The four-volume set LNAI 6881-LNAI 6884 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2011, held in Kaiserslautern, Germany, in September 2011. Part 1: The total of 244 high-quality papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The 61 papers of Part 1 are organized in topical sections on artificial neural networks, connectionists systems and evolutionary computation, machine learning and classical AI, agent, multi-agentsystems, knowledge based and expert systems, intelligent vision, image processing and signal processing, knowledge management, ontologies, and data mining.

The four-volume set LNAI 6881-LNAI 6884 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2011, held in Kaiserslautern, Germany, in September 2011. Part 2: The total of 244 high-quality papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The 70 papers of Part 2 are organized in topical sections on web intelligence, text and multimedia mining and retrieval, intelligent tutoring systems and e-learning environments, other / misc. intelligent systems topics, methods and techniques of artificial and computational intelligence in economics, finance and decision making, workshop on seamless integration of semantic technologies in computer-supported office work (sistcow), innovations in chance discovery, advanced knowledge-based systems, recent trends in knowledge engineering, smart systems, and their applications.

Annotation The three volume set LNAI 5177, LNAI 5178, and LNAI 5179, constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2008, held in Zagreb, Croatia, in September 2008. The 316 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected. The papers present a wealth of original research results from the field of intelligent information processing in the broadest sense; topics covered in the first volume are artificial neural networks and connectionists systems; fuzzy and neuro-fuzzy systems; evolutionary computation; machine learning and classical AI; agent systems; knowledge based and expert systems; intelligent vision and image processing; knowledge management, ontologies, and data mining; Web intelligence, text and multimedia mining and retrieval; and intelligent robotics and control.

The three volume set LNAI 4251, LNAI 4252, and LNAI 4253 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2006, held in Bournemouth, UK, in October 2006. The 480 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from about 1400 submissions. The papers present a wealth of original research results from the field of intelligent information processing.

During recent decades we have witnessed not only the introduction of automation into the work environment but we have also seen a dramatic change in how automation has influenced the conditions of work. While some 30 years ago the addition of a computer was considered only for routine and boring tasks in support of humans, the balance has dramatically shifted to the computer being able to perform almost any task the human is willing to delegate. The very fast pace of change in processor and information technology has been the main driving force behind this development. Advances in automation and especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) have enabled the formation of a rather unique team with human and electronic members. The team is still supervised by the human with the machine as a subordinate associate or assistant, sharing responsibility, authority and autonomy over many tasks. The requirement for teaming human and machine in a highly dynamic and unpredictable task environment has led to impressive achievements in many supporting technologies. These include methods for system analysis, design and engineering and in particular for information processing, for cognitive and complex knowledge [1] engineering .

We were very pleased to once again extend to the delegates and, we are pleased to th say, our friends the warmest of welcomes to the 8 International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems at Wellington - stitute of Technology in Wellington, New Zealand. The KES conferences attract a wide range of interest. The broad focus of the c- ference series is the theory and applications of computational intelligence and em- gent technologies. Once purely a research field, intelligent systems have advanced to the point where their abilities have been incorporated into many conventional appli- tion areas. The quest to encapsulate human knowledge and capabilities in domains such as reasoning, problem solving, sensory analysis, and other complex areas has been avidly pursued. This is because it has been demonstrated that these abilities have definite practical applications. The techniques long ago reached the point where they are being exploited to provide commercial advantages for companies and real beneficial effects on profits. KES 2004 provided a valuable mechanism for delegates to obtain a profound view of the latest intelligent systems research into a range of - gorithms, tools and techniques. KES 2004 also gave delegates the chance to come into contact with those applying intelligent systems in diverse commercial areas. The combination of theory and practice represents a uniquely valuable opportunity for - preciating the full spectrum of intelligent-systems activity and the “state of the art”.

Annotation The four volume set LNAI 3681, LNAI 3682, LNAI 3683, and LNAI 3684 constitute the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2005, held in Melbourne, Australia in September 2005. The 716 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from nearly 1400 submissions. The papers present a wealth of original research results from the field of intelligent information processing in the broadest sense; topics covered in the first volume are intelligent design support systems, data engineering, knowledge engineering and ontologies, knowledge discovery and data mining, advanced network application, approaches and methods of security engineering, chance discovery, information hiding and multimedia signal processing, soft computing techniques and their applications, intelligent agent technology and applications, smart systems, knowledge - based interface systems, intelligent information processing for remote sensing, intelligent human computer€ interaction systems, experience management and knowledge management, network (security) real-time and fault tolerant systems, advanced network application and real-time systems, and intelligent watermarking algorithms.