10th Network Science & AI Lab
July 2022 marked the start of our 10th Network Science & AI Lab at the SONEAN headquarters, with 6 students joining us for the occasion. While Corona did not prevent us from working together it had an impact on our photographer and graphic designer, Matthias, who actually caught Corona one day before our annual photo-shooting. As Matthias has been in charge of the videos for the past few years, this will be the first time that we won`t have any ;o))
Our group of students not only learned about connecting the nodes and how network science will shape data science and especially artificial intelligence in the future, but also worked in their groups on real customer challenges related to entering new markets, developing long-term strategy based on our Ecosystem Intelligence, and understanding the role of automation and autonomous vehicles in the context.
Since Matthias could not be with us and take the usual professional photos we concluded the final day with a Selfie ;o)) Time flies and after 10 years of running the Network Science and AI Lab (formerly SNA Lab), we are ready to take the next bold expansion move with AGCUMEN, our agriculture and technology-related Ecosystem Intelligence Solution and Advisory service. Alongside this we will also be further expanding our different ecosystem models from medical technologies, warehouse automation, and intralogistics, lifting technologies, to the mining and construction sectors as part of SONEAN’s R&D. Exciting things ahead. Enjoy your summer!
9th Network Science & AI Lab
In July 2021 our 9th Network Science & AI lab took place which originally started in 2013. Due to the Corona situation we had to limit participation to 4 students this year focusing on three major building blocks:
- Network Science
- Narrow Artificial Intelligence
- Ecosystem Intelligence
After a thorough introduction to the Network Science/Analysis space we focused on the main areas of narrow AI, particularly:
- Machine Learning (supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement, and semi-supervised learning)
- Natural Language Processing (machine search, machine translation, text geneeration, information extraction, sentiment analysis and others)
- Robotics (including all kinds of sensor technologies to sense the world, the processing part of information, and state of the art innovation)
We hereby particularly looked at the role of graph neural networks, deep neural networks, and convolutional neural networks. As in previous years the Lab team members not only got a solid overview but also the opportunity to apply their knowledge in building an Ecosystem Intelligence approach from modeling the network of an industry, the global agricultural machinery industry among others, to using the technology required for indexation and search, including all the relevant steps which need to be considered as part of the human-machine collaboration. We also focused considerably on the data related issues which need to be considered to come up with highly relevant, and significant results.
Two of our students are going back to Frankfurt International School, www.fis.edu, to resume their studies in 11 and 12th grade while the other two join The University of Edinburgh and Stanford University.
As in previous years it was a very rewarding program, with high profile students, and we look forward to engaging with our lab members in the future again, including the ones which had joined us initially in 2013.
The Network Science & AI Lab was established in 2013 with the vision to educate young people about network science and its crucial role nowadays in narrow AI, and also identify future colleagues.
8th Network Science & AI Lab
In July our 8th Network Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab took place which originally started in 2013. It has been a very rewarding month. This year 6 young lab members joined us in Kronberg and were introduced to SONEAN’s Ecosystem Intelligence which builds on latest advances in Network Science & Artificial Intelligence.
The lab members were involved in modeling multiple ecosystems of companies in the agricultural machinery, automotive as well as sportswear industry, i.e. mapping out their supply chain, and other relevant networks as a basis for a solid search and monitoring process which would allow them to detect dynamically crucial developments across the network globally.
The training part focused on:
- Network Analysis/Science – its past , presence and future, and crucial role in latest advances in artificial intelligence
- Artificial Intelligence – Its development in the last 60-70 years and the main areas including machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics
- Machine Learning ML – Its application and diverse approaches such as supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement ML
- Natural Language Processing – With main focus on machine translation, machine search, and also on human computer interaction using natural languages
- Autonomous vehicles / Robotics – With deep insights into the latest technologies being applied, including the individual components used
- Digitalization and Platform Strategies
- Building an Ecosystem Intelligence process from identifying the global network in which companies operate to cloud based solutions which provide a single language, highly structured global intelligence platform
We look so much forward to our 9th Network Science & AI Lab in 2021, and especially to welcoming our existing and new lab members again. The Lab was introduced to share our network analytic view of the world, and ensure that we can identify and train young people from diverse backgrounds (including high school, Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral students) over many years to not only assume relevant roles in the future but also potentially join our organization as well as SONEAN`s network by understanding our perspective and way of working very well. Welcome tomorrow !
7th Network Science & AI Lab
We just completed our 7th annual Network Science & AI Lab (formerly SNA Lab) with 8 students joining our office in Kronberg (vicinity of Frankfurt) during the whole of July.
The Lab was founded in 2013 aiming to reach an international audience of students interested in Network Science and also narrow AI (particularly machine learning, natural language processing, and automation), but also the role of digitalization in general, and the emergence of platform technologies. The Lab focuses not only on the theoretical background but provides a framework for understanding the crucial role of network science in the overall change process, and how it will affect AI related research in the future.
Our lab members also got the opportunity to apply their knowledge to crucial sectors, and data sets, and get a deep understanding of the individual AI disciplines which have been around and evolving for almost 60 years. They learned to separate the wheat from the chaff, get a realistic picture of what`s possible and what not, and apply that knowledge in the context of our Ecosystem Intelligence which we created in 2015, and continuously developed since then using state of the art network scientific thinking blending it with the capacity that (narrow) AI has brought about, particularly in machine learning but also areas like search, and semantic analysis.
The message is clear, there is a huge hype around AI with most people even not knowing what the latest technological advances can offer us. This hype is linked to „wind in the sails“ that comes from too much liquidity chasing investments, and particularly risky ones such as in the AI space. Similar to previous „AI winters“, and major corrections such as in the 80s, and 2000, there will certainly be another major correction coming up soon. The Network Science & AI Lab aims to provide our young colleagues the skill sets, and the knowledge to understand the field, and the major convergence taking place, and apply that intelligence in their future careers. It also helps us to identify our future colleagues, and expand the network of people who have a solid understanding of the dynamics. Above all they learn how to do proper research, and understand what it takes to analyze data.
We look forward to our 8th Network Science & AI Lab in 2020, and enjoyed it greatly to meet so many bright young people who can now contribute to a more balanced discussion when it comes to Network Science and (narrow) AI and apply that knowledge to real life phenomena. Welcome tomorrow!
SONEAN - Social Network Analysis (SNA) Lab 2017
In order to create greater awareness but more importantly identify future colleagues, we initiated the SNA Lab (Social Network Analysis Lab) in 2013 to train young talented people in network science and specifically its application to organizational challenges. Our SNA Lab members either work with us part-time during their entire studies or join us during the summer breaks for several months throughout their studies, and form a vital part of our research and intelligence activities. Below you will find selected insights into our lab ins 2017,2014, and 2013.
SNA Lab at SONEAN 2014
At SONEAN our aim is to move our clients beyond financial and non-financial (ESG) data in order to spot risks and opportunities in a profoundly new way. We bring the social network perspective into their decision making processes and as a strategy consultant help them to use network analytic insights in their investment related and organizational decisions.
