The IEEE/ACM International Conference on Big Data Computing, Applications and Technologies (BDCAT) is a premier annual international conference series aiming to provide a forum for researchers from both academia and industry to present and discuss discoveries in the broad area of big data computing and applications. The conference features keynotes, posters, workshops, and a student symposium. 

The BDCAT 2026 will be held in conjunction with the 19th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Utility and Cloud Computing (UCC 2026) in Florianopolis, Brazil.

The BDCAT 2026 Organizing Committee invites proposals for half-day or one-day workshops to be held prior to or immediately after the main conference. The workshops aim to spark discussions on cutting-edge, emerging, visionary, and sometimes controversial topics. Workshops should be designed to encourage lively interaction and discussion, and a plan to achieve this must be clearly outlined in the workshop proposals.

The organizers of accepted workshops are responsible for promoting the workshop by distributing the call for papers, soliciting submissions, managing the reviewing processes, and finalizing the workshop program. At least one organizer should plan to be physically present at the workshop to ensure highly interactive participation and discussions. Workshop organizers must ensure at least 3 high-quality reviews per paper and an acceptance rate no higher than 50%.

We encourage workshops on both established research topics to promote newly developed ideas, as well as workshops on emerging topics with a sufficient body of research being carried out cross-cutting across utility and cloud research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1. AI, Machine Learning, and Intelligent Systems
   • Learning Paradigms and Models: Supervised, Unsupervised, Semi-supervised, and Reinforcement Learning; Neural Networks, Convolution Neural Networks, and Recurrent Neural Networks; Autoencoders, Transformers, Large Language Models; Swarm Intelligence and Evolutionary Strategies.
   • Intelligent Data Processing: Machine Learning and Data Mining; Data Science Models and Approaches; Natural Language Understanding, Natural Language Processing.
   • Trustworthy and Efficient AI: Computational Efficient Model Training, Inference, and Serving; Distributed, Federated, and Parallel Learning Algorithms; Fairness, Interpretability, and Explainability.
2. Data Engineering, Systems, and Infrastructure
   • Data Engineering and Pipelines: Data Acquisition, Integration, Cleaning, and Best Practices; Extract/Transform/Load (ETL) Pipelines; Data Search and Information Retrieval Techniques.
   • Scalable Systems and Platforms: Scalable Computing Models, Theories and Algorithms; In-Memory Systems and Platforms; Storage Systems; Specialized Hardware for Scaling.
   • Reliability, Security, and Sustainability: Privacy and Security over the Data Life Cycle; Resource Management Approaches; Fault Tolerance and Reliability; Energy-Efficiency and Sustainability; Testing, Debugging, and Monitoring; Data Archival and Preservation.
   • Edge and Distributed Computing: Data Analytics on Edge Devices.
3. Intelligent Applications and Emerging Domains
   • Smart and Connected Systems: Internet of Things, Mobile Applications, and Cyber-Physical Systems; Cloud-Edge Continuum.
   • Scientific and Industrial Applications: Healthcare and Life Science (e.g., Genome Processing); Physical Science and Engineering; Business and Enterprise Applications; Scientific Case Studies and Workflows.
   • Data-Centric Applications: Social Network Analysis; Risk Analysis and Management; Data Streaming and Batch Applications; Data Trends and Challenges.
4. Visualization, Analytics, and Human Interaction
   • Visual Data Analytics: Visual Analytics Algorithms and Foundations; Graph and Context Models for Visualization.
   • Human-Centered Analytics: Analytics Reasoning and Sense-making; Visual Representation and Interaction.

The page limit for accepted regular workshop papers is 6 pages, including all figures, tables, and references. Each paper should be presented in person at the workshop.

Context 6 Scope

Proposals for workshops should be submitted in PDF format, must not exceed 4 pages (font 11pt) in length, and contain the following information:

• The name and acronym of the workshop.
• An abstract of the workshop and how it is aligned with/complements the topics of BDCAT.
• A brief description of why and to whom the workshop is of interest.
• The names, affiliations, email, and short bio (up to 10 lines) of the workshop organizers.
• A list of potential program committee members, program committee chairs, and their prior experience with organizing workshops/conferences. This international committee should comprise at least 10 people knowledgeable about the technical issues to be addressed, with a balanced background, and preferably with no more than 2 members from the same institution.
• A description of the expected structure of the workshop (papers, invited talks, panel discussions, etc.) specifying the desired/planned length of the workshop (half day or full day).
• Estimation of the audience size.
• History of previous occurrences of the workshop, including attendance, the number of papers or presentations submitted and accepted, and the links to the corresponding websites (if any).
• A publicity plan for attracting submissions and attendees. Please also include the expected number of submissions, accepted papers, and attendees that you anticipate for a successful workshop.
• Possible related special issues of indexed journals.
• A preliminary call for papers with deadlines (see “Important Dates” sections)

Submit your workshop proposal by e-mail to the chairs: lcarnevale@unime.it and roger@imd.ufrn.br

Workshop Proposals Due:	June 15, 2026
Notification of Acceptance:	June 22, 2026
Paper Submission:	September, 2026
Camera-ready & Registration:	October 15, 2026
Workshops Dates:	TBD (December 1-4), 2026

Note: Workshops may be approved and announced early based on the quality of the proposal and the track record of their previous editions.

Workshop organizers will be responsible for:

• Setting up the submission system of their choice.
• Inviting TPC members.
• Producing a website and a “Call for Papers/Participation” for their workshop. The URL should be sent to the BDCAT Workshops chairs. The call must clearly state that the workshop is open to all members of the Cloud, Edge, Fog, Big Data, Grid, and Cluster Computing communities.
• Ensuring that all workshop papers are a maximum of 6 pages in length, following the main conference format. Additional pages may be purchased (in some circumstances), subject to approval by the proceedings chair.
• Providing a brief description of the workshop for the conference web page and program.
• Selecting participants and determining the format of the workshop.
• Advertising the workshop beyond the conference web page.
• Assisting in producing a camera-ready version of the workshop proceedings.
• Ensuring that at least one workshop organizer attends the conference in person to manage the workshop sessions.

The BDCAT 2026 Conference Organizing Committee will be responsible for:

• Providing a link to the workshop’s website on the main conference site.
• Providing logistics support and a meeting place for the workshop.
• Determining the workshop date and time in conjunction with the organizers.
• Providing copies of the workshop proceedings to attendees. Workshop proceedings will be published by IEEE, following the BDCAT conference proceedings for the current year.

• If the workshop does not attract enough submissions, the BDCAT 2026 Organizing Committee may merge it with another workshop or cancel it.
• Workshop organizers must ensure high-quality reviews with at least 3 reviews per paper and an acceptance rate no higher than 50%.
• Workshops are not automatically endorsed by IEEE and should not use these organizations’ names in their titles.