Sunway University Organises the Inaugural 1st International Conference on Statistical Learning, Data Science & Generative AI (ICSL-DSGA 2026) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Madras — an IEEE Technically Co-Sponsored Conference

Sunway University successfully organised the inaugural 1st International Conference on Statistical Learning, Data Science & Generative AI (ICSL-DSGA 2026) on 29–30 August 2026, with the conference hosted at Sunway University, Selangor, Malaysia. The conference was organised by Sunway University, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), India, and technically co-sponsored by the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society — Malaysia Chapter.

The conference served as an international platform for researchers, academicians, industry professionals, students, and practitioners to exchange ideas and present recent advances in statistical learning, data science, machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, natural language processing, computer vision, healthcare analytics, robotics, autonomous systems, and real-world intelligent applications. The technical programme was structured across seven major research tracks, bringing together both theoretical developments and applied research. 

The conference was led by Dr Sathishkumar Veerappampalayam Easwaramoorthy, Sunway University, Malaysia, as Conference Chair. He was joined by Prof. Neelesh S. Upadhye, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, and Dr Karthigayan Muthukaruppan, Sunway University, Malaysia, as Conference Co-Chairs. 

The Program Chairs were Assoc. Prof. Dr Saad Aslam, Sunway University; Prof. Ts. Lee Chien Sing, Sunway University; Pramod Kumar Naik, Indian Institute of Technology Madras; and Assoc. Prof. Dr Choo Yun Huoy, Universiti Teknikal Melaka, Malaysia. The Program Committee included Dr Danish Mahmood Khan, Sunway University, and Assoc. Prof. Santosh Kumar Sahu, Indian Institute of Technology Madras. 

The Local Chairs were Assoc. Prof. Dr Anwar P.P. Abdul Majeed and Dr Javid Iqbal Thirupattur, both from Sunway University. The Publicity and Publication Chairs were Assoc. Prof. Dr Samuel Mofoluwa Ajibade, Sunway University; Prof. S. Sundar, Indian Institute of Technology Madras; and Dr Komal Masroor, Sunway University. The conference was supported by a wider technical committee comprising academics and industry experts from Malaysia, India, South Korea, China, Singapore, and the United States.

A major highlight of ICSL-DSGA 2026 was the participation of distinguished keynote speakers from both industry and academia. Dr Ramesh Perumal, Intel Corporation, Malaysia, delivered a keynote on “From Intelligence to Action: Agentic AI at the Edge Transforming Clinical Workflows.” Prof. Santosh Kumar Sahu, IIT Madras, presented “Sustainability and Blue Economy.” Abaya Phadnis, Head of Module & Mechanical Operations – Technical Program Management, Google Devices, delivered “AI Evolution in Technical Program Management and Manufacturing Industry,” while Chair Prof. Dr S. Sundar, IIT Madras, presented “A Self-Supervised Learning Approach for Denoising Autoregressive Models with Additive Noise: Finite and Infinite Variance Cases.”

The first day of the conference was conducted on-site at Sunway University and featured the opening ceremony, keynote addresses, parallel technical sessions, networking activities, and a significant Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between Sunway University and IIT Madras. The second day was conducted fully online through multiple parallel Zoom sessions, enabling participation from researchers who were unable to attend physically. 

The conference featured 29 in-person presentations across three parallel sessions and 157 online presentations across 16 parallel tracks. Presenters and chairs represented countries including Malaysia, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, China, and the United States, reflecting the truly international nature of the inaugural event. 

All submitted full papers underwent single-blind peer review by independent reviewers and were prepared in IEEE conference format. Accepted and presented papers will be submitted for inclusion in the IEEE Xplore® Digital Library, subject to IEEE quality-review requirements. 

As the first edition of ICSL-DSGA, the conference represents an important milestone in establishing a sustained international platform for collaboration in statistical learning, data science, and generative AI. ICSL-DSGA 2026 created new opportunities for research collaboration, academic exchange, industry engagement, postgraduate development, and future joint initiatives between Sunway University, IIT Madras, IEEE, and the broader international research community.