As smart cities inherently involve multiple disciplines, Dices-N has evolved to include new themes and encompass a wide range of topics pertinent to large-scale smart city initiatives. .
Towards Digital cities and Emerging, Smart and Sustainable Networks Workshop
Aims and Scope
Nowadays, the global vision is the progressive migration towards smart cities in order to enhance citizen life, optimize the allocation of city resources and support sustainable growth without sacrificing health and environment. As urban centers grapple with challenges stemming from population expansion, resource limitations, and environmental deterioration, the imperative to harness smart computing technologies becomes increasingly apparent. These technologies hold the key to constructing urban ecosystems that are not only sustainable but also resilient in the face of evolving challenges, particularly climate changing.
Smart cities rely on the deployment of novel technologies and IT tools to cultivate intelligent and customized applications that cater to various aspects of urban life. This encompasses a broad spectrum of domains, including but not limited to smart living, mobility, economy, environment, and governance. Innovation flourishes across these diverse sectors, with a plethora of applications waiting to be proposed and implemented. From enhancing quality of life to improving transportation systems, fostering economic vitality, preserving natural resources, and streamlining governance processes, the potential for smart city solutions knows no bounds.
The workshop aims to be a major forum for researchers, interested in the design, development and evaluation of systems, platforms and architectures for smart cities applications and services. The workshop on Digital cities and Emerging, Smart and Sustainable Networks (DiCES-N) invites researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and industry experts to submit papers on cutting-edge smart computing solutions aimed at advancing sustainability in urban environments. Highlights of the workshop will include a high quality single-track technical program and invited speakers.
Main Topics of interest
Authors are invited to submit original and unpublished contributions related to all aspects of smart city technologies, from theoretical foundations to practical implementations, and encompassing real-world case studies. Topical areas of interest are, but not limited to, the following:
Smart cities and IoT:
- Applications for smart and sustainable cities: e-health, smart transportation, smart grid, smart agriculture, smart environment, e-vote, Internet of Vehicles, …
- Smart and sustainable infrastructure
- Intelligent Transportation Systems: traffic, congestion, safety, sustainable modes of transportation
- Urban mobility solutions: smart computing for shared mobility, micro-mobility options, smart parking
- Advanced digital services
- Green IT
- IoT computing, networking, and applications
- Digital twin technologies
- ...
Networks and wireless technologies for smart city applications:
- Wireless and mobile networks: Ad Hoc networks, WSN, WBAN, VANETs, 5G,…
- Distributed algorithms
- Communication and networking protocols
- Context-awareness in wireless and mobile networks
- Power-aware, Energy-Efficient Designs and renewable energy
- Novel Architectures for wireless and mobile Networks
- Autonomous Intelligent Systems
- Self-organizing, self-stabilizing and self-healing Network Architectures and Protocols
- Next generation network architecture for intelligent computing
- Signal processing and applications in the context of smart city applications
- Network virtualization and software-defined networks
- Cognitive communications and networking
- Mobile fog/edge/cloud computing
- Green Networking
- Modelling and performance evaluation
- Performance analysis : complexity, correctness, scalability
- Robustness, fault-tolerance, scalability of architectures and networks
- Verification and validation of algorithms and applications
- ...
AI-enabled cities:
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning applied to smart cities applications
- Machine intelligence in smart environments and real time analytics
- Generative AI (for smart cities use cases)
- Data analytics for smart cities
- Data-Driven Predictions
- Optimization, approximation methods for smart cities applications
- ...
Security in the context of smart cities:
- Network and mobile security
- Cybersecurity and data privacy
- Resilient and Safe AI
- Blockchain
- Digital governance and citizen engagement
- Digital trust
- Digital forensics
- ...
Early Paper Submission:
Early Author Notification: January 31, 2025
Paper Submission:
Author Notification: March 17, 2025
Short Paper Submission:
Author Notification (short paper): March 17, 2025
Camera-ready Copy Submission: March 29, 2025
Author Registration: April 5, 2025

The DiCES-N 2025 proceeding will be published by Springer in the Communications in Computer and Information Science series CCIS (http://www.springer.com/series/7899).

Indexing: The books of this series are indexed in Scopus, DBLP, Google Scholar, EI-Compendex, Mathematical Reviews, SCImago.
The best papers will have the opportunity to submit extended versions to a prestigious journal proposed by the workshop:

Previous Editions :
DiCES-N19
Workshop Committee
General co-chairs
Imen Jemili, Dr. (HDR) University of Carthage, Tunisia
Mohamed Mosbah, Pr. Bordeaux INP, France
TPC co-chairs
Florence Sedes, Pr. Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University, France
Habib Fathallah, Pr. University of Carthage, Tunisia
Proceedings chair
Soumaya Dahi, Dr. University of Carthage, Tunisia
Local organization
Emna Ben Salem, Dr. University of Carthage, Tunisia
Salma Batti, Dr. University of Carthage, Tunisia
Hela Mahersia, Dr. (HDR) University of Carthage, Tunisia
Publicity chair
Zeineb El Khalfi, Dr. CESI, France soumaya.dahi(at)fsb(dot)ucar(dot)tn
Program Committee
Ikram Amous, University of Sfax, Tunisia Salma Batti, University of Carthage, Tunisia Raoudha Beltaifa, University of Manouba, Tunisia Anis Ben Aicha, University of Carthage, Tunisia Lotfi Ben Othmane, Iowa State University, USA Ismail Berrada, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco Jihane Boulahia, University of Carthage, Tunisia Luca Davoli, University of Parma, Italy Tai Dinh, The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, Japan Mohamed El Ansari, Moulay Ismail University Meknès, Morocco Kamal E Melkemi, University of Batna 2, Algeria Ahmed EL Oualkadi, National school of applied sciences of Tangier, Morocco Nabil Hassan Litayem, Joaan Bin Jassim Academy for Defense Studies, Qatar Sabra Mabrouk, University of Manouba, Tunisia Hela Mahersia, University of Carthage, Tunisia Amel Meddeb Makhlouf, University of Sfax, Tunisia Hend Marouane, University of Sfax, Tunisia Hassan Mnif, University of Sfax, Tunisia Chokri Mraidha, CEA LIST, France Dorsaf Omri, ENIT, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia Samir Ouchani, CESI, France Ashish Rauniyar, SINTEF Digital, Norway Abdelaziz Sahbani, National Engineering School of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia Haifa Touati, University of Gabes, Tunisia Mohamed Tounsi, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia Akka Zemmari, University of Bordeaux, France ...
Submission Guidelines
Authors are invited to submit original and unpublished contributions for this workshop. Submissions must not be currently under consideration somewhere else.
The author(s) name(s) and address(es) must not appear in the body of the paper, and self-reference should be in the third person. This is to facilitate double-blind review. Only the title should be shown at the first page without the author's information.
Authors should consult Springer’s authors’ guidelines and use their proceedings templates, either for latex or for Word, for the preparation of their papers (Springer’s proceedings LaTeX templates are available in Overleaf). Springer encourages authors to include their ORCIDs in their papers. In addition, the corresponding author of each paper, acting on behalf of all of the authors of that paper, must complete and sign a Consent-to-Publish form. The corresponding author signing the copyright form should match the corresponding author marked on the paper. Once the files have been sent to Springer, changes relating to the authorship of the papers cannot be made.
Papers must be formatted according to the CCIS template. Authors should consult Springer’s authors’ guidelines and use their proceedings templates, either for latex or for Word, for the preparation of their papers (Springer’s proceedings LaTeX templates are available in Overleaf). Springer encourages authors to include their ORCIDs in their camera-ready papers. Papers longer than 16 pages can be accepted, if justified by the quality of the content. In addition, the corresponding author of each paper, acting on behalf of all of the authors of that paper, must complete and sign a Consent-to-Publish form. The corresponding author signing the copyright form should match the corresponding author marked on the paper. Once the files have been sent to Springer, changes relating to the authorship of the papers cannot be made.
The papers that will be selected for presentation at the workshop will be included in post-proceedings published by Springer in the Communications in Computer and Information Science series (CCIS) series (prior to publication the papers should be revised according to the review comments).
All paper submissions will be handled through the EquinOCS system >. If you have used this system before, you can use the same username and password. If this is your first time using EquinOCS system, you will need to register for an account by clicking "create an account" link. Upon completion of registration, you will get a notification email from the system and you are ready for submitting your paper. You can upload and re-upload the paper to the system by the submission due date.
Special Ph.D. session
This special session aims to bring together PhD and Master's students involved in the design, development, and evaluation of systems, platforms, and architectures for smart city applications and services. It provides them with the opportunity to present and discuss their research in front of peers and experienced professors in a helpful environment. Short papers are encouraged, presenting preliminary results or ongoing work, limited to MSc or PhD research, within the scope of the DiCES-N workshop.
Each paper must be formatted according to Springer's CCIS format and must at most 8 pages long. All short paper submissions must be completely anonymous. Submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process by members of the DiCES-N workshop program committee. Authors should not reveal their name or affiliation on the title page or in the text. Once accepted, articles must be single-authored, and the name(s) of the supervisor(s) must be clearly indicated (‘supervised by ...’) below the name of the principal author in the camera-ready version.
Papers must be submitted electronically, in PDF format, using the Equinocs submission system. Candidates whose papers have been accepted are expected to present their research at the special PhD. session and discuss their work and projects with other candidates and senior researchers. They are also expected to attend all sessions of the event. Accepted papers presented at the special session will be included in the DiCES-N 2025 workshop proceedings, which will be published by Springer as part of the CCIS series. A selection of highly rated short papers will be exempt from registration fees.
Camera Ready Submissions
Your contribution may be prepared in LaTeX or Microsoft Word. Technical Instructions for working with Springer’s style files and templates are provided in separate documents which can be found here or Springer Instructions for Authors of Proceedings CS .
- We need all source files (LaTeX files with all the associated style files, special fonts and eps files, or Word or rtf files) and the final pdfs of all of the papers. Please note that we cannot accept Framemaker files.
- References are to be supplied as Bbl files to avoid omission of data during conversion from Bib to Bbl. Our preferred bibliographic styles are MathPhySci (particularly for computer science) and Basic.
- Affiliations, Email-Addresses, and ORCIDs. The affiliated institutions, including town/city and country, are to be listed directly below the names of the authors. Multiple affiliations should be marked with superscript Arabic numbers, and they should each start on a new line. We encourage authors to include their ORCIDs in superscript next to their names.
Please place an envelope icon (or any other pointer) next to the name of the corresponding author, whose email address is mandatory, in the header of the paper. Email addresses should start on a new line directly under the corresponding affiliation.
We strongly recommend that all authors include their email addresses in their papers. These will be used by Springer to provide authors with a personal MySpringer account where they can download a free copy of the eBook. - A license to publish form must be signed by authors for the copyright transfers.
REGISTRATION
Please note that all accepted papers must be registered before the deadline. Otherwise, they will be deleted from the workshop proceedings and not included in the program. A registration covers one paper. It is obligatory for at least one author to register, attend the workshop, and present his/her accepted paper.
The workshop registration without accommodation covers attendance at the workshop (workshop sessions, keynote speakers), Coffee Breaks and Lunches. The registration for the workshop with accommodation additionally covers the night of 26 to 27 April in a double or triple room for juniors (PhD and master’s students) and in a single room for seniors.
Each author must complete the registration form and send it to the organizing committee.
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PROGRAM
Final program
April 26, 2025
09:00 |
Registration |
09:30 |
Opening |
9:45 |
Invited TalkChair : Pr. Mohamed MosbahPr. Akka Zemmari, University of Bordeaux, FranceAI Models in the Wild: Continual and Stream Learning. |
10:45 |
Invited TalkChair : Pr. Mohamed MosbahDr. Hela Mahersia, University of Carthage, Tunisiahands-on coding : Image Denoising: From Filters to Networks. |
11:45 |
Session 1 : IA for Smart Transportation Chair : Dr. Imen JemiliLeila Bouchrit, Sajeh Zairi, Ikbal C. Msadaa, Amine Dhraief and Khalil DriraTowards Robust Traffic Prediction: Leveraging GNNs, Data Augmentation, and Hybrid Models. Asma Hamissi, Amine Dhraief and Layth Sliman On the Optimization of Drone Collision Avoidance using Deep Reinforcement Learning and Time-to-Collision Estimation. |
13:00 |
Lunch |
14:00 |
Session 2 : Security and IA Chair : Dr. Tarek Bejaoui |
14:00 |
Invited Talk Dr. Omar Cheikhrouhou, University of Sfax, Tunisia Blockchain for Secure and Sustainable Digital Cities: Innovations, Challenges, and Future Directions. |
15:00 |
Invited Talk Pr. Anis Koubaa, Alfaisal University, Saudi Arabia The Rise of Autonomous Intelligence: Unleashing the Power of Generative AI Agentic Workflows in Business Transformation. |
16:00 |
Break |
16:30 |
Session 2 : Security and IA Chair : Dr. Soumaya DahiAmeni Chetouane and Kamel KarouiContinual Federated Learning Approach for Distributed Network Intrusion Detection: A Case Study on Software Defined Networking. Emna Taktak and Mohamed Tounsi Towards transitional reconfiguration of WSNs' distributed algorithms. |
April 27, 2025
8:30 |
Invited TalkChair : Dr. Fadi KacemPr. Akka Zemmari, University of Bordeaux, FranceUnderstanding the Black Box: Navigating Explainability in Multimodal AI for Risk-Aware Systems |
9:30 |
Invited TalkChair : Dr. Fadi KacemPr. Nawress Khlifa, University of Tunis El Mana, TunisiaAI in Medicine: Shaping the Next Generation of Healthcare. |
10:30 |
Break |
10:45 |
Roundtable: AI for Tunisian e-health sector Chair : Pr. Habib FathallahDr. Soumaya Debiche Place de l'IA en pathologie respiratoire. Dr. Salma Mkaddem IA et explorations fonctionnelles respiratoires. Dr. Hela Cherif L’intelligence artificielle, nouvel allié du chercheur : de l'équation de recherche à la publication. Dr. Walid Jallouli Domaines d’application de l’IA en urologie. Dr. Wissal Jaafar AI for women’s health. |
13:00 |
Lunch |
11:45 |
Session 3 : AI for e-heath Chair : Dr. Hela MahersiaHamza Mbarek, Hela Mahersia, Nabil Litayem and Omar ElharroussAdvancing Smart Healthcare with an Enhanced Multi-Modal for Med-VQA. Chaima Hannachi, Sofia Kouah, Meryem Ammi, and Omar Cheikhrouhou Artificial Intelligence in Sleep Apnea Detection: A Review. Yosr Haddad and Hela Mahersia Advancements in Image Segmentation Techniques for Uterine Diseases: A Comprehensive Review. Amira Frih , Noura Benhadjyoussef and Mohsen Machhout Improving Clinical Diagnosis: An Enhanced 3D U-Net Architecture with SE Blocks for Brain Tumor Segmentation. Mounira zouaghi, Becem Obay, Fadi kacem, Yousra Falfoul, Linda Marrakchi, Ghassen Darouich, Amal Belghaouia, and Habib Fathallah AI-Powered Early Detection of Ophthalmic Diseases through Eye Aspect Ratio Analysis in Smartphone Videos: Dry Eye and Refractive Errors Diseases Study-Case. |
16:15 |
Closing |
INVITED SPEAKERS
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Prof. Akka Zemmari Prof. Akka Zemmari has received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Bordeaux 1, France. He is a Full Professor in computer science at the University of Bordeaux, France. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Distributed algorithms and systems, Graphs, Randomized Algorithms, and Security. He is head of Artificial Intelligence team at the University of Bordeaux. He participated to national research projects, European research projects, and Europe-India projects. He wrote two books and more than 100 research papers published in international journals and conference proceedings and he is involved in program committees and organization committees of international conferences.
Deploying AI models in real-world environments (AI modhrels in the wild) presents a major challenge: the assumption of a one-time training phase is no longer plausible. Instead, data is continuously evolving, requiring models to be updated over time to maintain their performance. This shift calls for adaptive learning strategies capable of integrating new information while preserving previously acquired knowledge.
A naïve approach to this problem is brute-force retraining, where the model is periodically re-trained from scratch using all available data. While effective, this method is computationally expensive and impractical for large-scale deployments. A more efficient alternative is fine-tuning, where the model is incrementally updated with new data. However, this approach risks catastrophic forgetting, where older knowledge is lost in the process. In this talk, we will explore intermediate solutions that strike a balance between these extremes. We will discuss methods that enable efficient adaptation without full retraining, leveraging memory-based techniques, regularization strategies, and model architectures designed for continual learning. A key challenge in this setting is stream learning, where data arrives in a non-stationary manner, requiring real-time adaptation with minimal computational overhead. Through this presentation, we will highlight recent advances in continual learning and discuss practical strategies to make AI models more robust and adaptive in dynamic environments. |
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Dr. Hela Mahersia Dr. Eng. Hela Mahersia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Faculty of Science of Bizerte, University of Carthage. She is also a researcher at the Intelligence, Data Engineering, and Applications (IDEA) Laboratory. Her research interests include Image Processing, Pattern Recognition, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning.
This talk explores the evolution of image denoising techniques, tracing the journey from traditional filtering methods to cutting-edge deep learning approaches. We will highlight key concepts, compare classical and neural-based strategies, and discuss current trends and challenges in building efficient and robust denoising models.
Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops, as the session will include a hands-on coding workshop. |
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Dr. Omar Cheikhrouhou Dr. Omar Cheikhrouhou is an Associate Professor in Computer Science at the National School of Electronics and Telecommunications of Sfax (ENET’Com), University of Sfax, Tunisia. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (2012) and a Habilitation (2022) focused on designing intelligent and secure algorithms for multi-robot applications. With an h-index over 40 and more than 5000 citations, he was ranked among the top 2% of the most widely cited scientists in the world, highlighting the global impact of his research.
His work spans cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and AI-driven smart healthcare. He is a member of the Computer Embedded System-CES Lab (Tunisia) and a Research Fellow at the Robotics and Internet of Things-RIOTU Lab (Saudi Arabia), where he supervises Ph.D. candidates and leads several international projects. Dr. Cheikhrouhou has served as a guest editor for several prestigious journals (MDPI, Elsevier, Wiley) and has chaired and organized numerous international conferences and workshops (ARES, SINConf, TWESD). His academic journey combines deep technical expertise with impactful research and leadership in the advancement of secure and intelligent digital systems. The increasing adoption of digital technologies in urban environments has led to the emergence of digital cities, where interconnected infrastructures rely on Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and distributed computing to enhance efficiency and sustainability. However, these advancements introduce significant cybersecurity challenges, including data breaches, identity theft, and infrastructure vulnerabilities. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising solution for enhancing security, privacy, and trust in digital cities by providing decentralized, tamper-resistant, and transparent mechanisms for data management and transaction validation.
We will explore the role of blockchain in securing and sustaining digital cities, analyze key challenges, including scalability, energy consumption, interoperability, and regulatory compliance, and present emerging solutions. We will tackle blockchain convergence with emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, federated learning, and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). |
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Prof. Anis Koubaa Prof. Anis Koubaa is a Full Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Alfaisal University and a founding member of MUST University. He is a globally recognized leader in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Computer Science, with over two decades of impactful contributions across Generative AI, IoT, drones, and smart technologies.
He served in key leadership roles at Prince Sultan University, including Director of the Research and Innovation Centers and Aide to the President for Research Governance, significantly advancing the university’s global research profile. Prof. Koubaa is the founder and Fractional CTO of ScaleX Innovation, a pioneering company in business transformation through Generative AI. He established the ArabianLLM series and has led numerous high-impact AI projects in smart cities, surveillance, healthcare, and automation. A Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and editor of over 20 Springer publications, he has received multiple prestigious awards, including:
Listed among the top 2% of scientists globally by Stanford University, Prof. Koubaa remains at the forefront of AI innovation, leading transformative initiatives in smart logistics, cloud robotics, and enterprise AI. Generative AI is no longer just about generating text—it’s about generating decisions, actions, and impact. In this talk, we explore the rapid evolution of large language models (LLMs) from traditional pretraining and fine-tuning to Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and the rise of autonomous agentic workflows.
We’ll examine how this shift marks a new era of Autonomous Intelligence, where AI agents can plan, reason, reflect, and interact across complex tasks—fundamentally redefining the boundaries of human-machine collaboration. Drawing on real-world deployments and industry use cases, this session reveals how businesses leverage generative AI to transform operations—from intelligent document processing and automated customer service to smart logistics and AI-powered decision systems. We will also highlight the architectural innovations enabling these breakthroughs, including multi-agent coordination, memory-enhanced reasoning, and integration with external tools and APIs. Join us to uncover how agentic AI workflows drive the next wave of business transformation—and why mastering them is no longer optional, but essential for future-ready organizations. |
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Prof. Nawres Khlifa Prof. Nawres Khlifa is a full Professor at the University of Tunis El Manar and the Coordinator of the TIMed (Medical Image Processing Team). She is a NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) University Ambassador. Her expertise encompasses Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Medical Imaging.
Her research often focuses on the development and application of advanced machine learning algorithms to enhance medical imaging techniques, aiming to improve diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes. In addition to her research, Professor Khlifa is actively involved in teaching and mentoring students, guiding them in the exploration of artificial intelligence applications in healthcare, and many other fields. She has also collaborated with various international researchers and institutions, contributing to numerous publications and conferences in her areas of expertise. |
VENUE
The workshop will be held at Hotel Mehari Yasmine Hammamet (Room Sousse), Hammamet, Tunisia.
Address: Mehari Hammamet BP 119, Yasmine Hammamet, 8050 – Tunisie
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