International Multi-disciplinary Organization for
Inter-Disciplinary Research and Communication: IMOIRC

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to briefly describe what would be the International Multi-disciplinary Organization for Inter-Disciplinary Research and Communication (IMOIRC), why it is important to design and implement this organization, and how it might be done.

IMOIRC has the initial main objective of providing support to those disciplinarians who

• understand the importance of inter-disciplinary research and communication and
• are willing to inform scholars and professionals of other disciplines regarding
• their disciplinary research or technological innovations, and/or
• updates of what has been achieved in their respective disciplines by means of literature review or meta-analysis papers.

Both (a) and (b) might be achieved by


• communications (articles, presentations, videos, etc) made specifically for inter-disciplinary communication and/or 
• disciplinary articles which include a section or an appendix oriented to inter-disciplinary communication.

Consequently, IMOIRC is an organization oriented to implement the means to achieve the objectives briefly described above. IMOIRC could be formalized later as Association, Society, or Federation of (national and/or inter-national) academic/professional associations and/or Societies, which have objectives aligned with above briefly and generally described purpose.

A short article regarding the importance of inter-disciplinary communication can be found at www.iiis.org/ICCH. In this article we tried to show the importance of inter-disciplinary communication even in disciplinary research via analogical thinking for hypothesis creation and imagining potential technological innovations.

Why Inter-disciplinary communication is necessary, though not sufficient, for both disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research has been described in the article given at the mentioned URL.

How IMOIRC could be implemented and supported

The International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS) along with its approximately 3500 members from about 100 countries is willing to support the launching and the initial activities of IMOIRC. Later, the founding members may decide whether 1) this organization should be changed to an International Multi-disciplinary Association or Society, or 2)  the creation of this kind of societies and associations should complement and not substitute IMOIRC. Consequently, the initial implementation will be through a highly flexible, versatile and diversified organization, which might be substituted or complemented with international multidisciplinary societies and/or associations with less flexibility/diversity and with more specific purposes and means to achieve them.

Initially, IMOIRC will be constituted by founding individual members who might later recommend:

• organizational/institutional members,
• local members (department, divisions, etc. of larger organizations)
• national members: national associations or societies
• regional members: geographical regions which might include cities in larger countries.

The recommended architecture for IMOIRC is a federated network where each node may be associated to both: individuals or groups. It is estimated that the initial nodes will be basically associated with individual and later group/organizational/institutional nodes would be gradually included.

The International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS) could provide the organizational support for the implementation and consolidation of IMOIRC through the following means:

• Hosting IMOIRC meetings in the context of conferences organized by the IIIS
• Including IMOIRC publications in the context of the proceedings produced by IIIS and/or the Journal of informatics and Systemics (JSCI)
• Including information about IMOIRC activities in the IIIS web page and in its conferences web pages.
• Including informational material regarding IMOIRC plans and activities to be delivered at the registration desks of the conferences organized by IIIS
• Distributing informational content among the IIIS’s members via emails.
• Using specific projects to be implemented by the IIIS in a synergic way with IMOIRC. An example of these projects might be the one related to the Inter-National, Inter-Disciplinary, Integration Groups: IIIG
• Identifying synergic relationships between both organizations: IIIS and IMOIRC.
• Other means on which both organizations might agree.

As we said above, a potential organizational bridge between the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS) and the International Multi-disciplinary Organization for Inter-Disciplinary Research and Communication (IMOIRC) might be the Inter-National, Interdisciplinary, and Integration Groups (IIIG).

Motivation and Purpose of the Inter-National, Interdisciplinary, Integration Groups (IIIG) which creation IIIS is planning to promote and support

The creation and Supports of IMOIRC and several IIIGs are expected to be an effective means for achieve one of the main purposes of the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS), since its foundation in 1995.

Among the objectives of the IIIS are the following:

• Integration of Academic Activities: Research, Education, and Consulting/Real life Problem solving
• Integration among Academy, Industry, and Society.
• Integration among disciplines: Inter-Disciplinary Research, Education, and Communication.

Read more…

What are the Inter-National, Inter-Disciplinary, and Integration Groups (IIIG)

In the context of this main purpose and objectives, the IIIS is trying to promote the formation of Inter-National, Inter-Disciplinary, and Integration Groups (IIIG) in important academic and professional areas. IIIGs are being considered in at least the following synergistically related areas:

• Academic Activities Integration
• Interdisciplinarity and Knowledge Integration.
• Inter-disciplinary Communication
• Case Studies and Methodologies
• Action Research and Action Learning
• Qualitative Methods
• Cognition and Knowledge
• Critical Thinking and Intellectual Integration.

Other areas might be included in the list above according the interest of IIIS members.

Members of a given IIIG might be:

• Disciplinarians willing to share research results in their respective disciplines with scholars/professionals in other disciplines.
• Inter-disciplinarians willing to share their inter-interdisciplinary analogical thinking and how their inter-disciplinary orientation helped 1) in solving real life problem and 2) in integrating academic activities (research, education, and consulting)
• Trans-disciplinarians willing 1) to provide information and share their knowledge about the different senses that trans-disciplinary notions, concepts, theories, and methodologies might have in different disciplines, and 2) to support the inter-disciplinary communication of the respective IIIG

IIIGs inter-disciplinary communication would be oriented mainly to

1. knowledge integration,
2. academic activities integration,
3. Government-University-Industry integration, and/or
4. integrating Science and Technology with the Society at large,
5. inter-cultural integration.

IIIGs might be constituted via Virtual or Hybrid Communities. Hybrid communities may include both face-to-face and virtual interactions. Face-to-face interactions might be produced 1) in IIIS events, in which case IIIS would provide the logistical support for IIIGs meetings, and 2) in local chapters meetings. Local chapters would be associated to a) geographical areas which might be regions, countries, or b) organizations as universities, academic departments, research institutions, professional associations, etc. One person can start a chapter and, while identifying a group of interested people in the respective IIIG’s objectives and activities, s/he may maintain virtual interactions with other members of his/her IIIG directly, or through platforms that IIIS might provide (blogs, forums, LinkedIn groups, etc.). The IIIS might support local chapters by means of providing its members with information related to potential members in their respective geographical region.

An IIIG might grow toward a scholarly/professional society, or association, at the local or at the inter-national level.

Members of a given IIIG might be 1) disciplinarians willing to share research results in their respective disciplines with scholars/professionals from other disciplines, or 2) Inter-disciplinarians who might share their inter-interdisciplinary analogical thinking and how their inter-disciplinary orientation helped them in a) solving real life problem and/or b) in integrating academic activities (research, education, and consulting).