Blog

Dear members

 

I hope you are keeping safe at this challenging times. I am working completely from home and teaching entirely online and following what the Australian Government and local medical  authorities are advising us.
 

We have discussed what we should do under the circumstances with our meeting at Stellenbosch and alternative ways of meeting  in 2020. We had an emergency meeting of the conference committee on last Friday due to the evolving developments.

 

The board will meet on April 3rd to consider  the committee's suggestions and we will communicate the decision of the board to all members. While we consider the risks we are also looking carefully at opportunities that this situation provides for future events of the society. We are exploring those as well.

 

I urge you to stay positive and safe

 

Warm regards

 

Shankar

Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to spend time with a number of former Presidents of ISSS and share my experiences so far as President of ISSS 2018-19 and to hear from them about their experiences as President of ISSS and now perspectives as Past President and a Trustee.

 

In January David Rousseau (ISSS President 2017-18) and I both attended the INCOSE International Workshop in Torrance California. Also in January  I visited Len Troncale ( ISSS President 1990-91) in his Claremont, California Office where he has a significant number of  historical journals, papers and books of ISSS. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debora Hammond  (ISSS President 2005-06) and I have spoken about membership trends and issues and her experience with the annual conference.

 

Gary Metcalf (ISSS President 2007-08) and I have regular conversations that began when he was President of the International Federation for Systems Research http://www.ifsr.org We meet on bluejeans video conferencing and discuss ways to broaden the engagement between systems sciences and groups and leaders around the world.

 

David Ing ( ISSS President 2011-12) and I have had several Skype meetings over the past few months reviewing the whole ISSS data management and website challenges.

 

Alexander Laszlo (ISSS President 2012-13) and I have had several conversations about a group called Grupo Mar, a group concerned with matters of education and the ocean in Argentina that emerged or developed from the Argentina Systems Sciences Chapter of ISSS. He also gave a great overview of his SIG work on a recent SIG Session on Saturday, see https://www.myisss.org/sig-sessions-recordings/

 

In February Gerald Midgley (ISSS President 2013-14) and I spoke at length about the vision for systems sciences an what ISSS might accomplish in the next 5 years, a conversation prompted by the vision survey described in the blog in February.

 

Also over the past month I have talked with Allenna Leonard (ISSS President 2009-10) about the Viable System Model and also about developing online seminars about systems tools and VSM applications to not for profits.

 

Also in February Jennifer Wilby (ISSS President 2010-11) along with ISSS members Janet and Michael Singer stayed with me for four days as we represented ISSS at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington D.C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the past few weeks I have been exploring Superorganisms with Peter Corning (ISSS President 1999-2000) in preparation for the ISSS 2019 conference. I have also been in email exchanges with Aleco Christakis (ISSS President 2002-03) and Mike Jackson (ISSS President 2001-02).

 

And last week I visited John Kineman (ISSS President 2015-16) in the mountains west of Boulder for an afternoon discussion on a wide range of topics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And looking forward to next year Shankar Sankaran ( President-elect)  and I have been developing ways to ensure more continuity from one ISSS President to the next by having Skype conversations between us from the USA to Australia.

 

 

As SIG chair for Action Research, I'm looking forward to represent the ISSS at the AR+ meeting in Gothenburg,Sweden from March, 7.  https://actionresearchplus.com/community-gathering/

 

I will have an opportunity to meet other scholars in the field or AR and explore the different traditions of AR.  The meeting has an open, more informal structure than the typical conferences that I usually attend. Keep an eye on this Blog, I will share my experiences!!!

Among several  cooperative Memorandum of Understandings held by ISSS is one with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) to co-develop understanding of systems sciences for systems engineering. Many of us participate in the Systems Science Working Group of INCOSE. In December last year I was asked by the Chair of the SSWG James Martin to give a talk on the Grand Vision for Systems Sciences at the recent INCOSE International Workshop in Torrance California. I have recorded a version of the presentation I gave for the web which can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/317104695  It runs for 30 minutes.

I have spent the past four days with colleagues Jennifer WIlby, Janet and Michael Singer at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. It has been a fairly intense time, not only attending sessions, but talking with many different people from around the world in varieties of disciplines. AAAS is the largest science organization in the world, and there are representatives from every corner of the globe. The four days have been a great opportunity to also spend time with ISSS colleagues and develop our respective views of the systems perspective and how to spread the word about the unique contributions ISSS can make.

 

ISSS is an affiliate of AAAS. Learn more here https://www.aaas.org/governance/aaas-affiliates

 

I have been pleasantly surprised to see how international, and global, are the themes, exhibits, presentations and participants of this meeting.Also two of the three major sponsors are the European Union and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation https://www.ukri.org/news/major-presence-for-uk-at-worlds-largest-general-science-meeting/

 

A few perspectives in a short video https://youtu.be/3BEBCQzMRRs

 

Next years AAAS annual meeting is in Seattle and we could now think about how we might have more of a presence at the 2020 meeting.