Our purpose in the 27
th World Multi-Conference
on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2023) is to provide,
in these increasingly related areas, a
multi-disciplinary
forum, to foster interdisciplinary communication among the
participants, and to support the sharing process of diverse perspectives
of the same transdisciplinary concepts and principles.
Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI) are being increasingly related
to each other in almost every scientific discipline and human activity.
Their common transdisciplinarity characterizes and communicates them,
generating strong relations among them and with other disciplines. They
work together to create a whole new way of thinking and practice. This
phenomenon persuaded the Organizing Committee to structure WMSCI 2023
as a multi-conference where participants may focus on one area, or on
one discipline, while allowing them the possibility of attending conferences
from other areas or disciplines. This systemic approach stimulates cross-fertilization
among different disciplines, inspiring scholars, originating new hypothesis,
supporting production of innovations and generating analogies; which is,
after all, one of the very basic principles of the systems’ movement and
a fundamental aim in cybernetics.
WMSCI 2023 was organized and sponsored by the International Institute
of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS, www.iiis.org), member of the International
Federation of Systems Research (IFSR). The IIIS is a
multi-disciplinary
organization for inter-disciplinary communication and integration,
which includes about 5000 members. Consequently, a main purpose of the
IIIS is to foster knowledge integration processes, interdisciplinary communication,
and integration of academic activities. Based on: 1) the transdisciplinarity
of the systemic approach, along with its essential characteristic of emphasizing
relationships and
integrating processes, and 2) the
multi-disciplinary support of cybernetics’ and informatics’
concepts, notions, theories, technologies, and tools, the IIIS has been
organizing multi-disciplinary conferences as a platform for fostering
inter-disciplinary communication and knowledge integration processes.
Multi-disciplinary conferences are
organized by the IIIS as support for both intra-
and inter-disciplinary communication.
Processes of intra-disciplinary communication are mainly achieved
via traditional paper presentations in corresponding disciplines,
while conversational sessions, regarding trans- and inter-disciplinary
topics, are among the means used for inter-disciplinary communication.
Intra- and inter-disciplinary communications might generate co-regulative
cybernetic loops, via negative feedback, and synergic
relationships, via positive feedback loops, in which both kinds
of communications could increase their respective effectiveness.
Figure 1 shows at least two cybernetic loops if intra- and inter-disciplinary
are adequately related. A necessary condition for the effectiveness
of Inter-disciplinary communication is an adequate level of variety
regarding the participating disciplines. Analogical thinking
and learning processes of disciplinarians depend on it, which
in turn are potential sources of the creative tension required for
cross-fertilization among disciplines and the generations of new
hypotheses. An extended presentation regarding this issue can be
found at: www.iiis.org/MainPurpose
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In the specific case of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI),
the IIIS is an organization dedicated to contribute to the development
of the Systems Approach, Cybernetics, and Informatics potential, using
both: knowledge and experience, thinking and action, theory and practice,
for:
- The identification of synergistic relationships among Systemics,
Cybernetics and Informatics, and between them and society.
- The promotion of contacts among the different academic areas, through
the transdisciplinarity of the systems approach.
- The identification and implementation of communication channels
among the different professions.
- The supply of communication links between the academic and professional
worlds, as well as between them and the business world, both public
and private, political and cultural.
- The stimulus for the creation of integrative arrangements at different
levels of society, as well as at the family and personal levels.
- The promotion of trans-disciplinary research, both on theoretical
issues and on applications to concrete problems.
These IIIS objectives have oriented the organizational efforts of yearly
WMSCI/ISAS/IMSCI/CISCI conferences since 1995.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I extend our heartfelt thanks to:
- The 361 members of the Program Committee from 54 countries (including
the PC members of the events organized in its context and jointly
with WMSCI 2023). Almost all the members of the Program Committee
are authors or co-authors sessions’ best papers,
i.e. papers selected by the respective audience as the best paper
of the session in which they were presented;
- The 241 additional reviewers, from 51 countries, for their double-blind
peer reviews; and
- The 94 reviewers, from 25 countries, for their efforts in making
the non-blind peer reviews. (Some reviewers
supported both: non-blind and double-blind reviewing for different
submissions).
The names and affiliation of both kinds of reviewers are listed in these
proceedings. We extend our gratefulness to all of them. The scholarly
quality of the authors and the reviewers is what define the quality of
the conference and its respective proceedings. Consequently, our gratitude
is to the members of the programs’ committees, both kinds of reviewers
and the collaborating authors.
A total of 523 reviews made by 335 reviewers from 51 countries (who made
at least one review) contributed to the quality achieved in WMSCI 2023.
This means an average of 4.02 reviews per submission (130 submissions
were received).
Each registered author had access, via the
conference web site, to the reviews that recommended the acceptance of
their respective submissions. Each registered author
could also get information about: 1) the average of the reviewers’
evaluations according to 8 criteria, and the average of a global evaluation
of his/her submission; and 2) the comments and the constructive feedback
made by the reviewers, who recommended the acceptance of his/her submission,
so the author would be able to improve the final version of the paper.
In the organizational process of WMSCI 2023, about 130 articles were submitted.
These pre-conference proceedings include about 79 papers that were accepted
for presentation from 21 countries (28 countries taking into account the
presentations in collocated events). I extend our thanks to the invited
sessions’ organizers for collecting, reviewing, and selecting the papers
that will be presented in their respective sessions. The submissions were
reviewed as carefully as time permitted; it is expected that most of them
will appear in a more polished and complete form in scientific journals.
This information about WMSCI 2023 is summarized in the following table,
along with the other collocated events:
This information about WMSCI 2023 is summarized in the following table,
along with the other collocated conferences:
Conference |
# of submissions received |
# of reviewers that made at least one review |
# of reviews made |
Average of reviews per reviewer |
Average of reviews per submission |
# of papers included in the proceedings |
% of submissions included in the proceedings |
WMSCI 2023 |
130 |
335 |
523 |
1.56 |
4.02 |
79 |
60.77 % |
IMSCI 2023 |
56 |
189 |
320 |
1.69 |
5.71 |
30 |
53.57 % |
WMSCI & IMSCI 2023 |
186 |
524 |
843 |
1.61 |
4.53 |
109 |
58.60 % |
CISCI 2023 |
75 |
285 |
565 |
1.98 |
7.53 |
55 |
73.33 % |
TOTAL |
261 |
809 |
1408 |
1.74 |
5.39 |
164 |
62.84 % |
All submissions were peer reviewed by the two-tier reviewing methodology
of the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS,
www.iiis.org).
As it might be noticed, from the table above, 4.02 reviews were made,
in average, for each submission we received. After the conference is over,
the names of the reviewers will be published on the IIIS web site along
with the titles of the papers each reviewer reviewed. This means that
what had been a double-blind review, up to the conference, is transformed
to single-blind review, after the conference is over. In this way, each
author would have information about the names of the reviewers of his/her
submission, but not vice-versa. Likewise, each author would know how many
reviewers reviewed his/her submission and relate it to the average, being
informed in the above table, of 4.02 reviews per paper.
Our two-tier reviewing methodology meet two different objectives of peer-review:
1) to improve the paper via non-anonymous reviewers (non-blind reviews)
and 2) to improve the acceptance/non-acceptance decision of the Organizing
Committee via traditional anonymous reviewers (double-blind reviews) A
recommendation to accept, made by non-anonymous reviews, is a
necessary
condition, but it is not a
sufficient one. A submission,
to be accepted, should also have a majority of its double-blind reviewers
recommending its acceptance. These two necessary conditions generate a
more reliable and rigorous reviewing than any of those
reviewing methods, based on just one of the indicated methods, or just
on the traditional double-blind reviewing.
We extend our gratitude to the invited sessions’ organizers: Prof.
Elina Gaile-Sarkane, Prof. Shigehiro Hashimoto, Prof. Natalja Lace, and
Prof. Inga Lapina; as well as to the special track co-chairs and the co-editors
of these proceedings, for the hard work, energy and eagerness they displayed
preparing their respective sessions. We express our intense gratitude
to Professor William Lesso (
1931-2015) for his wise and
timely, adequate and valuable tutoring, for his eternal energy, integrity,
and continuous support and advice, as the Program Committee Chair of past
conferences (since 1981), as well as for being a very caring old friend
and intellectual father to many of us. We also extend our gratitude to
Professor Belkis Sánchez, who brilliantly managed the organizing
process.
Our gratitude to Professors Bela H. Banathy, Stafford Beer, George Klir,
Karl Pribram, Paul A. Jensen, and Gheorghe Benga who dignified our past
WMSCI conferences by being their Honorary Presidents.
We would like also to extend our gratefulness to Professor Shigehiro Hashimoto
for his yearly support in the last 23 years as well as for his editorial
work for the journal; as well as to Professor Grandon Gill, Dr. Jeremy
Horne, Professor Thomas Marlowe, Professor Matthew E. Edwards, Dr. Robert
Cherinka, Eng. Joseph Prezzama, Dr. Fr. Joseph Laracy, and Dr. Russell
Jay Hendel, for their continuous advice and support in the conferences
they participated in, along the last 15 years; as well as in the conferences
they were not able to participate in. Their advices and the kind of care
they provided us with are highly valued and appreciated.
We also extend our gratitude to the following scholars, researchers, and
professionals who generously accepted to deliver keynote addresses or
to organize invited sessions.
Plenary Keynote Speakers (Alphabetical
order by last name)
Dr. Risa Blair, USA, Purdue University Global, USA, Adjunct
Faculty, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of General
Education; Instructional Associates, Director of HR and Operations.
Dr. Robert Cherinka, USA, MITRE Corporation, Chief Engineer,
Software Engineering Innovation Center.
Dr. Jasmin (Bey) Cowin, USA/Germany, Associate Professor
and TESOL Practicum Coordinator, Touro University, Graduate School of
Education, TESOL/BLE Department.
Professor Alptekin Erkollar, Austria, ETCOP Institute
for Interdisciplinary Research.
Professor Fuensanta Fernández de Velazco, Mexico,
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Faculty of Arts,
professor, researcher, an active member of the Seminar on Theories, Methods,
and Models of Social Complexity, the Complexity Sciences Center (C3) of
the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Professor Shigehiro Hashimoto, Japan, Professor of Kogakuin
University (Former Councilor and Former Dean, Faculty of Engineering,
Former Associate to the President, Former President of the Society of
Life Support Engineering Japan), Doctor of Engineering and Doctor of Medicine,
Research Area: Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Russell Jay Hendel, USA, Towson University, Dept.
of Mathematics, doctoral program at the Spertus Institute for a degree
in Jewish studies.
Professor Mohammad Ilyas, USA, Florida Atlantic University,
College of Engineering and Computer Science, Former Dean of the College
of Engineering and Computer Science, Member of Global Engineering Deans
Council.
Professor Cyril S. Ku, USA, William Patterson University,
Department of Computer Science.
Fr. Dr. Joseph R. Laracy, USA, Seton Hall University,
Department of Systematic Theology & Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science.
Dr. James Lipuma, USA, New Jersey Institute of Technology,
Director of the Collaborative for Leadership Education, and Assessment
Research.
Professor Rusudan Makhachashvili, Ukraine, Borys Grinchenko
Kyiv University, Head of Germanic Philology Department.
Professor Emeritus Thomas Marlowe, USA, Seton Hall University,
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, PhD in Computer Science
and PhD in Mathematics.
Professor Rita Micarelli, Canada/Italy, IIAS International
Institute for Advanced Studies in System Research and Cybernetics in Ontario
/ Polytechnic University of Milan.
Professor Ryohei Nakatsu, Japan, Kyoto University, Specially
Appointed Professor, Art Innovation Academia-Industry Joint Research Division,
Disaster Prevention Research Institute.
Professor Birgit Oberer, Austria, ETCOP Institute for
Interdisciplinary Research.
Patrick O’Leary, USA, MITRE Corporation, Software
Application Development Engineer.
Professor Giorgio Pizziolo, Canada/Italy, IIAS International
Institute for Advanced Studies in System Research and Cybernetics in Ontario
/ Polytechnic University of Milan.
Joseph Prezzama, Msc., USA, MITRE Corporation, Group
Leader for the Joint Operations Southeast, Tampa office of the MITRE Corporation.
Professor Richard Segall, USA, Arkansas State University,
Department of Information Systems & Business Analytics (ISBA), Neil
Griffin College of Business.
Richard Self LLM, UK, University of Derby, The School
of Computing and Mathematics, Senior Lecturer in Governance of Advanced
and Emerging Technologies.
Professor Ivan Semenist, Ukraine, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv
University, Dean of Oriental Languages Faculty.
Dr. Robert A. Smith, USA, Boeing Company and Virginia
Tech, Calhoun Honors Discovery Program.
Dr. Maurício Vieira Kritz, UK/Brazil, University
of Manchester, Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health / National Laboratory
for Scientific Computing, Petrópolis, Graduate Program on Modelling
Knowledge Diffusion.
Cristo E. Yáñez-León, MSc., Ph.D. candidate,
USA, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Director of Research,
CSLA, Office of Research & Development.
Invited Sessions Organizers (Alphabetical
order by last name)
Professor Elina Gaile-Sarkane, Latvia, Riga Technical
University, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management.
Professor Shigehiro Hashimoto, Japan, Professor of Kogakuin
University (Former Councilor and Former Dean, Faculty of Engineering,
Former Associate to the President, Former President of the Society of
Life Support Engineering Japan), Doctor of Engineering and Doctor of Medicine,
Research Area: Biomedical Engineering.
Professor Natalja Lace, Latvia, Riga Technical University,
Head of Department of Corporate Finance and Economics, Faculty of Engineering
Economics and Management.
Professor Inga Lapina, Latvia, Riga Technical University,
Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management.
Many thanks to the members of the Organizing Committee and to those who
chaired special tracks. We would also like to express our special gratefulness
to Professor Thomas Marlowe. Professor T. Grandon Gill, Dr. Jeremy Horne,
Professor Shigehiro Hashimoto, Dr. Russell Jay Hendel, Professor Michael
Savoie, Professor Hsing-Wei Chu, Dr. Robert Cherinka, and Eng. Joseph
Prezzama, for their generosity in providing support with their advices
and for answering our inquiries, as well as for their spontaneous and
timely alerts. Thank you so very much.
Our gratefulness is also extended to the organizations that provided scientific,
academic, professional, or corporate co-sponsorships in this conference
and/or previous ones. The following are among these organizations:
Special thanks to Dr. Jeremy Horne, Dr. Harvey Hyman, Dr. Robert Cherinka,
Eng. Joseph Prezzama, and Ms. Molly Youngblood Geiger (Google Partners
Community Ambassador) for their efforts in helping us with the identification
of above shown co-sponsors.
Professor Nagib C. Callaos, Ph.D.