The conference on Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases has become an important technology contributor for 21st century academic and industry research, addressing the complexities of modeling in digital transformation and digital innovation that reach beyond the traditional borders of information systems and computer science academic research.

The international conference on Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases originated from the co-operation between Japan and Finland in 1982 which was then known as the European Japanese conference (EJC). At that time, Professor Ohsuga from Japan and Professors Hannu Kangassalo and Hannu Jaakkola from Finland (Nordic countries) carried out the pioneering work for this longstanding academic collaboration. Over the years, the organization has been widened to include European countries as well as many other countries worldwide. In 2014, because of this expanded geographical scope, the ‘European Japanese’ part of the title was replaced by ‘International’. The conference is characterized by opening with an ‘appetizer session’ that allows participants to introduce their topic in a short three-minute presentation, followed by presentation sessions with enough time for discussion. A limited number of participants is typical for this conference.

The 29th International Conference on Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases (EJC2019) held in Lappeenranta, Finland constituted a research forum to exchange scientific results and experience attracting academics and practitioners who deal with information and knowledge. The main topics of EJC2019 covered a wide range of themes extending from knowledge discovery through Conceptual Modeling, Knowledge and Information Modeling and Discovery, Linguistic Modeling, Cross-Cultural Communication and Social Computing, Environmental Modeling and Engineering, and Multimedia Data Modeling and Systems to complex scientific problem solving. The conference presentation sessions: Learning and Linguistics, Systems and Processes, Data and Knowledge Representation, Models and Interfaces, Formalizations and Reasoning, Models and Modeling, Machine Learning, Models and Programing, Environment and Predictions, Emotion Modeling and Social Networks reflected the main themes of the conference.

EJC2019 included five keynote presentations on Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases and a panel discussion on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Environment Modeling’ in the context of information and conceptual modeling. ‘Philosophical Foundations of Conceptual Modeling’ was the keynote address given by Professor John Mylopoulos of Toronto University, Canada and the University of Trento, Italy. ‘Quantification of Uncertainties of Mathematical Modeling’ was the keynote address by Professor Heikki Haario of Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Finland. ‘CFD-based Optimization in Industrial Applications’ was the keynote address by Professor Jari Hämäläinen of Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT), Finland. ‘Sustainable Solid Waste Management using Life Cycle Modeling for Environmental Impact Assessment’ was the keynote address by Professor Mika Horttanainen of Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Finland, and ‘Object Embedding: Can we Catch the Meaning in a Vector?’ was the keynote address by Professor Aleksei Shpilman of the Higher School of Economics, St Petersburg, Russia.

The contributions of this proceedings of the 29th International Conference of Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases feature thirty-two reviewed, selected, and updated contributions that are the result of presentations, comments, and discussions during the conference. This volume also includes two extended publications of the keynote addresses: ‘Philosophical Foundations of Conceptual Modeling’ and ‘Sustainable Solid Waste Management using Life Cycle Modeling for Environmental Impact Assessment’ with additional material covering the discussion and findings of the panel session. The content of these proceedings also includes the long and short papers presented in the conference revised after the conference before being published in the series ‘Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence’ by IOS Press (Amsterdam). The proceedings volume ‘Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases’ is edited by the editorial committee of the conference.

Editors

Ajantha Dahanayake

Janne Huiskonen

Yasushi Kiyoki

Bernhard Thalheim

Hannu Jaakkola

Naofumi Yoshida