In 2006 we are focusing on modern problems related to data and information overload, and what we as professional data analysts can contribute to their solution. Broadly speaking, the program is organized around two complementary notions: (1) analysis of new data types brought to us by new technological capabilities, and (2) new methods and approaches enabled by modern technology. While these are both interesting in their own right, perhaps the most interesting problem of all is how to bridge the gap between them. In other words, new data types demand new techniques, and new technology enables new techniques, but are we really using the latter in service of the former? Discipline scientists are often at the frontier of work with new data types, and we encourage them share their problems and solutions with us whether or not those solutions appeal to traditional statistical or data mining methods.

We are very pleased to have Usama Fayyad as our Keynote Speaker- a person who has played a pivotal role in the development of data mining since its infancy.


News:

5/20/2006: The Opening Reception on Wednesday, May 24 from 8:00 to 10:00 pm has been moved from the Plaza Room and Patio to the Madera Room (on the first floor adjacent to Ventanas Restaurant).

5/19/2006: Pre-registration is now closed. Please register on-site in the Santa Rosa Foyer at the Westin. The Registration Desk opens at 7:30 am on Wednesday, May 24.

5/15/2006: In case you were wondering about parking at the Westin, here's the story: All parking in Pasadena is operated by the City of Pasadena. There are a number parking garages around town, including an underground one at the Westin. Enter on Union St., just west of Los Robles (first driveway on the right). There is also a garage at the Civic Center complex approximately one additional block to the west. Parking costs $13.00 per day. The meters in the area allow a maximum of two hours, and the parking patrols are vigorous.

5/12/2006: If you have not already done so, please register immediately! We need as accurate a count of attendees as possible to arrange for refreshments and conference materials. If you wait to register on-site, you may find yourself standing in line and without food. The last day for pre-registration is May 19, 2006.
Click here to go to the registration page.

5/12/2006: Clarification regarding the Second NASA Data Mining Workshop: the Workshop is separate from Interface 2006, and is a closed meeting. Please do not contact Liz Quigley about attending.

5/7/2006: A new special focus session has been added:
Johns Hopkins University Student Paper Competition: Exploration of Massive Healthcare Databases (S08) .
This session is based on analysis of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data by students in the Statistics program at Johns Hopkins University. HCUP is a family of health care databases developed through a Federal-State-Industry partnership and sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). HCUP databases bring together the data collection efforts of State data organizations, hospital associations, private data organizations, and the Federal government to create a national information resource of patient-level health care data. HCUP includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States, with all-payer, encounter-level information beginning in 1988 and available currently up to and including 2003.
The databases average something on the order of four gigabytes annually and total more than sixty gigabytes. Papers presented here are the winners of a competition to bring the best analyses to Interface 2006.

5/4/2006: You can now download this website to your computer (tarred and gzipped). Click
here.

4/22/2006: The room block at the Westin has now expired.

4/20/2006: Unreserved rooms in our block at the Westin will be released at 11:59 pm on Friday, April 21, 2006.
This means that no rooms will be available at the special Interface 2006 rate of $135 per night (plus tax)
after this time. The regular room rate is $253 per night (plus tax). Please make your
reservations immediately if you have not already done so!

4/14/2006: The Symposium's Second Announcement is now available.

4/8/2006: JPL's annual Open House is May 20 and 21 (the weekend before Interface).
Click here for more information.

4/6/2006: Invited speakers for the Best of SIAM Data Mining session have been selected. Details are available
here.

4/5/2006: Financial aid awards have now been made. All applicants have been notified of the dispositions of their requests.

4/4/2006: If you have questions about registering for Interface 2006, please call Elizabeth Quigley at (703) 993-1680, or email her at liz@galaxy.gmu.edu.

4/2/2006: Financial aid applications are now closed.

3/28/2006: The number of Westin Rooms available is higher than previously reported, but still going fast. Please see the updated Westin Room Availability page.

3/26/2006: A few more minor schedule changes for Friday, May 26: I03 has moved to 10:30, S02 has moved to 2:00 and I06 has moved to 4:00.

3/25/2006: We've posted a link in the left frame to keep track of
Westin Hotel Room Availability. We'll update it periodically. As of today 145 of the 280 total room-nights in our block have been taken (52%). If you plan to stay at the Westin, please make your reservations as soon as possible.

3/23/2006: As of March 15, 2006 there is a new, cheap way to get from LAX to Pasadena:
FlyAway Union Station is an express bus between LAX and Union Station, downtown LA. From there you can connect to the Metro Gold Line light rail service to Pasadena. See
Transportation for more information.

3/21/2006: There are some updates to the financial aid policy- please read it again if you have applied.

3/18/2006: Another minor schedule change: sessions S07 and C03 have switched places.

3/15/2006: As of today, approximately 40% of the Westin hotel rooms have been reserved.

3/14/2006: There is a slight change to the schedule: sessions I21 and R01 have switched places.

3/13/2006: There is a slight change to the schedule: sessions C02 and S06 have switched places due to the addition of a talk in C02.

3/3/2006: We are organizing a new invited session on Data Fusion. Watch the program for more information.

3/1/2006: Due to technical difficulties, we have disabled on-line registration. Please register by filling out and mailing or faxing the form as directed on the Registration page.

Important notice to those who have already registered using the on-line form:
Please contact Elizabeth Quigley at (703) 993-1680 to verify your registration.

2/27/2006: The Symposium schedule is now available: Schedule. The Refereed Program has also been posted.

2/26/2006: The Contributed and Special Focus Programs have been posted. See the Program for more information. Find your session by clicking on [Author/Speaker/Organizer Directory] on the Program page. The Refereed Program and the full schedule will be posted shortly.

2/23/2006: Notification of abstract acceptance was emailed to first (or submitting) authors today. If you were expecting (or hoping for) an acceptance email and did not get one, please email Amy (Amy.Braverman@jpl.nasa.gov) as soon as possible.

2/17/2006: Contributed and Special Focus submissions are now closed.

2/8/2006: JPL's annual Open House is the weekend before Interface (May 20 and 21). Every year about 50,000 people visit JPL over these two days to see exhibits and demonstrations, talk to scientists and engineers and tour the Laboratory's facilities. If you are interested in space exploration, this is a great way to spend a day or two!

2/4/2006: The title for Short Course II in the First Announcement is incorrect: the title should be "Statistics and Information Theory" (*not* Statistics and Information Technology).

1/25/2006: There is a minor change to the abstract submission instructions regarding the title of talks or papers. Please re-read the instructions.

1/24/2006: Due the late mailing of First Announcement, the deadline for submission of contributed and special focus abstracts has been extended to February 15!

1/18/2006: For those who wish to reserve rooms for the nights of May 21 and 22: the online reservation system is experiencing a problem with reservations for these nights. Please call Janice Glosup at the Westin at 626-304-1419 to make your reservation. Click here for more information.

1/6/2006: Refereed submissions are now closed.

11/6/2005: The Second NASA Data Mining Workshop is being held May 23 and 24, 2006 in cooperation with Interface 2006. Information is now available by clicking here!

11/6/2005: Applications for financial aid are now being accepted. Click here!

11/4/2005: Secure online registration now open. Click here!

10/10/2005: Registration is now open. Click here!

10/5/2005: Abstract submission is now open. Click here!

9/28/2005: Westin Pasadena online hotel reservations now available. Click here!

8/30/2005: "Special Focus" sessions replace "Theme Contributed". Reason: to emphasize the importance of grass roots organization of sessions, and promote exposure of lesser known individuals and areas of research.

8/17/2005: Usama Fayyad accepts invitation to deliver Keynote Address.