Issue 54 : March, 2016
President's Message
Dear Fellow SMC Society Members & Friends,
I would like to wish you and your families a happy and prosperous New Year!
The New Year is usually a time for renewal and change, and in 2016 we will certainly expect to see
some changes and new directions in the SMC Society.
First, I would like to congratulate and welcome the newly elected ExCom members Chris Nemeth -
VP Organization and Planning and Andreas Nurnberger - VP Human-Machine Systems, and newly
elected BOG members Maria Pia Fanti, Keith W. Hipel, Okyay Kaynak, Robert Kozma, and
Hideyuku Takagi, and to wish them a successful tenure.
Second, I would like to express my gratitude and sincere appreciation to my predecessor, Ljiljana
Trajkovic, for her leadership as the 2014-2015 Society President, to the outgoing ExCom members
Michael Berthold - Senior Past President and Irv Engelson - VP Organization and Planning, and to
the outgoing BOG members Julie Adams, Lance Fung, Yutaka Hata, and Enrique Herrera-Viedma,
and to Ellen Bass - EiC of Trans. on HMS for their tireless work for the Society over the years.
Third, I would like to share with you my objectives as a 2016-2017 President of the SMC Society:
1- Stabilize and grow SMCS membership through targeted drives for enrolling new members,
participation in the newly established SMCS Outreach Funding process, increasing the number
of summer schools, forums for young scientists, webinars, tutorials, raising the reputation and
effectiveness of Society leadership, and revitalization of the Distinguished Lecturer and
Ambassador programs.
2- Accelerate SMCS globalization by improving our presence and activities in the emerging
geographic regions while sustaining our existing grounds and promoting balanced and diverse
representation in the Society and TCs leadership.
3- Further improve the quality of SMCS publications, refine page budget planning, and reduce
backlog of all publications.
4- Enhance quality of our conferences by streamlining SMCS sponsored events and
establishing three regular triennial conferences (on Systems, Humans, Cybernetics) to
complement the annual SMC flagship conference.
5- Promote SMCS leadership role in Human Systems and Cybernetics areas and establish a
better integration of SMC activities with social, behavioral, life sciences, and other soft
sciences.
6- Endorse emerging interdisciplinary research and technology fields through nurturing new
conferences, TCs, and refining the scope of our publications.
7- Expand the outreach of the Society to the broader engineering community by improving
collaboration and partnership with related IEEE societies and other professional organizations
such as AAAI, INCOSE, and HFES.
8- Strengthen collaboration with industry and improve industrial presence in our activities and
Society leadership through establishing a special Advisory Committee of Industrial Leaders and
promoting new publications and conferences with application focus.
9- Increase the role and impact of the Technical Committees and local chapters as the main
link between the Board of Governors and SMCS members through their active participation in
the Society decision making processes and governance (EiC and AE appointments, broader
discussion on new conferences, publications, and other initiatives).
10- Improve effectiveness of BOG / ExCom operations through aligning ExCom objectives with
the SMC Long Term Plan, engaging all BOG members in the SMC governance as effective
members of the SMC Committees, conducting regular bi-monthly on-line meetings of ExCom
and BOG, optimal use of the SMC budget for delivering more services to the SMC membership
and attracting new members.
I believe these goals along with our Long Term Plan and the 2016 ExCom Annual Operational Plan
will drive the SMC Society towards new heights.
I am looking forward to working with the Board of Governors, Executive Committee, and all of you
for the benefits of the Society values and our membership.
Dimitar Filev
SMC Society President, 2016-2017
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