Invited Speaker

BIO: Paulo Batista is the current director of Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, integrated researcher at CIDEHUS Interdisciplinary Center for History, Cultures and Societies, University of Évora, and professor at Autonomous University of Lisbon. He holds a Ph.D. in Documentation, alongside multiple postgraduate and master’s degrees in information science, archival studies and heritage management.

His professional background covers national archive institutions, cultural heritage administration and higher education teaching. He serves as Corresponding Academician of the Portuguese Academy of History and Secretary of the Architecture Archives Section Executive Committee at the International Council on Archives. He is author of numerous books and journal articles, and has delivered keynote and invited talks at international conferences across many countries worldwide.

Speech Title: Information Culture and Society

Abstract: Following the Second World War an explosion in the quantity of documentation led to a dramatic change in Archiving, or the profession referred to as records managers/records management and archivists/archives. Starting in the 1980s, however, archivists in Quebec began to make great progress by changing their approach and looking at the entire documentary cycle from current to definitive information. Carol Couture and Jean-Yves Rousseau made a crucial contribution towards the understanding of the Three Age Theory that viewed Archiving as an integrated discipline centered on a structural understanding of archives. In 1994, their work Les Fondements de la Discipline Archivistique, presented a new interpretation of Theodore Schellenberg’s Three Age Theory. They called attention to the fact that the three phases of archival documents are not separate but, on the contrary, integrated. They argued that these three stages can even be looked at in a segmented way, provided the union between them is ensured. Their great innovation relative to Schellenberg’s work lay, precisely, in critiquing the division and separation between the three ages of archival documents. Couture and Rousseau thereby brought together all the phases of the lifecycle of records, from production to dissemination, in opposition to the sterile distinction advocated by traditional archivists and document managers. In my opinion, however, the best approach to integrating information management is known as records continuum, which place archives in a post-custodial, informational, and scientific paradigm. This Australian concept arose in the 1990s amid the huge explosion of information, communication technologies and new media. This context forced Information Science to redefine its object of study. Records continuum is closely related to the integrated management model of Couture and Rousseau, while it carries their innovation further, perfecting it and replacing it with systemic dynamics and providing continuity between archives. In fact, records continuum means, literally, continuous management. It looks at the whole process from the production of records to their final archiving. Otherwise, we cannot speak of continuous management. That is why, when we speak of rigid archives – current, intermediate, and definitive, this approach is more theoretical than practical. There is, in fact, no separation between these phases, even less so from the point of view of the value of documents. The traditional distinction between information with probative and historical value ceases to exist. The information is simultaneous and is, in fact, the same.

BIO: Ahmed Ibrahim Bahgat El Seddawy is a Professor and Vice Dean of Educational Affairs. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Management Information Systems), Master’s degree in Computer Science and Information Systems, and Ph.D. in Computer Science, Information Systems and Artificial Intelligence from Helwan University, Egypt. Currently, he serves as a Visiting Professor at Ludwigsburg University, Germany.

He works as a professional consultant for artificial intelligence applications and digital transformation, providing technical services for authoritative institutions across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other regions. He has offered academic supervision, professional training and technical support for over 50 organizations worldwide.

His main research interests cover artificial intelligence applications, data science and analytics, business intelligence, knowledge discovery, business process optimization, uncertainty decision support systems, knowledge-based systems, as well as ERP-based project management and intelligent management.

Speech Title: IoT and Wireless Communication Networks in Higher Education

Abstract: The rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless communication technologies provides new opportunities for constructing smart campus ecosystems in higher education institutions. This talk explores the evolution from connected campuses toward fully functional smart campuses, and presents a layered reference architecture for IoT-enabled university environments, covering sensing-actuation units, heterogeneous wireless connectivity (WiFi 6/7, 5G, BLE, Zigbee/Thread, LoRaWAN), edge-IoT platforms, data-intelligence modules and end-user smart services.

Representative high-value practical scenarios are illustrated, including smart classrooms, energy management, campus safety, student-oriented services, research testbeds and smart mobility. This work further demonstrates the closed-loop workflow of sense-connect-analyze-respond for IoT-assisted teaching and campus operations. Based on recent literature and pilot case studies, we discuss current research trends integrating IoT, multi-connectivity, digital twins and generative AI. Major socio-technical challenges are also analyzed, such as cybersecurity risks, privacy-ethics concerns, system interoperability, scalability, governance, skill requirements and deployment costs. Finally, a six-stage practical implementation framework is proposed to guide universities to deliver measurable institutional outcomes. We argue that a genuine smart campus should focus on transforming real-world sensor data into improved learning experiences, operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making, rather than merely pursuing the scale of connected devices.