CIAA · since 1996

Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata

Research on all aspects of implementation and application of automata and related structures, including theoretical aspects.

State diagram of a finite automaton

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CIAA 2026

Kingston, Ontario, Canada

August 5–8, 2026 · Queen's University

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Next · 31st edition

CIAA 2027

Stellenbosch, South Africa

September 20–23, 2027
Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS)
Organized by Brink van der Merwe

Proceedings of past editions appear in Springer's Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Mission Statement and Topics

Automata theory is the foundation of computer science. Its applications have spread to almost all areas of computer science and many other disciplines.

The purpose of these conferences is to bring together members of the academic, research and industrial community who have an interest in implementation and application of automata to demonstrate and analyze their work and to explain the problems they have been solving.

A growing number of software systems manipulate automata, regular expressions, grammars, and related structures, for example:

AGLAMOREAutomateFADELAFinITEFireLiteFLAPFSMGrailINRIntexASTLMONATuring's World

We solicit papers and demos on topics including

  • Complexity of automata operations
  • Compilers
  • Computer-aided verification
  • Concurrency
  • Data structure design for automata
  • Data and image compression
  • Design and architecture of automata software
  • Digital libraries
  • DNA / molecular / membrane computing
  • Document engineering
  • Editors, environments
  • Experimental studies and practical experiences
  • Industrial applications
  • Natural language processing
  • Networking
  • New algorithms for manipulating automata
  • Object-oriented modeling
  • Pattern matching
  • Quantum computing
  • Speech and speaker recognition
  • Structured and semi-structured documents
  • Symbolic manipulation environments for automata
  • Teaching
  • Text processing
  • Techniques for graphical display of automata
  • VLSI
  • Viruses, related phenomena

Past and Future Conferences

CIAA started in 1996 as the Workshop on Implementation of Automata (WIA) and was renamed International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata in 2000.

  1. 2027Stellenbosch, South AfricaSeptember 20–23, 2027 · STIAS · Organizer: Brink van der Merwe
  2. 2026Kingston, Ontario, CanadaPC-chair: Taylor J. Smith
  3. 2025Palermo, ItalyPC-chairs: Giuseppa Castiglione and Sabrina Mantaci
  4. 2024Akita, JapanPC-chair: Szilárd Fazekas
  5. 2023Famagusta, CyprusPC-chair: Benedek Nagy
  6. 2022Rouen, FrancePC-chairs: Pascal Caron and Ludovic Mignot
  7. 2021Bremen, GermanyPC-chair: Sebastian Maneth
  8. 2020Loughborough, United Kingdom (canceled)PC-chairs: Manfred Kufleitner and Daniel Reidenbach
  9. 2019Košice, SlovakiaPC-chairs: Michal Hospodár and Galina Jirásková
  10. 2018Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, CanadaPC-chair: Cezar Câmpeanu
  11. 2017Marne-la-Vallée, FrancePC-chairs: Arnaud Carayol and Cyril Nicaud
  12. 2016Seoul, South KoreaPC-chair: Yo-Sub Han
  13. 2015Umeå, SwedenPC-chair: Frank Drewes
  14. 2014Giessen, GermanyPC-chairs: Markus Holzer and Martin Kutrib
  15. 2013Halifax, CanadaPC-chair: Stavros Konstantinidis
  16. 2012Porto, PortugalPC-chairs: Nelma Moreira and Rogério Reis
Show 2011 – 1996Hide earlier conferences
  1. 2011Blois, FrancePC-chairs: Béatrice Bouchou-Markhoff, Jean-Marc Champarnaud, and Denis Maurel
  2. 2010Winnipeg, CanadaPC-chairs: Michael Domaratzki and Kai Salomaa
  3. 2009Sydney, AustraliaPC-chair: Sebastian Maneth
  4. 2008San Francisco, USAPC-chairs: Oscar Ibarra and Bala Ravikumar
  5. 2007Prague, Czech RepublicPC-chairs: Jan Holub and Bořivoj Melichar
  6. 2006Taipei, TaiwanPC-chairs: Oscar Ibarra and Hsu-Chun Yen
  7. 2005Nice, FrancePC-chairs: Jacques Farré and Igor Litovsky
  8. 2004Kingston, CanadaPC-chairs: Kai Salomaa and Sheng Yu
  9. 2003Santa Barbara, USAPC-chair: Oscar Ibarra
  10. 2002Tours, FrancePC-chairs: Denis Maurel and Jean-Marc Champarnaud
  11. 2001Pretoria, South AfricaPC-chairs: Bruce Watson and Derick Wood
  12. 2000London, Ontario, CanadaPC-chair: Sheng Yu
  13. 1999WIAPotsdam, GermanyPC-chair: Helmut Jürgensen
  14. 1998WIARouen, FrancePC-chairs: Jean-Marc Champarnaud, Denis Maurel, and Djelloul Ziadi
  15. 1997WIALondon, Ontario, CanadaPC-chairs: Derick Wood and Sheng Yu
  16. 1996WIALondon, Ontario, CanadaPC-chairs: Darrell R. Raymond and Sheng Yu

Publications

Since the first WIA in 1996, the proceedings have appeared in Springer's LNCS series. See the CIAA page on DBLP for details.

Extended versions of selected papers usually appear in special issues of Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) or the International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science (IJFCS), alternating each year.

Special issues

  1. 2026TCSTaylor J. Smith, Guest EditorPlanned
  2. 2025IJFCSGiuseppa Castiglione and Sabrina Mantaci, Guest EditorsIn preparation
  3. 2024TCSSzilárd Fazekas and Shinnosuke Seki, Guest EditorsPapers spread across several volumes
  4. 2023IJFCS 37-1Benedek Nagy, Guest Editor
  5. 2021IJFCS 34-8Sebastian Maneth, Guest Editor
  6. 2019TCS 870Galina Jirásková and Cezar Câmpeanu
  7. 2018IJFCS 31-8Cezar Câmpeanu, Guest Editor
  8. 2017TCS 787Arnaud Carayol and Cyril Nicaud, Guest Editors
  9. 2016IJFCS 28-05Yo-Sub Han and Kai Salomaa, Guest Editors
  10. 2015TCS 679Frank Drewes, Guest Editor
  11. 2014IJFCS 26-7Markus Holzer and Martin Kutrib, Guest Editors
  12. 2013TCS 578Stavros Konstantinidis, Guest Editor
  13. 2012IJFCS 24-6Nelma Moreira and Rogério Reis, Guest Editors
Show 2011 – 1997Hide earlier issues
  1. 2011TCS 450Béatrice Bouchou-Markhoff, Pascal Caron, Jean-Marc Champarnaud and Denis Maurel, Guest Editors
  2. 2010IJFCS 22-8Michael Domaratzki and Kai Salomaa, Guest Editors
  3. 2009TCS 411-38-39Sebastian Maneth, Guest Editor
  4. 2008IJFCS 20-4Oscar H. Ibarra and Bala Ravikumar, Guest Editors
  5. 2007TCS 410-37Jan Holub, Guest Editor
  6. 2006IJFCS 18-4Oscar H. Ibarra and Hsu-Chun Yen, Guest Editors
  7. 2005TCS 363-2Jacques Farré and Igor Litovsky, Guest Editors
  8. 2004IJFCS 16-3Kai Salomaa and Sheng Yu, Guest Editors
  9. 2003TCS 328-1-2Oscar H. Ibarra, Guest Editor
  10. 2002IJFCS 14-6Jean-Marc Champarnaud and Denis Maurel, Guest Editors
  11. 2001TCS 313-1Bruce Watson and Derick Wood, Guest Editors
  12. 2000IJFCS 13-1Sheng Yu, Guest Editor
  13. WIA ’98TCS 267-1-2Jean-Marc Champarnaud, Denis Maurel and Djelloul Ziadi, Guest Editors
  14. WIA ’97TCS 231-1Kai Salomaa, Derick Wood and Sheng Yu, Guest Editors

Best Paper Award

The authors of the best paper of each conference are honored. The award started in 2004 and has carried the subtitle “Sheng Yu Award” since 2014.

CIAA 2026 · Kingston, Canada

Bandwidth of Nondeterministic Finite Automata

Da-Jung Cho, Szilárd Zsolt Fazekas, Daihei Ise, Shinnosuke Seki, Wataru Tamehira, and Max Wiedenhöft

The award is sponsored by the conference, except from 2004 to 2008, when it was funded by the University of California, Santa Barbara. No award was given in 2020 and 2021.

Past recipients

  1. 2025Engineering an LTLf Synthesis ToolAlexandre Duret-Lutz, Shufang Zhu, Nir Piterman, Giuseppe De Giacomo and Moshe Y. Vardi
  2. 2024Translation of Semi-Extended Regular Expressions using DerivativesAntoine Martin, Alexandre Duret-Lutz and Etienne Renault · ¥50,000
  3. 2023Two-way Machines and de Bruijn WordsLuca Prigioniero and Giovanni Pighizzini
  4. 2022Syntax Checking Either WayMartin Kutrib and Uwe Meyer
  5. 2019Decision Problems for Restricted Variants of Two-Dimensional AutomataTaylor J. Smith and Kai Salomaa · €250
  6. 2018State Complexity of Overlap AssemblyJanusz Brzozowski, Lila Kari, Bai Li and Marek Szykuła · CAD$500
  7. 2017Complexity of Proper Prefix-Convex Regular LanguagesJanusz Brzozowski and Corwin Sinnamon
  8. 2016A Logical Characterization of Small 2NFAsChristos Kapoutsis and Lamana Mulaffer · KRW 300
  9. 2016The Complexity of Fixed-Height Patterned Tile Self-AssemblyShinnosuke Seki and Andrew Winslow · KRW 300
  10. 2015More on Deterministic and Nondeterministic Finite Cover AutomataHermann Gruber, Markus Holzer and Sebastian Jakobi
  11. 2014On the Power of One-Way Automata with Quantum and Classical StatesMaria Paola Bianchi, Carlo Mereghetti and Beatrice Palano · €300
  12. 2013Partial Word AutomataÉric Balkanski, Francine Blanchet-Sadri, Matthew Kilgore and Benjamin J. Wyatt · CAD$400
Show 2012 – 2004Hide earlier recipients
  1. 2012P(l)aying for SynchronizationFedor Fominykh and Mikhail Volkov · €300
  2. 2011Chrobak Normal Form Revisited, with ApplicationsPaweł Gawrychowski · €200
  3. 2011Smaller Representation of Finite State AutomataDawid Weiss and Jan Daciuk · €200
  4. 2010Large-Scale Training of SVMs with Automata KernelsCyril Allauzen, Corinna Cortes and Mehryar Mohri · CAD$350
  5. 2009An n log n Algorithm for Hyper-minimizing States in a (Minimized) Deterministic AutomatonMarkus Holzer and Andreas Maletti · AUD$500
  6. 2008Composed Bisimulation for Tree AutomataParosh Abdulla, Ahmed Bouajjani, Lukáš Holík, Lisa Kaati and Tomáš Vojnar · US$300
  7. 2007Synchronizing Automata Preserving a Chain of Partial OrdersMikhail V. Volkov · US$300
  8. 2006Bisimulation Minimization of Tree AutomataParosh Aziz Abdulla, Lisa Kaati and Johanna Högberg · US$300
  9. 2005Tree Automata and XPath on Compressed TreesMarkus Lohrey and Sebastian Maneth · US$300
  10. 2004Substitutions, Trajectories and Noisy ChannelsLila Kari, Stavros Konstantinidis and Petr Sosík · US$300

Steering Committee

Current members of the CIAA Steering Committee, in alphabetical order.

  • Markus HolzerChair

    Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institut für Informatik, Germany

  • Oscar Ibarra

    University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

  • Sylvain Lombardy

    LaBRI UMR 5800, Université de Bordeaux, France

  • Nelma Moreira

    CMUP & DCC, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

  • Kai T. SalomaaCo-Chair

    Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

  • Hsu-Chun Yen

    National Taiwan University, Department of Electrical Engineering, Taipei, Taiwan

In Memoriam

The whole CIAA community honours the memory of our late colleagues Derick Wood and Sheng Yu, who passed away far too early.

Portrait of Derick Wood
Derick Wood
Sheng Yu and Derick Wood together
Sheng Yu (left) and Derick Wood (right)
Portrait of Sheng Yu
Sheng Yu