Jorge Sá Silva is a Tenured Assistant Professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra and a Senior Researcher of Laboratory of Communication and Telematics of Centre of Informatics Engineering of University of Coimbra, Portugal. He will be a General Co-Chair at MobiQuitous 2015, the 12th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services. We talked with him about the upcoming conference, and how wireless sensor networks are changing our lives.
What is the goal of the Twelfth International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services (MobiQuitous 2015)?
MobiQuitous2015 intends to bring together researchers and practitioners in areas related to Internet of Things, social networks, middleware, networking, data management and services, all with special focus on mobility and ubiquitous computing. I believe the conference program, the keynote speech, the panel and the workshops are very interesting and they will provide participants with a very valuable opportunity to share ideas with other researchers strongly involved in these areas.
In what way do you think MobiQuitous 2015 will foster research collaboration in Ubiquitous Computing?
I believe that the participation at MobiQuitous2015 will be fruitful, as it is an excellent opportunity to contact and exchange ideas with scientific research groups from different countries. This scientific meeting will open new communication channels between the participants, which are a first step towards identifying common research interests.
How are wireless sensor networks changing our lives? And which are the most significant developments researchers achieved in this field?
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been the subject of intensive research in the last few years. Several factors have contributed to this, namely the huge potential for application of WSNs in almost every aspect of day-to-day life. Theoretically, everything from lightbulbs to fridges, microwaves and coffee machines can be soon connected to the Internet. As the field of Internet of Things and wireless sensor networks matures, new findings and concepts have continued to emerge. However, while discussing the Future, we should also consider how we can take advantage from this technology. I believe we are now facing not only the concept of Internet of Things but also a new concept of Internet of People. Currently, Internet supports social activities, offers interaction and collaboration in ways that were previously unimaginable. The use of low-cost technologies like WSNs can, in fact, offer an important contribute to the future Low Cost Internet, which ultimately will result in more users
