President's Message

The Way Forward

Abstract

This is my first article in Journal of System Safety (JSS) where I have the honor of serving as President of the International System Safety Society (ISSS). There is a lot going on, and I look forward to outlining some of these items in more detail after our Executive Council (EC) meeting at the International System Safety Society Conference (ISSC) this August in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There has been a good deal of discussion about the need for paradigm shifts in the last several issues of JSS. I am instituting a fairly fundamental paradigm shift in the way the EC conducts business. At the annual EC meeting, it has been the tradition to focus on matters that require an EC decision. Discussion of other matters was discouraged. I am going to allow — and actually encourage — discussion of important matters that will not need an immediate EC decision. Of course, these discussion topics will have to be approved and placed on the agenda with a time limit. The output of these discussions will be a better identification of strategic issues and the beginnings of solutions that will be transformed eventually into motions for EC votes.