The 1st International Conference on Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems (NIDS2021) was held in Athens, Greece, under the auspices of the Institute of Intelligent Systems (IIS). The Hosting Institution of the conference was the University of West Attica (Greece). NIDS2021 was implemented virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, on the scheduled dates, that is from September 30 to October 1, 2021.

NIDS lays special emphasis on the novelties of intelligent systems and on interdisciplinary research which enables, supports, and enhances Artificial Intelligence (AI) in software development. It promotes high-quality research, creating a forum for the exploration of challenges and novel advancements in AI.

NIDS addresses experts, researchers and scholars in the fields of artificial and computational intelligence in systems and in computer sciences in general, enabling them to learn more about pertinent, strongly related and mutually complementary fields. It triggers an exchange of ideas, reinforcing and expanding the network of researchers, academics, and market representatives.

Topics within the scope of NIDS series include, but are not limited to:

Adaptive Systems

Affective Computing

Augmented Reality

Big Data

Bioinformatics

Cloud Computing

Cognitive Systems Collaborative Learning

Cybersecurity

Data Analytics

Data Mining and Knowledge Extraction

Decision Making Systems

Deep Learning

Digital Marketing

Digital Technology

Distance Learning

E-Commerce

Educational Data Mining

E-Learning

Environmental Informatics

Expert Systems

Fuzzy Systems

Genetic Algorithm Applications

Human-Machine Interaction

Information Retrieval

Intelligent Information Systems

Intelligent Modeling

Machine Learning

Medical Informatics

Mobile Computing

Multi-Agent Systems

Natural Language Processing

Neural Networks

Pattern Recognition

Personalized Systems and Services

Pervasive Multimedia Systems

Recommender Systems

Reinforcement Learning

Semantic Web Applications

Sentiment Analysis

Serious Gaming

Smart Cities

Smart Grid

Social Media Applications

Social Network Analytics

Text Mining

Ubiquitous Computing

User Modelling

Virtual Reality

Web Intelligence

The Call for Scientific Papers solicited work presenting substantive new research results in using advanced computer technologies and interdisciplinary research for enabling, supporting and enhancing intelligent systems. The Posters Track provided an interactive forum for authors to present research prototypes and work in progress to the conference participants.

The international Program Committee consisted of 50 leading members of the Intelligent Systems community, as well as of highly promising younger researchers. The Conference (General) Chairs were Cleo Sgouropoulou and Ioannis Voyatzis from the University of West Attica (Greece), whereas the Program Committee Chairs were Claude Frasson from the University of Montreal (Canada), Katerina Kabassi from Ionian University (Greece), and Athanasios Voulodimos from the University of West Attica (Greece).

Scientific papers were reviewed rigorously by two and in some cases by three reviewers (one of which was senior) through a double-blind process, thus reflecting the commitment of the IIS academic community to make NIDS a top-flight, selective, high- quality conference. We believe that the chosen full papers describe some very significant research, the short papers reflect some very interesting new ideas, while the posters present research in progress that deserves close attention. In the review process, the reviewers’ evaluations were generally respected. The management of the review process and the preparation of the proceedings were handled through EasyChair.

We would like to thank all those who have contributed to the conference: the authors, the Program Committee members and the Organization Committee with its chair, Kitty Panourgia, as well as the Institute of Intelligent Systems. Special thanks to Christos Troussas and Akrivi Krouska to have launched and carefully followed this conference.

We are also thankful to our conference sponsor, the Entropy journal (MDPI) for their financial contribution to the Best Paper Award.

Claude Frasson

Katerina Kabassi

Athanasios Voulodimos