Society of Management Science and Applied Cybernetics (SOMAC)

Citation

(1998), "Society of Management Science and Applied Cybernetics (SOMAC)", Kybernetes, Vol. 27 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.1998.06727dab.004

Society of Management Science and Applied Cybernetics (SOMAC)

Society of Management Science and Applied Cybernetics (SOMAC)

Silver Jubilee of SOMAC

The Society of Management Science and Applied Cybernetics is celebrating its Silver Jubilee, having been founded in 1972. The Editors and the Editorial Advisory Board of Kybernetes send their congratulations on 25 years of achievement in the fields of management and cybernetics.

To mark this important occasion the society arranged a "Silver Jubilee Conference" in January 1998 at the International Management Institute, New Delhi, India.

Conference aims

Cybernetics is a science which deals with the dynamics of complex systems. Now there are two orders in cybernetics:

(a) the classical first order cybernetics which strives to steer systems, irrespective of the personal factor of the observant, through an engineering approach;

(b) the modern second order cybernetics which also considers the observing systems in the decision framework. The way system boundaries are drawn is observer dependent, problem dependent and time dependent.

Projection of the future for any country/corporate body depends on the set of actions taken at various points of time. Growth ­ economic, industrial or social ­ is never an automatic process, but it is the output of material inputs as well as on intellectual inputs.

The main thrusts of the Conference will be as given by the following focal themes:

(i) Cybernetics and Systems in Environmental Management.

(ii) Dynamics of National Resource Planning (with special reference to developing countries).

Most of the problems in Environmental Management and Resource Planning are viewed via complex systems where a number of elements are involved, and outcomes of many actions are uncertain and ambiguous.

The universe is never totally deterministic; besides a totally deterministic universe would call for a unique result of a single action. This is hardly true of the complex world subject to uncertainty and ambiguity. Most of the themes in technical sessions will be viewed from a cybernetic paradigm.

Conference sessions

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  Cybernetics and Systems in Environmental Management ­ multiple sessions.

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  Dynamics of Natural Resource Planning (with special reference to developing countries) ­ multiple sessions.

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  Artificial Intelligence in Real Life.

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  Communication Network.

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  Applications of Cybernetics and Systems in Economics and Social Science.

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  Poster Sessions.

Panel discussions and workshops

An attempt was made to have one or more panel discussions or workshops on the following topics:

Business Cybernetics and Systems: Can computer programs replace management consultants? Scope of Electronic commerce in Future. Whether an Internet service like CORDIS in European Union can be developed for India and South East Asia.

Comparative Management Systems: How dynamics of Management systems vary from one country to another ­ can the same heuristics apply to all countries? ­ how a set of actions today dictates the course of things tomorrow, etc.

Conference Steering Committee

The Steering Committee of the Silver Jubilee Conference of the Society comprised a number of distinguished persons reputed in their fields of work, viz. Dr N.K. Sengupta (Chairman), Prof. S.R. Hashim, Prof. Brian Garner, Dr Vijay Kelkar, Dr P. Khanna, Dr T.L. Shankar, Mr Arvind Pande, Dr Pranab Sen, Dr A. Ghosal, Dr D. Dutta Majumdar, etc.

Publication: The proceedings will be published in a Special Issue of SCIMA, the Society's journal.

Note: A report of the proceedings will be published together with selected papers in future issues of Kybernetes.