Greetings from the IFAC President


It is my great pleasure as president of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) to "welcome" you to the American Control Conference organized by the American Automatic Control Council (AACC) and co-sponsored by IFAC.

By now, it seems already standard that a welcome is independent of the location of the person "being welcomed" and the location of the person "welcoming" -- and it applies to a virtual meeting room, a virtual lecture or – you guessed it – a virtual conference. This welcome reaches you probably in an electronic version and you are not holding the usual ACC booklet in your hands. Most likely, this is one of the smaller changes that you witness when comparing this year's ACC to your past ACC experiences. The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the associated disease COVID-19 has turned many things upside down and radically changed how we participate in conferences - at least for the rest of the year and most probably way beyond. This statement is not based on my predictions on the future of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (I would not dare…), but based on my opinion that this pandemic brings lasting changes, some of which might even be for the better.

It is clear that seeing the current pandemic purely as a chance would not do justice to the many tragic losses and the restrictions we have to accept for our daily lives. No question, the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the worst disaster of worldwide impact that mankind has seen since many decades, and my greatest wish with all my heart is that you, your families and friends stay healthy. Let us try anyways to not only minimize the horrible consequences of this pandemic, but also to think beyond the crisis, actively shaping this change by envisioning a better and possibly more sustainable future.

Within IFAC, we certainly try to adapt this mindset and we are constantly thinking about change for the better of the community – especially in this difficult situation. Already the IFAC constitution states that IFAC's primary objective is to serve all those concerned with the theory and application of automatic control and systems engineering, wherever they are situated. A recent project in this respect is for example the initiative of the ‘Corona Control Community Project (C3P) Website', a joint effort with IEEE CSS that you've probably already heard about (https://covid.ifac-control.org). Serving the community, of course, also includes our ‘daily business': organizing and sponsoring more than 50 technical meetings every year, the publication of eight prestigious archival journals, recognizing great achievements and talent through IFAC Awards, promoting the benefits of automatic control among the public at large and many more initiatives that are carried out thanks to all the IFAC boards, committees and volunteers.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank the organizers of the American Control Conference, who have done a tremendous job in adapting to the difficult COVID-19 imposed circumstances in such a professional way. Even though, or maybe even because of the changes the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus forces on us, this ACC will be a new and exciting experience. Next to the technical program of high scientific level, it will certainly be a fruitful conference that inspires new ideas and sparks new collaborations, despite the difficult time the conference takes place in.

Last but not least, I wish us all interesting sessions, presentations and discussions, and I hope to meet many of you, at least virtually, in one or the other session over the next couple of days.

Frank Allgöwer
President of the International Federation of Automatic Control