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Hans Ittmann |
During the week of 13-18 July 2008, representatives from the international operations research community will meet at the Sandton Convention Centre for the 18th Triennial Conference of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS).
The theme of the conference is: Operational research: developing communities, managing the connections amongst them. Hans Ittmann, Acting Executive Director at CSIR Built Environment and chairperson of the IFORS local organising committee, says: "This is the first time that an IFORS conference will be hosted on the African continent since its establishment in 1959. Hosting the conference here is a real feather in the cap of the operations research community in South Africa. About 750 delegates are expected to attend the conference."
IFORS is an umbrella organisation comprising the national operations research societies of over 45 countries from Asian-Pacific, Europe, North America, South America and Africa and has a membership of over 25 000. IFORS will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary during this conference - although IFORS was established in 1959 the first international operations research conference was held in 1957.
Ittmann, who is also editor of the IFORS newsletter, says: "Operations research endeavours to address and solve real life problems via a scientific approach. Mathematical modelling and simulation are typically used to represent such problems. Various techniques and algorithms have been developed to then solve these problems. The beauty of this discipline is that it can be applied in almost all walks of life."
IFORS Vice-President Mike Trick, who is responsible for conferences, says, "Often, we think of operations research in narrow terms. How can this manufacturing operation be done more effectively? How can we ship our goods more cheaply? But operations research can have a much broader effect on the community, particularly for those living in the developing world." He adds, "How can we provide medical care to the poorest of our communities? How can the effects of information technology be used in all schools, not just the rich ones? How does the global economic system affect agriculture, mining and other primary resource extraction economies? This theme is important for our field, and particularly relevant for IFORS's first triennial conference in Africa."
Operations research has been practised and used by the CSIR for more than 40 years, having been introduced here in 1963. Current research focuses on solving complex problems, using mainly quantitative methods. This is achieved through the analysis and interpretation of data and information, the formulation of mathematical models and proposing ways to improve performance, optimise results and guide business decisions.
Enquiries: CSIR Communications
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