IFORS News - September issue

Posted by: Bernard FORTZ
Date:2017-10-02
Contact:[email protected]

Dear IFORS colleagues,



I am glad to inform you that the IFORS News, September issue, is now
available on line
at: HTTP://IFORS.ORG/NEWSLETTER/IFORS-NEWS-SEPT2017.PDF

What will you find here? The most recent IFORS 2017 is our main feature.
If you were there, take the time to look at the accounts of different
people and compare with your own experiences! If you were not there, the
accounts and pictures will make you feel as though you had been there!
This is why we have more than the usual number of pictures we feature.

It was a perfect time to celebrate not only with the Canadians who are
observing their 150th anniversary, but also with the IFORS community,
whose journal, the International Transactions in Operations Research
(ITOR), again attained an impressive improvement in its impact factor.
In this issue, we are let into the secrets behind this success by its
General Editor. You will read that our ITOR Editor mentions the
importance of IFORS focus on the use of OR for development. In this
aspect, IFORS 2017 certainly did not disappoint since two major events
happened in conjunction with the Conference: the annual International
Conference on OR for Development (ICORD) and the IFORS Prize for OR in
Development. These two articles bring to the reader a realization that a
lot of work is being done in the area. The OR Impact section adds to
this list of applications as it relates how OR had been used to promote
volunteer work in New Zealand.

 Of course, new developments in technology are given due importance,
with this issue’s Tutorial on e-commerce and the rich but so far
insufficiently-investigated OR applications in the area. On the softer
aspects, take a look at how a book that looks at how humans make
decisions came to be.

We also look at the conferences and meetings happening all over the
world - those held in Turkey, Greece and Iran.  Meanwhile, the community
commiserates with friends from Africa, who recently lost the Father of
OR in Nigeria, Joseph Funso Akingbade.   As we lose some of our great
teachers, we find joy in gaining new members. The most recent IFORS
members, the national societies of Colombia and Russia, were presented
to the Board of Representatives meeting during the conference. Colombia,
one of our two newest members, is our OR Society in Focus in this issue.

We also offer in this issue a new section on Society Management and
Governance, in recognition of the fact that IFORS is a society of
Societies! For our Operations Researchers who are still making their
mark, see if an IFORS scholarship to either Chile or Germany is for you!



I hope you’d find the articles we have complied for you in this quarter
relevant, useful, and in the least, interesting!



All the best,



Elise del Rosario

IFORS News Editor