IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2022 - 73

Conference Reports
by Saeid Nahavandi
A
fter many years of planning,
we were very fortunate to
bring the 2021 IEEE International
Conference on Systems,
Man, and Cybernetics (SMC 2021) to
Australia for the first time in its history.
It was indeed a great privilege
for me to serve as the general chair
for SMC 2021 with the help and support
of a very strong local organizing
committee.
Although we were unable to meet
and hold this IEEE SMC flagship conference
in person due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the second-best option was
the use of innovative ways of running
such an event virtually. Everyone was
engaged and benefited from the conference
as previously planned. The conference
provided an international forum
for researchers, educators, and practitioners
to learn, share knowledge, report
the most recent innovations and
developments, and exchange ideas
and advances in all aspects of systems
science and engineering, human-machine
systems, and cybernetics.
I am pleased to report that the
conference received 1,032 total submissions
from 63 countries. The SMC
Editorial Board and International Program
Committee performed a rigorous
peer-review process that resulted in
561 papers being accepted (a 54% acceptance
rate), 540 of which will appear
in the proceedings. In addition,
we delivered seven tutorials and four
workshops on Sunday, 17 October
2021, prior to the conference's opening.
Seven keynote speeches, one invited
speech on Industry 5.0, and 10
parallel tracks of technical sessions
were delivered during the threeday
main conference period (http://
ieeesmc2021.org/general-information
-and-contact/).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSMC.2022.3177331
Date of current version: 15 July 2022
The opening of SMC 2021. Prof. Saeid Nahavandi, Fellow of IEEE, Deakin
University.
July 2022 IEEE SYSTEMS, MAN, & CYBERNETICS MAGAZINE
73
The 2021 IEEE
International
Conference on
Systems, Man, and
Cybernetics Report
The first day of the conference, immediately
following the official opening,
covered three keynote speeches.
The first keynote speech, " Blockchain
for Transactive Energy Management
in Renewable Energy Systems, "
was delivered by Prof. Mohammad
Shahidehpour of the Illinois Institute
of Technology. The presentation concluded
that blockchain technologies
embedded in transactive energy will
play a significant role in the evolution
of traditional power distribution systems
to active and smart distribution
networks.
Dr. Bill Peine of Medtronic's Surgical
Robotics Unit delivered the second
keynote, " The Transformational
Journey and Future of Surgical Robotics. "
The presentation highlighted
ways that industry and academia can
better partner to realize the full potential
of surgical robotics by leveraging
each other's strengths and working
together.
The third keynote speech, " Realizing
Autonomy in Army, " was delivered
by Colonel Robin Smith of the Australian
Army. It provided strategy, and
through a number of case studies,

http://ieeesmc2021.org/general-information-and-contact/ http://ieeesmc2021.org/general-information-and-contact/ http://ieeesmc2021.org/general-information-and-contact/

IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2022

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