Photo caption: Duan Yucong (middle) with his students
“DIKW Pyramid is a framework that represents the relationships between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. To be more specific, people obtain cognitiveinformationby processingdatathey’ve observed and then convert information intoknowledgein an abstract approach. Incorporated into social experiences such as cultures and civilizations, knowledge will finally be transformed intowisdom. Building on this framework, people characterize experience with great uncertainty aspurpose, forming the so-called DIKWP.” When asked about his research field, Duan Yucong, a professor from the School of Computer Science and Technology of Hainan University, told a journalist ofHainan Dailyin a recent interview.
In 2020, Duan Yucong’s team won the third prize of the 10thWu Wenjun Award for Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology for their finding on the graphic extension and modeling process of DIKW. With 79 invention patents authorized worldwide up to date, his team has been the largest authorized invention patent holder in Hainan Province for many years. Prof. Duan says, “Through my studies on the DIKWP model, I hope to find a valid and reliable multi-modal artificial intelligence pattern that can be demonstrated, making a difference in the development of digital economy of Hainan Free Trade Port.”
Use AI to Facilitate Learning
Imperceptibly influenced by his family, Duan Yucong has shown a keen interest in computers at a very young age. After he got into college, he chose computer engineering as his minor and decided to pursue his master’s degree in this field. After he received a doctoral degree from the Institute of Software of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006, Duan Yucong has been working at prestigious universities ever since, such as Tsinghua University, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Capital Medical University,Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Charles University, and Milan Bicocca University. In 2012, he returned to China and started his career at Hainan University.
Duan’s research experience in these universities has not only greatly broadened his horizon but also helped him develop a keen eye for scientific research and strong problem awareness. Among his patents, a lot of findings center on “learning” and this reflects his in-depth observation of students’ learning process.
A few years ago, Duan Yucong found a very interesting phenomenon. Some students worked day and night for a major-related qualification but in vain; however, some others could easily obtain qualifications not related to their majors at all. “Apart from diligence, learning approach and learning efficiency are also key factors worth noting.” Duan Yucong believes that, we were not born with a blank slate and we have all built our own knowledge base. If provided the most effective guidance on learning, we shall be able to focus on those important topics we’re not familiar with. In doing so, learning efficiency will be enhanced.
In this regard, Duan led his team to propose the “goal-driven learning point and learning path recommendation method based on mapping knowledge domain”, which has been registered as a patent. This method constructs a knowledge system map of a corresponding discipline based on the existing resources first; obtains learners’ portraits of their current learning status and future learning goals; marks their learned points and unlearned points on the DIKWP knowledge map; and shows how much time and effort do learners need to spend on each point. Finally, through a path selection algorithm, learners will be able to identify which DIKWP points need to be learned and how to do it efficiently.
Stay Focused on Hot Topics
With more than 10 years experience of studying AI, Duan Yucong has never ceased his pursuit of cutting-edge research on the DIKWP Pyramid. Firmly sticking to the principle of balancing theory with practice, he stays focused on hot topics and has made a series of significant achievements.
Nowadays, the volume of data, information, and knowledge has witnessed explosive growth across the whole society. Against such a backdrop, how to tackle the conflict between the limited bandwidth of the Internet of Things and the massive demand for resource transmission? To answer this question, Duan Yucong and his team members proposed an integrated storage-transmission-computing technology based on the DIKWP model. By mapping resource collection, transmission, storage, processing, conversion, creation, display, protection, and usage to the interaction operations within a relevant DIKWP model for business modeling, dynamic resource allocation can be achieved despite the very limited bandwidth, thus to enhance the resource usage efficiency and maintain the resource load balancing. In doing so, the computational, spatial, and transmission costs required for resource processing, storage, and transmission will be reduced.
“For example, if someone uses an algorithm to perform a computation and gets some information as a result. We can store the information and transmit it on the Internet to reduce bandwidth usage. In doing so, if some others need the same or similar information, they can skip the repeated computation procedures.” Duan uses a metaphor to further illustrate this method. Just like building a transfer station inside a community, residents can put items that they don’t need anymore into the station so that other residents can take whatever they need, avoiding repeated purchases and resource loss.
As Hainan Free Trade Port now enters a new phase of accelerated development, Duan Yucong has also tried to use his theoretical knowledge to conduct interdisciplinary research in various fields such as cross-border flow of digital assets, synergistic governance of smart city, and climate-based medical and health care, to further enhance the application of AI technologies in relevant areas.
“For instance, I’ve noticed that compared to those large enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises normally have less data, information, and knowledge, which directly leads to a lack of DIKWP resources for them to identify customers’ needs, make the right decisions, and resist the potential risks.” Right now, Duan Yucong and his team members plan to establish a cross-regional, cross-institutional, cross-network, and cross-system DIKWP service platform that can be shared by all SMEs. Through this platform, SMEs can join hands together to learn from each other’s strengths and enhance their competitiveness.
Commercialization of Patented Inventions
In 2020, to serve the need for pandemic prevention and control, Duan Yucong and his team members disclosed a series of patented technologies to the society for free and volunteered to provide technical support and consulting services.
“From my point of view, seeing our patented technologies widely used in different sectors is something to be proud of. That’s the essence of technological achievement commercialization.”
For many foreign language learners, there is no one except their teachers who can help them assess their pronunciation. However, subjective assessments are not always correct. To solve this problem, Duan Yucong’s team proposes their solution: use computers to evaluate speakers’ pronunciation accuracy and identify which part they’ve pronounced incorrectly. By guiding speakers to adjust their pronunciation step by step according to the standard, the computer will finally help them become “native speakers”.
“We call this invention as ‘the pronunciation correction method based on the visualization of vocal organs’ deviant behavior’. By comparing speakers’ phonemes, stress, inter-word pauses and intonation with the standard, we can calculate their pronunciation accuracy and their gap between native speakers in terms of vocal organs’ behaviors. Then, we present our results in a visualized way. If this method can be widely adopted, those language learners will be able to improve their pronunciation effectively and their learning and communication efficiency will be greatly enhanced.” Duan Yucong said.
In 2022, Duan Yucong entered the list of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide by Stanford University. “At present, I’m leading the team to carry out technical cooperation with relevant departments in the fields of geology, climate, health, public security, aerospace, court, and procuratorate, with an aim of accelerating the commercialization of patented technologies, thus to give full play to the patented technologies to serve the need of society development.” Duan said.
Technical Achievements
Duan Yucong won the second prize of Hainan Provincial Award for Science and Technology in 2016 for the project “Smart Service Key Technology Research and Application”. In 2020, he won the third prize of the 10thWu Wenjun Award for Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology for his finding on the graphic extension and modeling process of DIKW. Building on this project, he has submitted over 240 national invention patents and published over 230 papers, which have been cited more than 3600 times. It’s fair to say that Duan Yucong has made a significant contribution to the development of society and the economy by means of commercializing his technical achievements.
