Peter Kopacek – författare

This conference, the sixth event in the SWIIS series, continued the tradition set in the earlier five SWIIS meetings. The goal was the beneficial application of systems engineering methods onto description of conditions, in which nations or groups interact with one another. Scientists from other fields such as political science, economics, social science, and international studies also had a platform to present and discuss their ideas.

In the technical program of this conference, 2 survey papers and 19 regular papers - grouped into 8 sessions - were presented. Papers were given in the following areas: Methodological analysis; Investigation of development: stability, sustainable development; Modelling of stability; Application of control principles to international stability; International policy co-operation; Cultural and educational aspects in international stability; East/West/North/South relationships; Global development - regional impact; and Negotiation and mediation in conflict.

The papers included in this Proceedings volume cover a very broad field of interest, and include topics such as social aspects of technology transfer, managing the introduction of technological change, ethical aspects, technology and environmental stability and anticipating secondary and tertiary effects of technological development.

Technological development has caused profound changes to social stability. Regions that had stable populations for centuries have experienced enormous population growth, leading to the formation of sometimes unmanageable megaplex cities, as well as bringing about macroscopic environmental change. The papers in this Proceedings offer insights into ways to mitigate the unwanted side-effects of rapid development, and methodologies for appropriate ways of managing the introduction of technologies which will alter social stability.

This conference was dedicated to Professor Harold Chestnut, the first president of IFAC, who died in August 2001. Professor Chestnut was among the pioneers of social stability ideas within IFAC and formed the technical committee which organises this conference series.