Month: October 2026

This week, we were thrilled to receive the news that ICoNIoT’s proposal for the São Paulo School of Advanced Science (ESPCA), titled “São Paulo School of Advanced Science in Artificial Intelligence for Communication Networks,” has been approved. The project is coordinated by researcher Carlos Kamienski (UFABC), coordinator of Education and Outreach at INCT ICoNIoT. The courses are scheduled to take place between September 13 and 22, 2027.

The review report approving the School highlights the quality of the proposed content, which is multidisciplinary and spans the fields of computer networks, telecommunications, and AI. The reviewers stated that the project has great potential to contribute to increasing the visibility of research and to encourage participation in doctoral programs and postdoctoral fellowships in the State of São Paulo, especially for students from other countries and Brazilian states. They also emphasized that the proposal offers a framework capable of providing significant benefits to participants, students, and researchers in the state of São Paulo. The topics to be addressed by the speakers were deemed current and relevant.

The review highlighted that the scientists responsible for the courses (speakers/guest lecturers) are internationally renowned in their fields, and that the proposed group of scientists (speakers/guest lecturers) reflects a good balance between foreign and Brazilian scholars.

Student Participation

Each ESPCA is expected to host up to approximately 100 students, and priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate significant participation by students from outside Brazil. At least 50% of participants are expected to come from other countries.

Participating students will have the opportunity to present the results of their ongoing research in poster sessions included in the program.

Dissemination

It was emphasized that the proposal offers new ways to disseminate information and ideas in a manner that could not be achieved through traditional communication channels such as scientific publications and presentations at scientific events. In this regard, the focus is on the group activities and discussions, the Student Lightning Talks, the field trips, and the roundtable discussions with industry representatives, as outlined in the project. These include guided field trips to major centers, research institutions, academic institutions, and companies relevant to the topics covered. The following field trips are planned: 1) Telecom Operator; 2) Samsung / Motorola R&D Center; 3) Smart City / Urban Operations Center (COP-SP).

The report also highlighted that in-person discussions and hands-on activities allow for interaction and the exchange of information and ideas in ways that are not possible through usual communication channels, such as scientific publications and presentations at scientific events.

How ESPCA Works

FAPESP’s São Paulo School of Advanced Science (ESPCA) Program aims to support the organization of short-term courses that contribute to the advanced training of students and young researchers, promoting interaction with researchers of recognized excellence and expanding the international reach of research conducted in the state of São Paulo.

The ESPCA program has already funded dozens of São Paulo Schools of Advanced Science, which have brought together thousands of students and researchers from various countries. ESPCA provides funding for the organization of short-term courses in advanced research across different fields of knowledge in the state of São Paulo.

 

This talk will present the evolution of horizontal scaling strategies in Kubernetes environments, addressing intelligent mechanisms based on artificial intelligence techniques—including fuzzy logic, machine learning, and deep learning—to optimize resource allocation, predict computational workloads, and dynamically adapt to the demands of distributed systems. Next, we will discuss the specific challenges of running distributed control systems on edge infrastructures, highlighting the limitations of traditional scaling strategies based exclusively on CPU utilization. The presentation will delve into the concept of control-aware sizing, in which control quality (Quality of Control, QoC) metrics, temporal constraints, and computational costs are considered jointly to determine the appropriate number of shared controllers.

Experimental results will be presented, and prospects for the development of resource management mechanisms capable of integrating scalability, computational efficiency, and control requirements in IIoT systems will be discussed.

The speaker

The speaker, Marcelo Augusto Costa Fernandes, is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Automation at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and has served as a visiting researcher at King’s College London (United Kingdom), Harvard University (United States), and the University of Granada (Spain). He is currently the director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (nIACD) at the Digital Metropolis Institute (IMD/UFRN) and coordinator of the InovAI Lab. His research focuses on artificial intelligence, deep learning, digital signal processing, embedded systems, reconfigurable computing, and bioinformatics. He is an associate researcher at INCT ICoNIoT and participates in national and international projects focused on the development of intelligent systems and AI technologies.

The paper by Lucas Airam C. de Souza (UFRJ), Nadjib Achir (INRIA Saclay, France), Miguel Elias Mitre Campista (UFRJ), and Luis Henrique Maciel Kosmalski Costa (UFRJ) was presented at SBRC 2026. The research was also featured in a mini-course at the event, which included a hands-on activity using a simulation of the mobility studied by the researchers.

The research addresses one of the challenges of Federated Vehicle Learning: the high mobility of users. As vehicles move, communication conditions can vary significantly, affecting the time required for local training and for transmitting updates to the server. When an update exceeds the time limit set for a training round, it may end up being discarded.

To address this problem, the researchers propose CAIROS, a strategy that uses a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to dynamically estimate the network and computing conditions of each client.
The proposal is to use information available during training—such as the maximum time limit set for the round, the time already elapsed, the time remaining, the network conditions experienced by the client, and the amount of available data—to estimate the time needed to complete processing and transmit the update. In this way, the system aims to prevent the client’s work from being lost due to exceeding the time limit.

In CAIROS, the LSTM model acts as a dynamic delay estimator. Its function is to predict the communication conditions for each vehicle client and estimate whether the time required to process and transmit the local update might exceed the limit set for the round.
Based on this prediction, the vehicle can decide whether to continue local training or send the parameters to the server early. The strategy thus aims to reduce the discarding of updates and make better use of the work performed by the clients.
In the experiments presented by the researchers, CAIROS increased training efficiency and achieved gains of up to 25% in the accuracy of the global model in scenarios with severe time constraints, compared to the traditional FedAvg algorithm.

 

Prof. Nelson Fonseca presented ICoNIoT in Brasília at the event organized by CNPq

The INCT 2026 Seminar was held in Brasília from September 22 to 24. The event brought together coordinators and representatives from the currently active National Institutes of Science and Technology, as well as officials from CNPq, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), Capes, the National Council of State Research Support Foundations (Confap), and other partner institutions.

O coordenador geral do ICoNIoT, prof. Nelson Fonseca, esteve presente realizando apresentação sobre o INCT ICoNIoT. Ele falou para o público do seminário sobre a estrutura do ICoNIoT; as produções realizadas até o momento; os pesquisadores formados; a interação do INCT com o setor produtivo – cooperações e parcerias com empresas privadas, órgãos públicos, secretarias; as iniciativas de internacionalização do INCT ICoNIoT – que incluem universidades presentes em quase 20 países, e as contribuições do INCT à inovação em políticas públicas. 

Segundo o prof. Nelson, “o workshop organizado pelo CNPq teve como participantes os coordenadores dos INCT vigentes, os gestores e os funcionários do programa. O INCT ICoNIoT foi selecionado para apresentação e recebeu um retorno muito positivo pela sua atuação e excelência na sua área de atuação”. 

Impacts and Contributions of ICoNIoT

The scientific and technological impacts of INCT ICoNIoT were also highlighted; the institute has been pushing the frontiers of knowledge in areas such as federated learning, 5G/6G and OpenRAN networks, cybersecurity, edge, fog, and cloud computing, IoT and vehicular systems, optical networks, and distributed AI. The Institute has contributed to the development of new methodologies, analytical models, experimental platforms, databases, and computational tools focused on network traffic analysis, anomaly detection, DDoS attack prediction, protection of IoT and IIoT devices, privacy preservation, and monitoring of distributed systems. These results have served as the foundation for new research projects, the training of highly qualified professionals, and the transfer of knowledge to strategic sectors of the digital economy.

The scientific outreach initiatives aimed at bridging the gap between science, technology, education, society, and the productive sector were highlighted. The strategy aims to help disseminate the work carried out at the INCT through communication in languages appropriate for both internal and external audiences; foster a culture of collaboration among researchers to ensure that the knowledge produced leads to new partnerships; support a strategy for training professionals in the INCT’s areas of focus; and help enhance other aspects of science and technology management at the INCT, such as technology transfer.

Check out some photos from the seminar: