This Special Call targets selected papers from the Urban Computing Workshop (CoUrb 2024) but also accepts other submissions related to the workshop's theme.

CoUrb 2024

The global population is increasing rapidly, and with this growth, cities are evolving to meet new challenges and previously non-existent characteristics. As technology advances, urban areas undergo significant transformations, becoming embedded with many technological devices and gaining new capabilities. However, there is still much progress to be made in utilizing these advancements to enhance our urban experience.

Urban Computing is at the forefront of planning for cities' future and improving the quality of life for their residents. This field bridges information and communication technology with managing large data volumes and diverse data analysis methods, addressing the nature of urban and social phenomena. It is a multidisciplinary area that extends beyond computer science, presenting complex challenges that require advancements in both technical and formal aspects.

The Urban Computing Workshop (CoUrb) is held in conjunction with the SBRC. Its inaugural session was in 2017 at the SBRC, and it set a record for the highest number of submissions ever received by an SBRC workshop. The current special call aims to showcase top papers from CoUrb 2024 and highlight contributions representing the latest urban computing advancements.

This call invites experts from fields related to urban computing to contribute to an overview of the sector and outline its future by identifying challenges and strategies for progress. Your contributions to this Special Call will not only offer a research overview and facilitate critical discussions but also play a pivotal role in setting the agenda for the next decade of research and practice in urban computing, helping to navigate and address the challenges ahead.

Topics of Interest

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

o Data Analysis and Mining for Urban Environments
o D2D and 5G Communication in Urban Environments
o Reliability and Security in Urban Computing
o Federated Learning for Urban Computing
o Architectures and Protocols for Urban Environments
o Smart Cities
o Social Computing
o Urban Computing for Economic Development
o Data Offloading
o Anomaly Detection and Event Discovery in Urban Areas
o eGovernance
o e-Health and m-Health
o Heterogeneous Data Management
o Green Computing in Urban Environments
o Urban Sensing Infrastructures
o Human-Computer Interaction in Urban Spaces
o Internet of Things
o Improving the Quality of Life in the City Using Mobile Services and Big Data
o Human Mobility
o Urban Planning Using Big Data
o Protecting the Environment with Urban Computing
o Participatory/Opportunistic Sensing
o Location Based Services
o Recommender Systems
o Intelligent Transport Systems
o Visualization of Urban Data

Selection process

The best articles from CoUrb 2024 will be invited to submit an extended version to JISA. The version submitted to JISA must have at least 35% new material concerning the article originally accepted and published in CoUrb 2024 and be written in English. A cover letter in English must also be submitted featuring the extensions made. The article submitted to JISA will undergo a new review process that may include the reviewers who reviewed the original article and other reviewers.

Important dates

○ Submission deadline: 6 October 2024
○ Notification 1^st round: 3 November 2024
○ Submission of revised versions deadline: 17 November 2024
○ Notification 2^nd round: 1 December 2024
○ Submission of revised versions deadline: 7 December 2024
○ Notification 3^rd round (final): 14 December 2024
○ Camera-ready submission deadline: 21 December 2024

Guest Editors

Daniel Guidoni, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) was program chair of the most important urban computing workshop in Brazil (CoUrb), as well as was a member of the editorial IEEE Latin America Transactions and Journal of Internet Services and Applications.

Leandro Villas, University of Campinas (Unicamp) was program chair of the most important urban computing workshop in Brazil (CoUrb) as well as organized some special issue on topics related to urban computing. He has conducted research on techniques and approaches for supporting developers on the design of urban computing.

Thiago Henrique Silva, Federal University of Technology - Parana was program chair of the most important urban computing workshop in Brazil (CoUrb) and IEEE International Workshop on Urban Computing, as well as was a member of the editorial board of Springer Urban Computing - Book Series. He taught short courses in urban computing.

Allan Mariano de Souza, University of Campinas (Unicamp) was program chair of the most important urban computing workshop in Brazil (CoUrb) as well as organized some special issue on topics related to urban computing. He has conducted research on techniques and approaches for supporting developers on the design of urban computing.

Felipe Domingos da Cunha, Pontifical University Catholic of Minas Gerais (PUC Minas) - was program chair of the most important urban computing workshop in Brazil (CoUrb). He has conducted research on techniques and approaches for supporting developers on the design of protocols of computer networks and intelligent cities.