Research in Coding Theory is increasing in Latin America, spanning interdisciplinary aspects in Mathematics, Engineering, and Computer Science. The Latin American community has been active both in scientific and in organizational aspects. In the last 5 years, three important international events have been organized in the continent: the IEEE – Information Theory Workshop (ITW), in Paraty (Brazil) 2011, the SPCodingSchool in Campinas (Brazil) 2015 and the Colombian Workshop on Coding Theory in Barranquilla (Colombia) 2015. 

The  Latin American Week on Coding and Information (LAWCI)  will take place at University of Campinas – Unicamp – in Brazil, from July 22 to July 27, 2018.  It consists of a three-day school followed by a three-day workshop. 

The  School (July 22-24)  aims to attract young students in Mathematics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science to develop research in the area of Coding and Information Theory. It will bring together about 60 students (master and PhD), especially from Latin America. The kernel of the school are five mini-courses (tutorials) given by leading specialists worldwide. Special lectures, problems sessions and social events will enhance the program. 

The Workshop (July 25-27) will cover main topics in the area. Contributions of original papers on all aspects of coding or information theory are sought in the form of extended abstracts (4 to 6 pages). After the conference, participants of the workshop will be invited to submit a full version of the work to a special issue of Advances of Mathematics in Communications. 

Special topics covered by the plenary talks and lectures are: 
• Algebraic Coding Theory 
• Graph Theory 
• Combinatorics and Coding 
• Quantum Information 
• Applications to Biology 
 
The LAWCI is an official satellite event of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM 2018), to be held in Rio de Janeiro the following week. 
 
Lecturers (School) 
Markus Grassl (Max Planck Institute, Germany)  
Moshe Schwartz (Ben-Gurion Universtiy of Negev, Israel)  
Daniel Panario (Carleton University, Canada)  
Max Costa (University of Campinas, Brazil)
Ram Zamir (Tel Aviv University) - ITSoC Distinguished Lecturer

Plenary Speakers (Workshop) 
Patrick Solé (CNRS and Paris IIX, France)  
Alexander Barg (University of Maryland, US)  
Gadiel Seroussi (MSRI, USA and Universiad de La República, Uruguay)  
Olgica Milenkovic (University of Illinois)  
Vinay Vaishampayan (City University of New York, USA)

 
Financial support 
Information Theory Society (IEEE ITSoC) and The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)