Twenty-five years of endeavour and achievement: background to SOMAC

Citation

(1998), "Twenty-five years of endeavour and achievement: background to SOMAC", Kybernetes, Vol. 27 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.1998.06727dab.005

Twenty-five years of endeavour and achievement: background to SOMAC

Twenty-five years of endeavour and achievement: background to SOMAC

The Society of Management Science and Applied Cybernetics was started in 1972 to promote cybernetic and systemic thinking in real-life ­ administration, engineering, economics, industrial and environmental management, social dynamics, etc. It is the first society of this kind in India. Among its members are scientists, engineers, administrators, bureaucrats, social thinkers. It held three international congresses previously ­ in 1984, 1987 and 1993.

The Society was 25 years old in 1997. To celebrate its Silver Jubilee, a conference of an international nature was held. Activities of the Society are threefold:

(1) to propagate usefulness of cybernetic and system thinking for management scientists, engineers, bureaucrats, political and social scientists through seminars, conferences, workshops, etc.;

(2) to work on sponsored or consultancy projects to drive home the usefulness of cybernetic thinking;

(3) to publish its official journal SCIMA which has an international board of editors and is distributed worldwide. Owing to the esoteric nature of the work and role of the Society, propagation of cybernetics has had only limited success over the quarter of a century in India. However, in a dynamic world what is highly theoretical today may be regarded as highly practical tomorrow in overviewing real-life situations.

Information about SOMAC's activities: contact the Secretary, SOMAC. For information on the Silver Jubilee Conference contact the Organisers, SOMAC Silver Jubilee Conference, c/o International Management Institute, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016, India. Fax: (91) (11)-686-7539.