TBD

Abstract

There are a number of things happening within the International System Safety Society (ISSS) that are important to the future of the organization and to the system safety profession as a whole. My guess is that the President’s (Russ Mitchell) Message, and some other parts of this issue of Journal of System Safety, will contain additional information about these potential changes. I hope that we will not be in significant disagreement about the nature of the new direction.

Leading indicators of these changes are our focus on the four (or possibly five) “initiatives” that were begun a couple of years ago. These initiatives focus on standardization, training/education and certification. The importance of this is that the ISSS has adopted a renewed stance that the Society has a duty and responsibility to actively promote and enhance the system safety profession by creating new materials, training opportunities, alliances and associated activities. This is a shift from our historical stance of waiting for things to come from chapters and a few energized members, and supporting whatever develops as best we can. It is the difference between being proactive and reactive at the Society level.