Call for abstracts/draft papers and deadlines at www.iiis-spring14.org/imcic

Motives and Purpose

Conceptual and instrumental relationships among Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics are continuously growing, cross-fertilizing each other and generating important theoretical and technological synergies. Similar concepts and theories support both Complexity Science and Cybernetics. Informatics and cybernetics have been increasingly related via computing, communications and control technologies; and even some authors conceive them as the same but with different names, emphasis or orientation. Complexity and Informatics have been supporting each other in theory and practice.

The purpose of the Organizing Committee of the International Multi-Conference on Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics: IMCIC 2014 is to bring together scholars and professionals from the three fields, Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics, in order to promote and foster inter-disciplinary communication and interactions among them; in order to make possible the intellectual humus required for inter-disciplinary synergies, inter-domain cross-fertilization and the production of creative analogies. Consequently, formal disciplinary oriented breakout sessions will be complemented with interdisciplinary presentations and informal conversational sessions.

There are many good disciplinary, specific and focused conferences in any one of the major themes of IMCIC 2014. There are also good general conferences, which have a wider scope and are more comprehensive. Each one of these kinds of conferences has its typical audience. IMCIC 2014 Organizing Committee purpose is to bring together both kinds of audiences, so participants with a disciplinary and focused research will be able to interact with participants from other related disciplines for interdisciplinary communication and potential inter-disciplinary collaborative research.
What is IMCIC 2014?

IMCIC 2014 is an international forum for scientists and engineers, researchers and consultants, theoreticians and practitioners in the fields of Complexity, Informatics, and Cybernetics. IMCIC 2014 Organizing Committee will consider disciplinary research articles for their possible acceptance as well as multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary research, studies, reflections, programs, and projects.

Besides the regular formal sessions, where papers will be presented, IMCIC 2014 Organizing Committee is planning to include in the conference program informal conversational sessions, where conceptual and theoretical commonalities and differences among Complex Science, Cybernetics and Informatics will be discussed. Examples of inputs to these informal conversational sessions are to discuss statements as the following ones:
"A key difference between current cybernetics and complexity theory is the use of different epistemology. Complexity theorists use a realist epistemology and assume that complexity exists in an observed system, or perhaps in a computer model. Cyberneticians use a constructivist epistemology and assume that the system of interest is defined by the observer. Cyberneticians emphasize the regulatory nature of knowledge. An observer constructs a representation of a system in order to be able to manage a system of interest. Hence, cyberneticians assume that the task is to manage complexity through a circular process of interaction and interpretation. In social systems observers both construct descriptions and participate in the operation of the social system using those descriptions." (Umpleby, 2008)
"Complexity Science and informatics are impacting every industry from manufacturing to biotechnology;" (Hoefler, 2002)
"Cybernetics and complexity science are based on the same principles;" (Michlmayr, 2007) and informatics and cybernetics have been increasingly related via computing, communications and control technologies.
"The fact that these days we refer mostly to informatics rather than cybernetics has no more significance than talking about an airplane instead of an aircraft. However, if we give these two words some thought, we will realize that this terminological identity underscores the function of cybernetics as the source discipline for informatics". (Ershov, 1959; quoted by Ya. Fet, 2006)


Submissions

Articles might be submitted for face-to-face or virtual participation in the conference. Details regarding the types of submission can be found at the menu option Papers/Abstract Submissions

Submitted papers will have double-blind and non-blind review. They may also have peer-to-peer participative review. More details regarding the Reviewing Policy is found at the menu option “Multi-Methodological Reviewing Process for Multi-Disciplinary Conferences”.

The acceptance policy to be applied to the reviewed submissions made to IMCIC 2014 is based on the Majority Rule, applied to the reviews received for each submitted article. Details on this issue can be found at the menu option “Acceptance Policy”.
Invited Sessions

Invited Sessions can be organized in a specific or a general theme. These Invited Sessions may grow to Focus Symposia, workshops, satellite events, micro-conferences or even conferences by their own in the context of IMCIC or as independent or associated spin offs from IMCIC.

Invited Sessions with high quality papers might be selected for multiple-authors book publications.
Best papers

The best paper of each section will be selected and their author (s) will receive a corresponding Award Certificate.

Authors of the Best 10%-20% papers presented at the conference will be invited to adapt their papers for their publication in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (JSCI).
References

Ershov, A.P., 1959, "Academician A.I. Berg on cybernetics and the perestroika in 1959", Microprocessor devices and systems, 1987, No. 3, p. 3. (In Russian); quoted by Ya. Fet in the foreword of “The History of Cybernetics, edited by Ya. Fet, - Novosibirsk: "Geo" Academic Publishers, 2006. - 301 pp. - (In Russian). Accessed on September 14th, 2009 at http://www.ithistory.org/resources/russia-from-the-history.pdf

Hoefler, M. 2002, International Informatics Society Launched in Santa Fe; accessed on August 16th, 2009 at http://www.lascruces.com/~rfrye/complexica/d/IIS%20Launch%20PR.doc

Michlmayr, E., 2007, Ant Algorithms for Self-Organization in Social Networks; Ph. D. Thesis Submitted to the Vienna University of Technology Faculty of Informatics, on May 14th, 2007; accessed on August 16th, 2009 at http://wit.tuwien.ac.at/people/michlmayr/publications/dissertation_elke_michlmayr_FINAL.pdf

Umpleby, S. 2008, Managing Complex Systems: "The History of Cybernetics as Seen from the Biological Computer Laboratory at the University of Illinois" in Stuart Umpleby and Mateo Ruggia (Eds.), Participating In Educational Innovation: Abstracts Prepared By 2007-2008 Visiting Scholars, Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning, The George Washington University. Accessed on September 14th, at http://www.gwu.edu/~rpsol/scholars/abstracts/Abstracts08.pdf