The idea of INDIN03 was sparked at IECON02 in Seville, from the momentous encounter of the IEEE-IES Gurus (plotting at the time the genesis of a new IEEE Transactions - on Industrial Informatics) with the organizers of the first International Workshop on Holonic Enterprises (who were planning its sequel). A perfect opportunity to baptize this new IEEE Conference meant to embrace the timely convergence of several streams reflecting today’s trends in industrial informatics:

• The initiative of the IEEE-IES to create a forum for the exchange of R&D ideas reporting new developments in industrial ICT (Information and Communication Technologies).
• The collaborative efforts of several international R&D Consortia working under the IMS (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems) umbrella, targeting ICT advances aimed at improving manufacturing production (Holonic Manufacturing Systems; Plant Automation Based on Distributed Systems; IMS Network of Excellence, etc.)
• The progress in industrial application of the most advanced computational intelligence techniques – carried on by the BISC (Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing) Special Interest Groups
• The latest trends in the development of adaptive, evolvable, autonomous synergetic hardware-software integrated computing tools defining, and defined by the new area of autonomic computing
• The efforts carried on by FIPA (the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents) to standardize the development of intelligent software technologies – Multi-Agent Systems – that enable, among others, cloning of ‘societies’ in Cyberspace capable to back mankind in several endeavors

Now, here we are, nine months later after conception, delighted and amazed to see our common dream come true due to your involvement, creativity and dedication to one of the most significant research areas driving our World today!
The Conference, which reflects mainly the IEEE-IES vision on the emerging trends in Industrial Informatics, is strongly backed by dedicated workshops and panels reporting advances in each of the individual streams. By bringing these great minds and ideas all together into this unique bouquet we aimed to create a synergetic environment for the exchange of ideas on developing integrated IT solutions capable of acting as powerful infrastructures for today’s industrial needs.

In 2002 I led, together with the R&D leaders of Schneider Electric, the first International Workshop on Holonic Enterprises that was aimed at merging the forces working towards the development of infrastructures supporting the creation and deployment of collaborative organizational structures for holonic manufacturing production, ranging from supply chain management to the machine production level. On that occasion I became aware of the powerful technologies and solutions dedicated to the safety and reliability of production that were being made available to the broader communities of interest by the latest research results in this area. Given the challenges facing our World today, I have decided to organize INDIN03 under the slogan e-Logistics for a Fail-Safe World in an attempt to transfer the powerful technologies developed in the industrial arena to address critical aspects threatening the safety and security of mankind today. Merging agent technology with industry’s best practices inherited from global production and supply chain coordination and latest advances in computational and computing technologies, INDIN03 aims to enable the development of powerful techniques for the ad-hoc creation of organizational structures capable of addressing emergency response needs promptly in order to support the global efforts in keeping our world a relatively fail-safe environment.

In order for our efforts to be effective and ecological there is a growing awareness that technological development must be backed by a strong value set defining a solid ethical framework as foundation and direction for our work. We are deeply honored and encouraged in this regard by the powerful response received from the leading research forces that enriched the INDIN03 program with specific keynote addresses and tutorials that go beyond the usual task of coining the milestones in today’s research in order to set the vision for the future on critical aspects ranging from values and leadership in the IT-driven world to the impact of IT on today’s industry and society in general. The enormous amount of complex and conflicting information bombarding our world today is taking our focus away from the critical issues that need to be addressed, and this by itself looms as a serious threat to the quality of our lives.

There are many questions, and not so many clear answers. What drives mankind today? What do we value as a society? What ingredients are essential for the industrial success portion to be most effective and in tune with mankind’s overarching goals? David Johnstone, Soren Brier and Francis Hartman shed light on these crucial aspects of today’s emerging industrial IT development. Lotfi Zadeh, Hojjat Adeli and Bill St. Arnaud reveal particularities driving the trends in IT development in areas ranging from intelligent search engine development to wavelets and grid computing. The true essence of our INDIN slogan is revealed through the virtual logistics technologies exposed by Tharam Dillon and Elizabeth Chang while Alan Martel addresses the status quo here at home in the manufacturing industry and beyond. Essential technological aspects related to industrial standards and methodologies are deepened by our tutorial presenters in comprehensive expositions focusing on industrial control with a special report on risk analysis from the BISC group.

As General Chair of the First IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics I am excited and grateful to have brought together this harmonious, rich blend of academic and industry leaders into an innovative forum for discussion and exchange of ideas. I am deeply honored to be in the privileged position of welcoming you all in the beautiful and peaceful environment of Banff National Park. I envision that INDIN03 is the historic start of a series of future INDIN events that could be destined to become an annual tradition in maintaining the fruitful conversation on the most crucial ICT R&D areas supporting today’s global dynamics. Through innovative solutions and creative thinking we can foster a better quality of life for ourselves, and protect this quality of life as our legacy for the generations to come!

Calgary, July 2003
Mihaela Ulieru
General Chair IEEE INDIN03

This conference would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support of a number of dedicated people who went far into the impossible to make this event happen. My most grateful thoughts go to Alf Weaver, his research assistant Kim Gregg, Rainer Unland, his research assistant Frank Büscher, Robert (Bob) Begun, Aleksander Malinowski, Carlos Couto, Margaret-Anne Stroh and George Davidescu. They were always available for me keeping things rolling as smoothly as possible in the most stressful times. Highest gratitude goes to Brian Unger and iCORE, our first sponsors, for their generosity and for their kind support of several students. Special thanks to Okyay Kaynak and IEEE-IES without whose constant advice and support this event wouldn’t have been possible.

I especially acknowledge the efforts of the workshop organizers (Armando Walter Colombo, Ashok Deshpande, Eckehardt Klemm, Axel Klostermeyer, Arndt Lüder, Masoud Nikravesh, Duc Truong Pham, Huaglory Tianfield, Rainer Unland) for the excellent job done in bringing new trends to the awareness of the research community and by attracting excellent papers and presenters who gave the unique essence to our conference.

Mihaela Ulieru
General Chair INDIN03