In 2003, the International Symposium on Business Information Science started in Győr, and twenty years later, it returned to Széchenyi István University. The focus of the jubilee programme was on artificial intelligence. Researchers and students from renowned national and international universities and institutes, as well as experts from the companies involved most in the field attended the two-day event.

Széchenyi István University was one of the first Hungarian higher education institutions to launch a Business Informatics programme. In addition to her decades of teaching and research at the institution, Dr Mária Raffai was the founder and president of the Scientific and Educational Forum on Business Information Systems (GIKOF) of the John von Neumann Computer Society. She was also instrumental in the launch of the International Symposium on Business Information Science (OGIK) in 2003, the twentieth edition of which was held at Széchenyi University this year.

The organisers of the conference welcomed the representatives of the profession with several Hungarian and English language sessions. The event was attended by researchers from renowned international higher education institutions such as the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Technical University of Dortmund in Germany, Saitama University in Japan, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University in Russia and Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. Attendees could also hear a lecture by Dr Zhiwei Zhu from Purdue University in the USA, who is currently a Fulbright scholar at Széchenyi University.

Dr Zoltán Horváth, Dean of the Faculty of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Informatics and Electrical Engineering, Dr Ferenc Erdős, Chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee, Dr Mária Raffai, Co-chair of the Conference Programme Committee, Dr Katalin Kovács, Head of the Department of Informatics at SZE and Dr Zsolt Kosztyán, Chairman of the GIKOF and the Conference Programme Committee (Photo: András Adorján)

"The main theme of the conference was Artificial Intelligence, which has many areas of relevance to both education and business. The presentations, mostly in English, were given in sections such as machine learning, healthcare support, business and process modelling or supply chain management," said Dr Ferenc Erdős, Supervisor of the Business Informatics programmes at Széchenyi István University and Chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee. He added that every year the event aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry. 

"New trends in artificial intelligence are emerging almost every month, which is a constant challenge for the market players. Continuous development and learning have become essential to remain competitive. This year's conference was designed to support companies in this area," said Dr Erdős from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Informatics and Electrical Engineering.

He underlined that the event not only provided an excellent forum for business and academia to exchange professional experience, but also drew attention to the high quality of work at Széchenyi University. "We also place great emphasis on the academic and business application of artificial intelligence in our business informatics education and research. We also help our students to be competitive by aligning their education with market trends. The conference also served this purpose, as talented young people were included in the programme," said Dr Erdős.

A round table discussion was organised in cooperation with the Subcommittee on Business Informatics of the IX. Section of Economics and Law at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), preceded by a presentation by Tamás Frisch, Data Services Lead at Hewlett-Packard (HP), on the latest developments in the corporate sector. In the professional discussion that followed, the audience had the opportunity to listen to Tamás Frisch, Gergely Kiss, founder of Attrecto Zrt. and Dénes Csizmadia, expert on artificial intelligence at SAP, on the trends and challenges of the business application of artificial intelligence.

The roundtable discussion, organised jointly with the Subcommittee on Business Informatics of the IX. Section of Economics and Law at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), was met with great interest (Photo: András Adorján)