Call for BlueSky Track Papers

Aims and Scope

The BlueSky Track (aka Vision Track) invites the research community to present visionary propositions that within a foreseeable future could inspire impactful directions and compelling new research opportunities for the ICDM community. Unlike traditional research papers, these submissions should expose gaps in the current data mining research, propose bold and forward-looking ideas that tackle fundamental challenges, introduce unprecedented algorithmic or methodological opportunities, or question the prevailing assumptions in the community. The goal is to stimulate innovation and foster new research trajectories that will influence future research in the community.

What is (and what is NOT) a BlueSky paper?

BlueSky papers present bold visions. The key property that separates the papers in the BlueSky track from regular research papers is that they have high potential to expand the current ICDM research agenda by defining new research topics and problem areas with transformative impact. Authors of BlueSky papers should not be bound by existing methodologies, techniques, technologies or datasets, but are encouraged to rather look further ahead and present their out-of-box (blue sky) thoughts that could result in paradigm change and enable quantum leap in knowledge. In addition, authors may identify specific scientific domains in which there are untapped opportunities for novel data mining contributions. Authors may want to consider the following elements in framing their vision:

  1. What is the BlueSky idea?
  2. Why is this a BlueSky idea? Why should the community ponder over it? Why now?
  3. Does the BlueSky idea drastically push the frontiers of research? Does it challenge our current set of assumptions? Or, does it take a bold approach to solve a wicked problem?
  4. What are the unprecedented challenges to address?
  5. What will success look like?

But, what is NOT a BlueSky paper? Unlike the main ICDM track for research papers, the BlueSky Track does not have any constraints on the categories of topics. However, there are some basic rules as to what would not constitute a suitable candidate paper: (1) If the work is proposing slightly better solutions to well-studied problems (or variations thereof) with known solutions, then it is not recommended for submission to this track; (2) Even if the papers introduce a relatively new problem – in the case that it is dominated by a specific solution proposed by the authors and offers a very limited discussion in terms of broader future research impacts, then it should not be submitted to this track; (3) If the paper proposes an application of existing techniques to a specific domain in which they may be useful – its value will be diminished unless there is a solid argument as to what would be the significant novel challenges for ICDM community.

Submission Guidelines

Authors are invited to submit original BlueSky/vision papers that have not been published elsewhere and are not currently under consideration at other publication venues. Submissions should follow the same formatting as regular ICDM papers but are limited to 4 pages (excluding references). The accepted papers will appear in the conference workshop proceedings, and the best submission(s) will be considered for award (offered in the form of partial travel grants). The BlueSky Track is a single-blind track; all submissions should clearly present the authors information, including names, affiliations and email addresses of the authors. The camera-ready submission must be in the IEEE 2-column format:

https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html

Manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the submission site dedicated to the Blue Sky Track:

https://tinyurl.com/ICDMBLUESKYTRACK

Email submissions are not accepted. The policies on conflict of interest, dual submission, conflict of interest, and use of AI in authorship are the same as those adopted by the main track of the conference. All questions regarding paper submissions must be sent to the BlueSky Track Co-Chairs via email with the subject “ICDM 2025 BlueSky”.

Attendance

At least one author of each accepted paper must complete the conference registration. All authors are expected to present their papers in person. Remote presentations are permitted when regular attendance is otherwise impossible (e.g. visa denial).

Important Dates

  • Paper submission: July 15, 2025
  • Notification to authors: September 15, 2025
  • Camera-ready submission: September 25, 2025

    • All submission deadlines are end-of-day in the Anywhere on Earth (AoE) time zone.

    Review Process

    Each paper will be evaluated by at least three Program Committee (PC) members of the BlueSky Track. Final acceptance decisions will be made based on review scores.

    Best Paper Awards

    The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) has kindly sponsored awards for the best Blue Sky papers at ICDM 2025:
  • First Prize: $1,000 (travel grant)
  • Second Prize: $750 (travel grant)
  • Third Prize: $500 (travel grant)

    • The best papers will be selected by PC members after papers are presented by the authors at the conference.


    BlueSky Track Co-chairs

    Farnoush Banaei-kashani, farnoush.banaei-kashani@ucdenver.edu, University of Colorado Denver
    Yujun Yan, yujun.yan@dartmouth.edu, Dartmouth College
    Xiaowei Jia, xiaowei@pitt.edu, University of Pittsburgh