ASTI-ALaM takes the stage at 1st AI Pinas R&D Conference and Workshop

3 May 2023 9:59 AM

The ASTI-ALaM Project team delegation with Dr. Jose Ildefonso U. Rubrico, Ph.D., Balik Scientist Program awardee and Program Lead of the Philippine Sky Artificial Intelligence Program
(SkAI Pinas). 

Davao City, Ph - The Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute’s (DOST-ASTI) Automated Labeling Machine (ASTI-ALaM) Project showcased its latest innovations and project milestones at the 1st AI Pinas Research and Development (R&D) Conference and Workshop 2023, a hybrid event held physically at the Acacia Hotel, Davao City last 14-15 March 2023. 

Julius Noah H. Sempio, Senior Science Research Specialist and Senior AI Engineer of ASTI-ALaM introduced the project, its scope of work, general methodology, as well as its target and current outputs. Engr. Sempio also highlighted the current partnerships established by the project with the University of the Philippines-Mindanao, Technological University of the Philippines, University of San Jose-Recoletos Cebu City, and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, in his presentation during the Plenary session. Additionally, he prepared Gradio public links of the Tower Detect App and Kooha Annotator demonstrations for participants to explore. 

The conference workshop was attended by participants, including local and international speakers and experts from IBM USA, Supermicro USA, Fujita Health University, Queensland University Australia, and Thinking Machines. Researchers from partner agencies and the academe also presented related papers on AI and AI Robotics for Industries, Smart and Sustainable Communities and Cities, and even Ethics and Governance. 

ASTI-ALaM Project’s participation in this two-day conference workshop has enabled the project staff to engage and expand their network of AI practitioners and raise public awareness of the project’s innovative technology. The success of the 1st AI Pinas Research and Development Conference and Workshop 2023 signifies the growing interest and development of AI technology in the country, particularly in driving transformation and impact in the digital age. 

About ASTI-ALaM 

Engr. Julius Noah H. Sempio, Senior Science Research Specialist and Senior AI Engineer presenting the ASTI-ALaM Project to attendees of the 1st AI Pinas Research and Development (R&D) Conference and Workshop 2023 held in Acacia Hotel, Davao City, Philippines and via Zoom Web Conferencing from March March 14-15, 2023.  

The DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute-Automated Labeling Machine (ASTI-ALaM) Project is the DOST-ASTI component of the Philippine Sky Artificial Intelligence Program (SkAI-Pinas). The project aims to develop an optimized workflow in developing machine learning and artificial neural network-based models for different application domains, as well as to develop an online model store where the developed models of the project can be accessed for tasks such as mapping and computer vision using traditional remote sensing, machine learning, and deep learning. 

The ASTI-ALaM Project’s primary objective is to maximize the utilization of the country's available remote sensing data, taking advantage of the huge volume of archived datasets that are already available in both raw and processed format to serve as base sets of training data which can be further augmented to train more accurate deep learning models. 

The project involves (1) segmenting objects within satellite-captured RGB images, classifying them into natural or man-made features, and (2) estimating the structural strengths of buildings using satellite-captured images. 

The current work of the ASTI-ALaM team includes (1) the full-scale training and optimization of AI models, (2) act as the interagency interface with UP Mindanao’s ALaM-Large-Scale Initiative (ALaM-LSI), and (3) support ALaM-LSI in AI design and Artificial Intelligence Programming Interface (AIPI) framework implementation. 

By developing AI-based solutions that can be applied in different fields, such as road management, urban planning, and disaster management, the project aims to provide decision-makers with invaluable tools to enhance their decision-making process using AI. 

For more information about the ASTI-ALaM project, please visit https://asti.dost.gov.ph/projects/alam-project/