Miguel Pardal
Short Personal Interview
Miguel Pardal was born in 1977, in Lisbon, Portugal. He is an INESC-ID Researcher since 2015, integrating the Scientific Area Distributed, Parallel and Secure Systems (DPSS). Miguel Pardal is also member of the Scientific Council of INESC-ID.
How did you get to INESC-ID?
INESC-ID has long been a beacon of quality research in the Técnico community, so when I adjusted my research area to cybersecurity applied to the cloud and the internet of things, it made perfect sense to join the team.
INESC-ID is…
top-quality research, through passionate hard work
Research project(s) under development (please indicate the name of the project(s)
SureThing
How would you explain in the most accessible and least technical language possible, what is the application / expected results of this (these) project (s)?
The SureThing project is developing new ways to quickly and reliably prove our presence at specific locations, both for mobile and for internet of things applications. This will make checking-in at a medical office and getting a absence justification automatic. It can also improve the experience of visiting new locations with systems that can reliably reward users for completing tours.
Tell us about your favorite project so far (or one of them)?
My favorite project so far has been SafeCloud (H2020), where we collaborated with colleagues across Europe to develop added-security solutions. The INESC-ID team contributed to the development of reinforced-security channels that can go beyond TLS (the Security in HTTPS) with route monitoring and multiple layers of encryption.
What are the biggest challenges of working in research in this area?
One of the biggest challenges of working in Cybersecurity is keeping up the new threats that appear every week. On the one hand, we have to develop new and groundbreaking security mechanisms, to improve the security of systems, in the medium and long-term. On the other hand, we have to respond to emergencies, in the short-term.
What book are you currently reading?
The Inversion Factor, by Linda Bernardi, Sanjay Sarma (my PhD co-advisor) and Ken Traub (MIT Press). It discusses how businesses can adapt to the many possibilities of the internet of things. The inversion refers to stop thinking about products and center the design in the novel user experiences made possible by the new technologies.
How would you explain to your child (or your parents or grandparents) what your job is? How do you explain what means to be a researcher in this area?
Unfortunately there are bad people doing bad things on the Internet, and we have to outsmart them and keep everyone safe, while still enjoying the advantages of digital technologies.
How do you see the mission of INESC-ID “ to produce added value to people and society, supporting the response of public policies to scientific, health, environmental, cultural, social, economic and political challenges, in the fields of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering”?
I see INESC-ID playing a very significant role in society, as we bring the future closer to the present reality, and use our technical expertise to improve the technology and provide guidelines and scientific advice to policy decisions. This role is also critical to the formation of the next generations of engineers and researchers. We need to prepare them today for the challenges the world will face tomorrow.
…
Academic Degree
Doctorate
Training / Research Area(s)
Computer Science and Engineering
INESC-ID Scientific Area
Distributed, Parallel and Secure Systems (DPSS)
miguel.pardal@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Linkedin Profile Link
https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguelpardal/
Twitter Profile Link
Upcoming Events
Research data repositories and tools for human genomics data sharing

Inform the human research community of the status and availability of BioData.pt Local EGA and discuss its need and usability challenges.
The European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) is a repository for all sequence and genotype experiment types, including case-control, population, and family studies. The EGA will serve as a permanent archive that will archive several levels of data, including the raw data (which could, for example, be re-analysed in the future by other algorithms) as well as the genotype calls provided by the submitters.
Responding to national regulations over human data sharing and other constraints, BioData.pt deploys and operates a Local EGA instance and tools that allow data discovery of genomic and phenoclinic data, following the GA4GH standard and international best practices.
This workshop aims at informing the human research community of the status and availability of BioData.pt Local EGA and discuss from several perspectives its need and usability challenges.
Further details and registration are available here.
OLISSIPO Summer School in Lisbon | Computational phylogenetics to analyse the evolution of cells and communities

We are happy to announce the OLISSIPO Summer School on Computational phylogenetics to analyse the evolution of cells and communities, which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, at INESC-ID, between July 2-7, 2023.
Keynote speakers:
David Posada, University of Vigo (class)
João Alves, University of Vigo (hands-on)
Nadia El-Mabrouk, Université de Montréal (class)
Mattéo Delabre, Université de Montréal (hands-on)
Ran Libeskind-Hadas, Claremont McKenna College (class and hands-on)
Russell Schwartz, Carnegie Mellon University (class and hands-on)
See the preliminary agenda at: https://olissipo.inesc-id.pt/tree-tango-school
Registration is mandatory. You can register at: https://forms.gle/VsASFHW5E7MJvaCc9
The registration fee is 250€ for students and OLISSIPO members and 350€ for postdocs or other researchers (meals indicated at the schedule of the school are included, accommodation and flights are not). All details will be made available upon registration.
We will have slots for flash talks (3-10 min depending on the number of submissions) to present yourself and the work you have been developing in your research.
The 13th Lisbon Machine Learning School | LxMLS 2023

The Lisbon Machine Learning Summer School (LxMLS) takes place yearly at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). LxMLS 2023 will be a 6-day event (14-20 July, 2023), scheduled to take place as an in-person event.
The school covers a range of machine learning topics, from theory to practice, that are important in solving natural language processing problems arising in different application areas. It is organized jointly by Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), a leading Engineering and Science school in Portugal, the Instituto de Telecomunicações, the Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa (INESC-ID), the Lisbon ELLIS Unit for Learning and Intelligent Systems (LUMLIS), Unbabel, Zendesk, and IBM Research.
Check online for information about past editions: LxMLS 2011, LxMLS 2012, LxMLS 2013, LxMLS 2014, LxMLS 2015, LxMLS 2016, LxMLS 2017, LxMLS 2018, LxMLS 2019, LxMLS 2020, LxMLS 2021, LxMLS 2022 (you can also watch the videos of the lectures for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020).
31st International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD 2023)

The 31st International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD 2023) conference provides a forum for research and developments in the field of information systems. The theme of ISD 2023 is “Information systems development, organizational aspects and societal trends”. New trends in developing information systems emphasize the continuous collaboration between developers and operators in order to optimize the software delivery time. The conference promotes research on methodological and technological issues and how IS developers and operators are transforming organizations and society through information systems.
The ISD 2023 conference held this year also provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to promote their research, practical experience, and to discuss issues related to Information Systems through papers, posters, and journal-first paper presentations.
ISD 2023 will be hosted by Instituto Superior Técnico, in Lisbon, Portugal, on August 30–September 1, 2023.