Message from ISS President

2020 President

The Information and Systems Society (ISS) works in a wide range of fields: from basics to applications of information processing technology and system technology for integrating computation, communication, and human beings. Comprising some 9,200 members, it is the largest society in the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE).

Its role is to provide members with opportunities for research presentations and exchanges, and to contribute to the sustainable development of information technology, which is now a critical social infrastructure, and to solving problems that confront the information society. In the face of dramatic changes in the social environment surrounding the information technology field, the Society aims to continue to be a central player in information technology in Japan. To this end, it will emphasize the following in its fiscal year 2020 activities.

●IEICE Transactions
The academic and practical value of research is realized only when its results are made known to a large number of people. Although　international conferences tend to be more emphasized than journals in the field of information technology, IEICE Transactions continues to be an important archive of research results. In January 2017, ahead of other IEICE Societies, the ISS began to release all papers in IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems, including papers published in the past, free of charge. The aim is to attract many high-quality papers and have them read by many people from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. Consequently, the number of attempts to access these transactions has nearly doubled. We will also continue to do our best to enhance the quality of the transactions by, for example, increasing the number of associate editors and reviewers.

●Special Interest Groups
Currently, the ISS has 26 Special Interest Groups. Workshops held by these SIGs provide venues for researchers, engineers, and students who share common academic interests to gather and hold intense discussions on subjects ranging from the exploratory to the application stage. They provide a driving force for the formation of human networks and the emergence of research themes. The activities in these workshops form the foundation of the ISS. To make these activities even more productive, the ISS will strive to both maximize the significance and value of workshop activities, and ensure their efficient operation. Since fiscal year 2018, we have introduced a sponsorship system to work closely with enterprises and further vitalize workshops. Through this system, we will stimulate individual academic fields, including supporting workshops in holding special events, and in hosting or co-hosting international conferences.

●IEICE General Conference and Forum for Information Technology (FIT)
IEICE General Conferences and FIT are useful fora for research presentation, opinion exchange, and information collection over broad areas. ISS-organized student poster sessions in General Conferences continue to attract large audiences. There are more than 200 presentations every year. In addition, a welcome party with participants from across the Society is organized to promote exchange of information among researchers and engineers from different fields. In this fiscal year, we will reinforce our commendation system to encourage students to make presentations and actively participate in these events. As last year, we will endeavor to raise the value of FIT. With the aim of expanding its advantages to presenters, we will strengthen the activities and publicity of FIT based on our basic concept focusing on efficiency, wider perspective, and young researchers.

●ISS Society Journal
The ISS Society Journal is publicity media for the ISS. We will make our commitment to make the journal even more attractive by continuously publishing articles that provide useful information for everyone associated with the ISS Society. In this fiscal year, we are also planning a special edition to celebrate the 100th edition of the Journal.

As described above, the ISS is undertaking various initiatives that are aimed at improving member services. We would like you to communicate your wonderful results through ISS activities and share them with many members. If you have any opinions on our management, we would appreciate your feedback.