On August 25–26, 2026, the 13th International Conference on Theory and Application of Soft Computing, Computing with Words, Perception and Artificial Intelligence (ICSCCW-2026) was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, with Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU) serving as one of the co-organizers.
Dedicated to the memory of the renowned scientist and founder of fuzzy logic theory, Professor Lotfi A. Zadeh, the international scientific forum brought together scientists and researchers from various countries.
The conference was organized in cooperation with Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, the Zadeh’s Heritage and Artificial Intelligence Association, the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, the Georgian Technical University, the Institute of Economics under the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as leading scientific and higher education institutions from around the world. The organizers and partner institutions included the University of Texas and Georgia State University in the United States, the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto in Canada, the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Near East University in Cyprus, the University of Siegen in Germany, and other scientific institutions.
ASOIU was represented at the conference by Associate Professor Elviz Ismayilov, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation; Professor Rafik Aliyev, representing the joint MBA program of ASOIU and Georgia State University; Professor Latafat Gardashova, Deputy Director for MBA Programs; and Ahmad Ahmadzada, Head of the Startup and Technology Transfer Department.
The Chairman of ICSCCW-2026 was Professor Rafik Aliyev, while Professor Janusz Kacprzyk and Professor Witold Pedrycz served as Co-Chairs. Representing the joint MBA program of ASOIU and Georgia State University, Professor Rafik Aliyev delivered a keynote presentation entitled “Toward Type-2 Z-Numbers.”
At the opening ceremony, Professor Rafik Aliyev spoke about the importance of Lotfi Zadeh’s scientific legacy in the development of modern artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic and decision-making systems. At his initiative, the participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the world-renowned Azerbaijani scientist, who passed away in 2017. Professor Aliyev emphasized that soft computing and fuzzy logic methods are being increasingly applied in modern technologies, industrial systems and decision-making processes.
Professor Latafat Gardashova, Deputy Director for MBA Programs at ASOIU, was also a member of the conference’s International Program Committee and chaired one of the plenary sessions. The conference program included research co-authored by Professor Gardashova in the fields of artificial intelligence, robot control and fuzzy diagnostics. Her main research interests include artificial intelligence, decision-making theory, fuzzy logic, Z-number theory and soft computing technologies.
Other ASOIU researchers were also represented in the scientific program of ICSCCW-2026. Ahmad Ahmadzada, Head of ASOIU’s Startup and Technology Transfer Department, presented research entitled “Scalable Text Preprocessing for Extrinsic Plagiarism Detection: A Big Data and Parallel Processing Approach” during a session dedicated to Soft Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Ahmadzada’s research interests include applied artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and plagiarism detection using natural language processing technologies.
Professor Tamar Lominadze, Vice-Rector of Georgian Technical University, noted in her address that international scientific forums such as ICSCCW-2026 bring together leading researchers from different countries and create opportunities for new scientific partnerships and joint research projects.
Academician Vladimir (Lado) Papava of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences highlighted the importance of fundamental science, new mathematical approaches and international scientific cooperation in the development of artificial intelligence and modern digital technologies.
During the two-day conference, discussions were held across seven scientific sections. The program covered fuzzy logic and Z-numbers, soft computing, decision-making under incomplete information, machine and deep learning, artificial intelligence tools, neuro-fuzzy technologies, as well as applications of artificial intelligence in engineering, materials science, economics, finance, medicine and other fields. The conference concluded with a round-table session summarizing the scientific discussions, followed by the closing ceremony.
It should be noted that the ICSCCW conference series has been held since 2001 and serves as an important international platform for cooperation among scientists, engineers and researchers working in the fields of soft computing, fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence.
ASOIU’s role as one of the main organizers of ICSCCW-2026, along with the active participation of its representatives and researchers, contributes to the University’s expanding international scientific cooperation in artificial intelligence and advanced computing technologies.
