approach sponsors and supporters for financial and broad community engagement purposes. Please refer to the Call for Sponsors to attract and negotiate sponsorship. Different levels of sponsorship with respective benefits may be specified on the website. Organizers are encouraged to refer to the immediately previous years of sponsorship for consistency and continuity consideration. The logos of confirmed sponsors and supporters should be listed on the IEEE DSAA websites, program booklets, flyers, and conference bags to appreciate their support. Sponsors are acknowledged in DSAA conference opening, banquet, and relevant sponsored activities.

Refer to DSAA Sponsors for more information about sponsors and supporters.

Proposal selection criteria

The proposals will be reviewed by the DSAA Steering Committee and/or in the annual Advisory/Steering Committee meeting hosted by the earlier conference in addition to the formal conference proposal evaluation by IEEE conference committees once a host is confirmed. Main selection criteria include

the high profile and qualification of general and program chairs,
the profile and diversity of all function chairs,
the experience of successfully hosting other major conferences,
the location, conference venue, and international transport,
the budget and sponsorship,
the unique features and local/regional engagement, and
strengths and weaknesses in comparison with other proposals.

All proposal leaders should arrange travels to attend the corresponding DSAAs and report to the steering committee meeting, with onsite clarification and responses to questions that may be raised by the Committee. The Committee will make their decisions about which bids to host which years of DSAA conferences, and who to be appointed as general chairs and program chairs. If necessary, the Committee holds the right to adjust the core team and appoint core organizers by discussing with the proposal leaders. A successful bid will be announced at the conference banquet, followed by a presentation to be made by the bidding group.

3. How to operate IEEE DSAA?

Committee formation

The IEEE DSAA Steering Committee appoints general chairs and program chairs for both Research and Application tracks, who are then responsible for appointing other function chairs. General chairs are responsible for the whole conference operations and success. Program chairs, who report to the general chairs, are responsible for all technical programs including main and special session tracks, data science school/tutorials, and best paper award selection by overseeing and supporting the respective function chairs’ operations.

Function chairs
There may be many function chairs to be collaboratively appointed by general chairs and PC chairs, with the involvement of the Steering Committee chair if necessary. Typical chair roles may include Local Arrangement Chairs, Special Session Chairs, Trends & Controversies Chairs, Industry Invited Talks Chairs, Data Science School Chairs, Tutorial Chairs, Panel Chairs, Best Paper Award Chairs, Next-generation Data Scientists Award Chairs, IEEE Travel Award Chairs, Publication/Proceedings Chairs, Publicity/Media Chairs, Sponsorship Chairs, and Web Chairs.

DSAA encourages the appointment of function chairs in balanced, diversified, and ethical ways in terms of covering different regions, research areas, and genders while maintaining the candidates' international standing, conference organizing experience, and contributions to the conference.

General chairs
The Steering Committee appoints high-profile international leaders in the DSAA areas as general Chairs. General chairs oversee the whole conference, coordinate a regular (monthly) committee meeting with core function chairs, and make strategic decisions to ensure smooth conference operations, quality and success. General chairs are requested to regularly report to the steering committee chair through monthly meetings. Strategic matters may be discussed with the steering committee chair for approval or support. The general chairs are responsible for the complete financial balance and IEEE conference reporting. Refer to DSAA General Chairs for more information about general chairs who chaired the past DSAA conferences.

Program chairs
The Steering Committee appoints high-caliber international leaders in the DSAA areas as program chairs of the Research Track and Applications Track. Program chair candidates are expected to have high h-index, past experience in chairing top-tier conferences, and significant recognition by the international communities. DSAA requests senior and active international researchers and professionals to be appointed as program committee members.

These main track program chairs may discuss to share the workload of managing paper inquiries, submissions, review, and selection. Program chairs are to encourage international participation in the conference, form high-profile senior program committees and regular program committees, and ensure the quality, credibility, diversity, ethics, and integrity of the paper review and selection. None of PC chairs (and track chairs) are allowed to submit papers to the tracks managed by them. PC chairs report to general chairs on a regular basis.

Refer to DSAA Program Chairs for more information about program chairs who chaired the past DSAA conferences.

Technical program

Main tracks
In general, IEEE DSAA consists of two main tracks: Research and Application. The Research Track is aimed at collecting original significant contributions that report new ideas, original outcomes, and the latest theoretical foundations and advancement of data science and advanced analytics. The Application Track is aimed at collecting impactful contributions related to successful and reproducible applications, case studies, and best practices of data science and advanced analytics in real-life scenarios. Selected DSAA papers may be invited for extension and selection into journals such as the International Journal of Data Science and Analytics, Springer.

A Call for Paper is organized for both tracks, referring to a CFP example. In the paper submission system (Easychair or Microsoft CMT), Research and Application tracks should be separately established, configured, and managed by respective PC track chairs. Program committees should be formed for each track respectively.

Special sessions tracks
Proposals for organizing special sessions are welcome to encourage research on emerging topics relevant to DSAA. Each special session will be operated as a special track within the conference submission system and program.

DSAA is developing a special session model that is neither a classic workshop model nor a special session model used in some conferences. DSAA special sessions ensure the quality and integrity of special session papers and their alignment with the main conference in one proceeding (labeled separately per their track names). DSAA does not support separate special session proceedings, special session papers will be included in the same conference proceedings as the main tracks while they should be clearly labeled by their track names.

The conference's Special Session Chairs coordinate the invitations, acceptances, and operations of all special session proposals. DSAA encourages those existing sessions to be continuously held in the next-year DSAAs to promote and build their corresponding reputation and communities.

DSAA special session tracks follow the same deadlines as main tracks in submission, review, camera-ready, registration, and IEEE Xplore submissions.

In the DSAA submission system, PC chairs open special session tracks for respective special sessions. A special session track is managed by the respective special session track chairs as the session organizers, who nominate track PCs to the conference special session chairs for review and confirmation before those qualified PCs are added to the submission system by the track chairs. To maintain the integrity and avoid conflict of interest, special session track chairs are not allowed to submit papers to their own tracks but can submit papers to other tracks.

DSAA special session papers are reviewed by each session’s program committee, coordinated by the session organizers. Session organizers make recommendations on paper acceptances or rejections, DSAA program chairs or their nominated representatives (i.e., the conference special session chairs) make final decisions by considering the paper quality and the consistency with the main conference. DSAA requests a competitive and consistent acceptance rate for all special sessions. The acceptance rate and acceptance letters are made by the main conference program chairs. We strongly encourage special sessions on statistics/mathematics for data science and data science for industry/government.

Special sessions on statistics/mathematics for data science
To support the cross-disciplinary interactions between statistics/mathematics and broad data science communities, DSAA strategically supports special sessions on statistics/mathematics for data science, which may be organized by statisticians/mathematicians who are interested in data science and in collaborations with broad data science communities especially in computing and informatics. Paper submissions to this special session may be in the form of two-page extended abstracts with full papers to a nominated journal. Invited talks are encouraged.

Special sessions on data science for industry/government
To support the broad/deep engagement of industry/government in data science and the interactions between industry/government and broad data science communities, DSAA strategically supports special sessions on data science for industry/government, which may be organized by industry/government leaders who are interested in data science and in collaborations with broad data science communities especially experienced data science researchers. Submissions to these special sessions may be in the form of two-page extended abstracts with full presentations to the conference if accepted. Invited talks are encouraged.

Student Poster track
Student posters may be considered in a student poster track to showcase state-of-the-art and early-stage research developments by students in data science and analytics disciplines on topics that are of interest to either the research or the application of data science and analytics. The Student Poster paper length is a maximum of two (2) pages and should be formatted in the same way as the main track submissions. The double-blind review will be organized for all student poster submissions. Student poster sessions may be organized in the DSAA conferences with each poster to have a three-minute highlight and its presentation in the conference poster sessions. Accepted DSAA student posters may also be presented in the conference poster sessions. Poster sessions may be in parallel to the respective technical sessions outside the session rooms or at some consolidated places in the conference venue for possible discussions at lunch or reception time. Reception/lunches if provided may be organized in the area of hosting the posters.

Industry Poster track
Industry posters may be considered in an industry poster track to showcase state-of-the-art and early-stage research developments, best practices, or impactful applications of data science for industry, government, and NGO policy-makers and practitioners. An industry poster may share case studies, experience and lessons, and insights and impact without a full-length submission as for the main tracks. The Industry Poster paper length is a maximum of two (2) pages and should be formatted in the same way as the main track submissions. The double-blind review will be organized for all industry poster submissions. Industry poster sessions may be organized in the DSAA conferences with each poster to have a three-minute highlight and its presentation in the conference poster sessions. Accepted DSAA industry posters may also be presented in the conference poster sessions. Poster sessions may be in parallel to the respective technical sessions outside the session rooms or at some consolidated places in the conference venue for possible discussions at lunch or reception time. Reception/lunches if provided may be organized in the area of hosting the posters.

Keynote speakers
Four high profile keynote speakers are usually invited from academia and industry by the conference organizers, with an endorsement from the Steering Committee. The appointment of keynote speakers should consider the speaker's profile, an international reputation, and standing, in addition to the balance and diversity of their gender, regions, and disciplines/areas. Each speaker presents a usually one-hour talk at the plenary session. Keynote speakers are fully sponsored by the conference (including travel, accommodation, registration, and possibly honorarium). Refer to DSAA Keynote Speakers for more information about keynote speakers who spoke at the past DSAA conferences.

Trends & Controversies session
IEEE DSAAs feature its Data Science Trends & Controversies (T&C) session every year to host visionary talks by invitation only. The T&C session invites visionary leaders to outline different insights and views about today and the future of data science and advanced analytics. Particular topics of interest may include emerging and next-generation research, innovation, challenges and prospects, new research and economic opportunities, products, systems, tools and capability building in relevant domains and research areas, and about policies, standards, social issues, ethics, fairness, security. Specific talks on fostering the next-generation data science profession and education may also be considered.

Four visionary speakers may be invited from academia and industry to the T&C session by the T&C chairs, in discussions with the general and program chairs. Senior representatives from platinum and gold sponsors may be invited to deliver T&C talks. Each T&C invited talk is given about 30 minutes in the plenary sessions. T&C chairs may discuss with general chairs about possible financial support and local support to T&C speakers, who will receive complimentary registrations by default. Sponsorship may be secured to sponsor T&C speeches.

Industry/government forum or industry day
To support the wide and deep engagement and developments of industry/government data science, DSAA strategically supports an Industry/Government Forum or an industry day on the first conference day. The Forum may be composed of local industry/government showcases, exhibitions, presentations, the Industry Invited Talks session, sponsor’s talks, and presentations accepted by special sessions on data science for industry/government (if any). The Forum may be held as a pre-conference event or a parallel event on the first two days if necessary. Chairs may be appointed to handle local engagement, the Industry Invited Talks session, and special sessions on data science for industry/government, respectively.

Industry Invited Talks session
DSAA features an Industry Invited Talks session to host industry talks by invitation only. This session is about sharing the latest development of advanced data science technologies, systems and tools, projects and practices, and experience and issues. Senior industry/government speakers are invited to share their experience, practice, and vision about topics such as data science innovation, technologies, practice, economy, profession, policy, standardization, vision, and directions.

Four senior industry/government speakers may be invited by the Industry Invited Talks chairs, in discussions with the general and program chairs. Senior representatives from or recommended by platinum and gold sponsors may be invited to deliver Industry Invited Talks. Each Industry Invited Talk is given about 30 minutes in parallel sessions. Industry Invited Talks chairs may discuss with general chairs about possible financial support and local support to Industry Invited Talks speakers, who will receive complimentary registrations by default. Sponsorship may be secured to support Industry Invited Talks speeches.

Data science school
To leverage the significant market need and gaps in training next-generation data scientists, DSAA strategically supports a Data Science School either as a pre-conference or in parallel to the main conference sessions. DSAA program chairs appoint Data Science School chairs to design and implement a two-day systematic, light, but structured course program, which may consist of introductory lectures and advanced tutorials on data science theories and hands-on practices.

Tutorials
DSAA considers all proposals for introductory lectures and advanced tutorials on any Data Science and Analytics topic. Preferences will be given to invited lectures/tutorials that form a mini and structured data science curriculum, original tutorials that have not yet or recently presented elsewhere. Introductory lectures may target an audience consisting of advanced undergraduate and graduate students, research scientists, as well as attendees from the industry. Topics can be in all areas of data science and analytics, and duration can be either 1/4 (1.5 hours) or 1/2 (3 hours) day. Each accepted lecture/tutorial will receive one free conference registration to DSAA. Presenters will be required to provide comprehensive lecture/tutorial notes (printable slides) well the event opening, which will then be published on the DSAA web site and thus be made available to conference attendees free of charge. Lectures/tutorials may be presented during the main DSAA conference in parallel sessions.

A tutorial proposal may address the following aspects:

The proposed tutorial title
The preferred duration (1/4 or 1/2 day)
An abstract to introduce the tutorial objectives, topics, scope, and benefits
A table of contents in a dot point format with detailed scope and depth of the topics to be covered
A brief characterization of the potential target audience for the tutorial, including prerequisite knowledge
A very brief biography with detailed contacts of the proposed presenter(s)
Background in the tutorial area, including a list of publications/presentations
Evidence of teaching experience (courses taught or references)
Evidence of scholarship in AI or Computer Science
Audio/visual equipment needs for the presentation.

Submission, review, selection and ethics

Submission
Conference paper submissions to any main and special session tracks of DSAAs should be limited to a maximum of ten (10) pages in the IEEE 2-column format (see the IEEE Proceedings Author Guidelines: http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html). Either LaTeX or Word Template is encouraged to be used for formatting conference and special session papers. To help ensure correct formatting, please use the style files for U.S. Letter Size found at the link above as templates for your submission. These include LaTeX and Word. Violations of any of the above paper specifications may result in the rejection of a submission. Please note that the Latex template does not allow for keywords. If you are using the Latex template, do not include keywords in your paper.

DSAA takes double-blind review, hence author names and affiliations must not appear in the submissions, and bibliographic references must be adjusted to preserve author anonymity.

Submissions to a special session should be submitted by choosing the respective special session track when you submit a paper to DSAA. A paper can only be allowed to submit to one track in DSAA, either the main track or a special session track. Duplicated submissions to more than one track will be administratively rejected.

Review
All submissions will be double-blind reviewed by at least three Program Committee members on the basis of technical quality, relevance to conference topics of interest, originality, significance, and clarity. A senior program committee member may coordinate the review and recommendation consolidation before a conclusion is formed by the program chairs.

DSAA conference special session chairs coordinate with each session track’s chairs in the track program committee formation, review, and paper recommendation to ensure the quality consistency, and fairness of all sessions and with the main conference tracks (by collaborating with PC chairs).

Organizers of each special session assign the session submissions to their track PCs for review. If no enough PCs are available for a track's paper review, PC chairs can assign the track papers to main track PCs for review. Special session organizers make recommendations on each paper in their track. The conference special session chairs check the recommendations from each session and make final decisions by discussing with the track chairs and conference PC chairs who determine the acceptance rate and final decisions. When a dispute is caused, the conference PC chairs discuss with conference special session chairs and make the final decisions. PC chairs and conference special session chairs ensure the quality and acceptance rate integrity between special sessions and between main tracks and special tracks. PC chairs send the final decisions to authors of special sessions.

Acceptance
Following the successful trial of DSAA'2014 to DSAA'2016, DSAA main conferences are expected to maintain a competitive acceptance rate (overall rate lower than 25% with long presentation rate at about 10%), in which both long presentation (about 10% acceptance rate) and regular presentation papers are suggested. Both long and regular presentation papers follow the same length as at submission. The acceptance rate for special sessions is expected to be consistent with the main conference tracks, while PC chairs and special session chairs may decide the specific rate per the quality of the submissions.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is unacceptable to DSAA. Quotations should be clearly identified and appropriate citations should be included for the verbatim copy and/or reuse of material from other published papers. Submissions must be original and must not be published or under consideration to be published elsewhere.

Ethics, diversity, integrity and conflict of interest
All DSAA organizers should follow the general act of conduct and research ethics on their roles and responsibilities. Typical rules for ensuring ethics, diversity and integrity and avoiding conflict of interest include:

DSAA is highly international and diversified, not only rotating in different countries and regions but also encouraging the diversity and equity of function chair roles and keynote/invited speakers (including covering major disciplines such as mathematics, statistics, informatics and computing and balancing genders, career opportunities and domains).
In general, general chairs, PC chairs and local arrangement chairs should not come from same organizations.
PC chairs are not allowed to submit papers to any tracks.
Special session track chairs are not allowed to submit papers to their own tracks but can submit their papers to other tracks.
Award chairs should not accept the invitation if they plan to submit the papers to the conference or there may be potential conflict of interest.
Program committee members should not share the submission information with each other and with authors.
Conference organizers cannot present keynote speeches, T&C talks, or Invited industry Talks.
Tutorial chairs cannot submit tutorial proposals.

Conference proceedings

The conference proceeding (or publication) chairs manage the editing of conference proceedings that include all accepted papers in both main tracks and special session tracks in terms of IEEE specifications and requirements. DSAA holds one proceeding for all accepted papers and posters of main tracks, special session tracks, and poster tracks. Accepted special session submissions will be included in the Special Session part of the main conference proceedings. All papers will be published by IEEE and included in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, EX-indexed. Papers for each track should be separately listed under their respective track names in the proceeding. The proceeding will be decomposed of several parts corresponding to the respective tracks.

To include DSAA proceedings into IEEE Xplore, publication chairs need to follow IEEE instructions to edit the proceedings by using IEEE provided tools and specifications. The edited proceedings confirmed by IEEE can be copied to USB for conference circulation. IEEE may request the final submission of proceedings to IEEE immediately after the conference for inclusion into the IEEE Xplore Digital Library.

IEEE DSAA awards

DSAA sets up the following awards to acknowledge the significant contributions in key selected areas.

DSAA Service Award
Best Research Paper Award
Best Application Paper Award
Next-generation Data Scientist (NGDS) Awards

Refer to DSAA Awards for more information about DSAA awards.

DSAA Service Award
The DSAA Steering Committee selects one representative from each year's DSAA organizing committee to give the DSAA Service Award. This award acknowledges the significant contributions made by the representative to the critical success of the conference. The DSAA Steering Committee will consult the candidate selection with general chairs, PC chairs, and local arrangement chairs. The awardee will be presented a golden-colored plaque at A4 plate on a wooden mount and receive continuous five-year complimentary registrations in the coming five years.

Best Paper Awards
DSAA recommends two best paper awards only: Best Research Paper Award and Best Application Paper Award for the most representative papers selected from Research and Application track respectively. There are no runner-up awards and no student paper awards selected in DSAA. The Best Research Paper Award and Best Application Paper Award will each receive USD$500 from the conference (or its sponsors) plus a golden-colored plaque at A4 plate on a wooden mount.

An award committee is usually formed by the Best Paper Award chairs who are usually not PC chairs and have no conflict of interest. In the award ceremony, a one-sentence summary is given by the award chair to each award to summarize the most influential contribution made in the paper that makes it unique and qualified for the award. A 20-minute highlight presentation of each awarded paper may be organized in some parallel sessions.

Next-Generation Data Scientists Award
Since 2016, DSAA Steering Committee has launched the Next Generation Data Scientist (NGDS) Award to address the significant gap between the increasing data scientist job requirements and the limited availability of qualified data scientists. The purpose of offering this NGDS award is to encourage young talents to conduct foundational research and applied innovation in Data Science and set a role model for next-generation data scientists. More details are in the Call for NGDS Awards.

The NGDS Award is the only one in the world that supports the production of qualified data scientists. Every year, DSAA may offer a limited number of NGDS Awards to full-time early-career researchers who have just got doctorate degrees within five years to the application. DSAA Steering Committee wants the NGDS Awards to be highly prestigious and selective, hence the criteria for NGDS candidate selection are rigorous. If there is no candidate who satisfies the selection criteria in a year, there will be no NGDS award given.

The NGDS awards may be sponsored by some of the DSAA sponsors. Each NGDS awardee will receive a USD1,000 honorarium. Although the NGDS award is not limited to people who are DSAA authors, all full-time early-career researchers with the acceptance of long-presentation papers at DSAAs are encouraged to apply. Awardees must attend the conference as a condition to receive the awards. A 20-minute highlight presentation by the NGDS awardee may be organized in some plenary or parallel sessions.

IEEE Student and Researcher Travel Award
IEEE CIS sponsors several IEEE CIS Student and Researcher Travel Awards every year to students and professionals who are presenting one or more papers at the DSAA conference. The travel awardees much hold the membership of IEEE and membership of IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. DSAA Travel Award chairs need to work with the coordinator of IEEE CIS Student and Researcher Travel Awards nominated by the IEEE CIS about the selection criteria, awardee selection, and offers.

Local arrangement matters

Conference venue and parallel sessions
The conference venue should fit the size and relevant activity requirements of the conference including catering for parallel sessions for main, special, and poster sessions, the Industry/Government Forum (if any), the Data Science School (if any), and other extra activities if planned. At least three-to-five parallel sessions may be reserved for three continuous main conference days while pre-conference events (e.g., Industry/Government Forum, Data Science School) may be held on an extra (first) day and on other venues if necessary. The venue should have a large conference room to host the plenary sessions.

Conference booklet, program and bags
A professional-looking DSAA conference brochure should be designed and printed for circulation to participants of DSAA each year. The booklet usually consists of the following sections: DSAA’20XX Agenda of a Glance, DSAA’20XX Chairs’ Welcome Message, Program Highlights (summary of keynote speeches, Research, and Application tracks, Special Sessions, Trends &Controversies Panel, Industry/Government Forum, Industry Invited Talks, Data Science School, Tutorials, and other features, etc.), DSAA’20XX Industry/Government Forum Program, DSAA’20XX Data Science School Program, DSAA’20XX Conference Program (detailed agenda of each conference day), DSAA’20XX Conference Organization (all committees), DSAA’20XX Sponsors and Supporters (tiers, logos, and names), Conference Venue and WiFi (floorplan, wifi password), Introduction to next year DSAA, and Useful Links and Emergency Contacts, etc.

The conference program should be updated to the conference website well before the conference opening. Accepted papers and tentative program may be uploaded to the conference website shortly after paper acceptance for the convenience of participants to prepare their travel and visa applications.

Conference bags are ordered and customized for each year of DSAAs. In addition to the conference booklet, the conference bags may hold other materials such as sponsors’ flyers and call for papers for the next year of DSAA. Materials to be placed into conference bags must receive permission from general chairs. Sponsor logos may be printed on the conference bags.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions may be organized to fulfill DSAA sponsorship requirements for sponsors to demonstrate their technologies and/or solutions, explore recruitment opportunities, and meet with current/future employees and clients. Exhibition booths may be assigned per sponsorship levels. Discussions with local organizers are suggested to arrange the exhibitions.

Invitation letters, travel support and participation certificate
Some participants may request invitation letters from DSAA local organizers for visa and travel applications while others may require a certificate of participation. Local organizers should clearly list the contact persons and the supporting documents requested from participants on the website and instantly issue the invitation letters.

Timetable display and adjustment notice board
Many hotels have TVs or screens that can be used to display DSAA daily program, timetable, adjustment, and notice. Adjustment of session rooms, paper presentation timeslots, cancellations, notices, etc. should be advertised to all participants through onsite notice board, onsite display screens, and social media, etc.

Roadmap and sign
Sometimes, it is not obvious for participants to find the session rooms and social program venues. A clear roadmap and signs should be arranged and placed at the critical points for guiding the traffic and transport. Instructions to the conference venue, hotels, and floorplan of the conference venue should be prepared and uploaded to the conference website and program booklet.

Computers, audio-video facilities and session time-keeping
The conference organizers should prepare one computer for each session for paper/speech presentations. Audio-video facilities should be arranged for presenters who may request such facilities. Time-keeping may be arranged to remind speakers to keep presentations on time.

Video-recording and photographing
Video-recording and photographing should be arranged by local organizers to record those important moments and activities in the conference, in particular, opening, keynote speeches, T&C talks, industry invited talks, tutorials, banquet, and group photos.

Session chairs and no-shows
Session chairs must be appointed by the PC chairs with their presence on time confirmed prior to the conference opening. Session chairs may be requested to be onsite 10 minutes before sessions start, collect all slides and presentations to a computer provided by the conference, and check whether all presenters are ready. Session chairs should also check and ensure the computer and projector provided are in good condition before sessions start. Chairs are responsible to maintain the schedule accurately and inform speakers of the time durations allocated to their talks and remaining time for discussions (usually 2 minutes or so). Please take note of "NO SHOW" presentations and inform the registration desk after your session, and contact volunteers, the registration desk, or PC chairs if there is an urgent matter. Please complete the “Session Report Sheet” from PC chairs and return it to the registration desk after the session to report issues and the status of the session. This sheet is highly important to check “NO SHOW” presentations and to ensure the quality and success of IEEE DSAAs.

Every paper needs to be orally presented by one of the authors or a nominated attendee. For session chairs, if the presenter of a paper is absent (“no-show”), please continue to the next presentation. Please check again at the end of the last presentation whether the “no-show” shows up. No show papers should be withdrawn before proceedings are finalized, or the authors MUST inform the PC chairs immediately if none of them can attend the conference due to unforeseen circumstances, otherwise, the conference should inform the authors' organizations of their absence.

Conference reception
The conference reception is usually organized in the evening of the first conference day, for example, from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Refreshments and drinks are usually provided. Welcome speech may be delivered by local organizers and sponsors if any.

Conference opening ceremony
The conference opening ceremony is usually held in the morning of the first main conference day (or the second day if the first day is committed to industry events), for example, from 8.30 am to 9.00 am, right before the first keynote speech session. General chairs host the opening ceremony with a welcome from DSAA Steering Committee chair, brief statistics of submissions, review, and acceptance by PC chairs, a brief introduction to conference technical and social program, and logistics information by local arrangement chairs.

Conference banquet and award ceremony
The conference banquet is usually organized in the evening of the second main conference day. Gala dinner is usually provided. In addition to a brief summary of conference statistics and history, award ceremony, steering committee chair’s brief, introduction to the future DSAA conferences, entertaining performance is often arranged. Some organizers may prefer to have the award ceremony separated from the banquet rather organized in the first session of a conference day, for example, 8.30 am – 9.00 am.

Conference closing ceremony
The conference closing ceremony is organized right after the last session of the conference. General chairs host the closing ceremony, draw the conclusion and make appreciation, representatives from the next-year DSAA local organizers present a brief welcome. Refreshments and drinks may be offered.

Registration and financials

Every accepted paper MUST make at least one FULL regular registration (not student registrations) before the paper registration deadline given by the conference and MUST submit the camera-ready version before the camera-ready deadline to guarantee all papers to be included in the conference proceedings. Depending on the expenses at the conference city, DSAA suggests a full regular registration fee of approximately USD $600 (early bird) and a full student registration rate at about USD $400 (early bird) for a full-time student who can provide formal evidence of enrolment from the academic department. Full registration covers main tracks, tutorials, special sessions, and conference social programs. When Industry/Government Forum and Data Science School are organized, additional registrations may be separately required by package registration rates for everything or single rates for Forum or School to cover the relevant costs. When budget is permitted, local organizers may consider providing lunches and catering services including teas, reception, and banquet free of charge.

Job fair and matching

An item should be added to the conference website to introduce the DSAA job fair and matching program. DSAA hosts a website (data science career center) for job seekers (graduates and professionals looking for jobs, students for internships) to meet with employers (representatives from companies and academia) and for job matching to match job seekers with employers before and during DSAA. Interested job seekers and employers should register for the job fair. DSAA will match-make the employers with seekers by providing job seekers' information to relevant employers.

Website

Once a conference bid success is confirmed, a website should be established as soon as possible before the conference kickoff. The website should be informative to cover aspects including key dates, calls for submissions, special sessions, tutorials, sponsorship, travel and NGDS awards, introduction to the conference venue and visa and travel arrangements, the organizing committee including Advisory and Steering committee with photos of all function chairs presented, guide and web links to submissions and camera-ready, accepted talks, papers and tutorials, and conference technical and social program. Contacts for general and specific inquiries should be provided.

A newsroom and social media channels should be set up on the front page of the website. Local organizers may refer to www.dsaa.co and previous DSAA conference websites for relevant information.

DSAA has set up social media accounts, they are as follows:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ieeedsaa

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=8393182

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ieeedsaa

Google+: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/ieeedsaa

These social media accounts should be placed on the top of the DSAA conference website's homepage.

You may consider adding the live update of Twitter and Facebook and a newsroom to the homepage of your conference website for live communications with an audience of interest. Local organizers, in particular local arrangement chairs, webmaster, social media chair, or publicity chairs, may use DSAA social media channels to instantly update the conference progress, key highlights, and notice to the communities.

Conference transfer meeting

A conference transfer meeting may be called and chaired by the steering committee chair in the current conference to transfer the experience from the current organizers to the next-year organizers. The meeting gathers all function chairs for the current conference and the next-year conference to share knowledge and experience and discuss questions and suggestions that may ensure the smooth operations of the next-year conference and the quality integrity between DSAA conferences. This is an important strategy for conference success, all function chairs should by all means attend this meeting.

4. How is IEEE DSAA governed?

DSAA is governed by the DSAA International Steering Committee, with advice from the Advisory Committee. The Steering Committee consists of recognized senior international researchers and practitioners distributed in representative countries and regions, representing different research areas and communities relevant to DSAA. Committee members take a voluntary job to give back to the community by driving the data science field, community, and capability building through DSAA.

Conference governance structure

The annual DSAA conference follows a governance structure as follows:

a decision-making committee should be formed which usually consists of general chairs, PC chairs, local arrangement chairs, and the steering committee chair;
a monthly meeting should be organized by the lead general chair with the key function chairs to report the progress, issues and plan etc.;<\li>
Research and Application track PC chairs report to General Chairs who oversee the whole conference decision-making and operations;
technical function chairs such as tutorial and conference special session chairs are appointed by and report to Research PC chairs;
non-technical function chairs are appointed by and report to general chairs.

Annual steering committee meeting

An annual Advisory/Steering Committee meeting is hosted by the conference, usually after the conference reception in the first evening. The conference organizers should prepare a meeting room with dinner and presentation facilities. Guests from the current, previous, and future conferences will be invited by the Committee chair.

The meeting consists of two parts: an open session and a closed session. In the open session, the Committee chair opens and welcomes participants to the meeting, followed by a report from previous conferences including financial reports, an update on the current conference, presentations for future conferences, and general discussions. In the closes session, the Committee reviews the reports, addresses issues identified, makes strategic discussions and planning, and makes decisions regarding future conferences and membership. The Committee will discuss whether new members should be appointed into the Advisory/Steering Committees.

Conference reporting to steering committee

The next-year DSAA conference is kicked off when the current conference closes. The DSAA conference general chairs, local arrangement chairs, and other relevant chairs have regular progress and review teleconference meetings with the steering committee chair bi-monthly or monthly per need. The meeting may discuss strategies and initiatives suggested by the steering committee.

Advisory committee

The Advisory Committee is to provide high level and strategic guide and future directions to the Steering Committee and conference organizers, to ensure DSAA to reach its strategic goal as a flagship in the data science and analytics domain and the long-term goal of substantially promoting the building of data science and analytics field, community, capabilities and best practice. The Advisory Committee members are not required to attend the annual conference.

Please add the members of the current Advisory Committee to your conference website.

Steering committee

The Steering Committee takes the leadership of ensuring the quality, impact, credibility, and integrity of DSAA conferences. The Committee appoints general chairs and program chairs for each year of conferences, selects host organizations, and provides oversight and guidance to the operations of the conferences. The Committee takes strategic efforts to enlarge the impact and engagement of DSAA internationally towards an inter-disciplinary, cross-domain, and cross-academia and business direction. The Committee takes strategic decisions to support and build emerging, disadvantaged and under-represented areas and regions.

Given the important responsibilities taken by the Committee especially in the annual Committee meeting hosted by the current conference, members are required to attend the annual conference. Existing membership may be adjusted based on the actual engagement and contributions to DSAA through the annual Committee meeting, with new members invited who contribute significantly to DSAA.

Please add the members of the current Steering Committee to your conference website.

5. DSAA contacts

This conference guide is developed and maintained by the DSAA Steering Committee.

All enquiries about the DSAA bid, operation and governance should go to contacts@dsaa.co.

Comments on this conference guide are welcome to contacts@dsaa.co.