ABSTRACT
Information and communication systems play bigger and bigger role in our modern society-the so-called information society. Sound (audio and speech) is one of the most important signals in these systems and the growing need for audio and speech processing (transmission, storing, etc.) generates new scientific problems (e.g., formulates new questions about data acquisition, compression, and coding), stimulates new technologies and techniques, as well as creates new areas of science and technology in informatics, communications, artificial intelligence, psychoacoustics, etc.
