Message from ISS President

2018 President

The Information and Systems Society (ISS) covers fields ranging from the foundations to applications of information processing technology. There are about 11,000 members of ISS, and in the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers with its more than 30,000 members, it is the largest society alongside the Communications Society.

The purpose of this society is to give members a place to deliver their latest research outcome and to interact with experts in their fields. We aim at producing continuous advancement in the fields of information technology as well as providing solutions to various types of problems in our society. In order for ISS to continue its central role in the field of information processing, for 2018 emphasis will be placed on activities as indicated below.

■ Strengthening Journals, Research Meetings, Conferences.

✔ Journals
Papers are the final result of research, and we will continue our efforts to make sure that these high-quality research results reach the greater number of researchers. In the one year period for 2017, there were 934 submissions for our English journal and 374 for our Japanese, including letters. Among them, 378 and 99 papers, respectively, passed strict review and were accepted.
Regarding the English journal, in January of 2017, and ahead of other societies, we began making all papers open access as well as all past papers in the archive. As a result, the number of accesses increased dramatically. Going forward, we will develop strategy that will lead to an increase in the number of submissions. For both our English and Japanese journals, we will continue working on strengthening our editorial and review committees and improving quality.

✔ Research Meetings
For the year of 2017, there were a total of 2,644 presentations at ISS research meetings. We will facilitate even greater activity at these meetings. To that end, we are working on the complete digitization of materials, a system of fees for participation and registration, promoting sponsorship, acceptance of short papers, and utilization of reserve funds for vitalizing activities.
Since 2017, we have been experimenting with digitization of technical reports of research meetings. From 2018, we move to complete digitization. In conjunction with that, we introduce a system of fees for participation and registration for research meetings, and make it materials electronically downloadable. It is enabled to register annually for the packages of all research meetings, not just the individual meetings of ISS, for a low price (15,000 yen). By all means, please utilize these new systems.
We experiment with sponsorship for research meetings, further enhancing our activities. Research fields are also changing greatly, and we will be looking at how the various research groups connect and interact.

✔ General Conference and FIT
The general conference and FIT are useful as a place where researchers in a wide variety of research areas can exchange ideas, and where students can present their research. At the general conference in 2017, there were 406 presentations for ISS, and 469 for FIT.
The poster session for students at the general conference was a success, and in this session alone, there are more than 200 presentations every year. Since March of 2018, we began having Welcome Party. At FIT, we will increase our cooperation with lively research meeting activities. Further, in addition to the two societies up to this point, we plan to advance cooperation with other societies in the field of information processing.

✔ The Society’s Magazine
The society’s magazine is positioned as the public relations arm of ISS. While continuing and further enrichening the current magazine, we will look for ways to put it more in line with forms appropriate for present day.

As indicated above, we are involved in advancing many projects. Each of these projects serves to enhance the service we give to society members. We will also continue to review the way we operate on the basis of volunteers.

I would like to urge as many members as possible to present their fine results at ISS. Also, if you have any comments on the management of the society, please pass them along.