xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF DYNAMIC GAMES E-LETTER, issue No. 15, 7 October 1994 Edited by Raimo P. Hamalainen and Harri Ehtamo Systems Analysis Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology ISDG@HUT.FI xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dear Dynamic Game Theorist, This is the fifteenth issue of the Society's electronic newsletter. The basic minimum work principle in editing this e-letter is that the READERS send important notes and information about symposia, conferences and workshops of dynamic games, as well as abstracts of Ph.D. theses, papers and books, which they want to be included in the newsletter. The format is described below. We hope that no retyping will be needed so please follow the instructions and sample shown below carefully. The news should be concise to keep the newsletter readable. Requests for more complete information about any news item should be directed to its contributor. We appreciate any comments and suggestions that you may have on this e-letter. Looking forward to receiving your news contributions. Raimo P. Hamalainen and Harri Ehtamo xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Contributed by the Editors October 7 MODEL FOR NEWS SUBMISSIONS Maximum line length is 72 characters. Place the text between two lines of x:ses. The first line should state "Contributed by" and followed by the contributor's name, in brackets and the date. Then there should be a title line and the text. This info block should be sent to ISDG at HUT.FI xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Contributed by Tamer Basar September 26 MINUTES of the ISDG Executive Board Meeting July 12, 1994 St Jovite, Quebec, Canada Prepared by P. Bernhard INTRODUCTION T. Basar opened the meeting, and presented the agenda. Those present were T. Basar, P. Bernhard, H. Ehtamo (representing R. Hamalainen), A. Haurie, G.-J. Olsder, J. Shinar. As no change (to the agenda) was proposed, the meeting proceeded with item 3 on the agenda. ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIETY Newsletter: A vote of thanks was extended to Harri Ehtamo for running the ISDG Newsletter. Harri complained that he does not get sufficient number of news items from the readership to include in the Newsletter. Everybody is encouraged to publicize this means of information dissemination. Harri was encouraged to include in the Newsletter abstracts of difficult-to-reach papers such as, e.g., some papers that appear in the Russian literature. The subscription should remain free of charge since the issue at this time is to increase the number of 'subscribers'. Harri Ehtamo accepted to continue in this capacity for another term. Applauses. Annals (Current Status of the Series): The Birkhauser series has been launched with the title 'Annals of the I.S.D.G.'. The first volume in the series (based primarily on papers presented at the Grimentz meeting) is already available. Two more volumes are in the working phase: one on 'environmental issues' ( Filar and Carraro), and one on 'numerical methods' (Bardi and Raghavan). Plans are for both volumes to be completed within a year. Volume 4 will be based on papers that were presented at this (St-Jovite) symposium, and will be edited by G.-J. Olsder. Editorial Policy: A discussion was initiated by A. Haurie's proposal that also a call for papers be placed in addition to the 'edited' papers. It was argued that his might be a bit contradictory to the idea of thematic volumes. Finally, it was decided that one may submit papers by sending them to T. Basar who would then forward them to the editor of the most appropriate volume under preparation. The editor would then be responsible for setting up the review process and accepting or rejecting the submitted paper. Alain Haurie emphasized that we should do everything we can to maintain the highest standards to the Annals, as he considers it the most important part of our activities. Financing: It had been agreed with Birkhauser that approximately $40 would be included in the registration fees of each ISDG symposium to account for the purchase of the corresponding volume of the Annals, for each participant to receive when it becomes available. This was overlooked by the organizers of the current meeting. A discussion took place on the question of whether this is a good way to proceed. A drawback is that it makes the volume look too much as a proceedings volume, while we stress that, as in the case of volume 1, it is an edited proceedings, including only part of the papers given at the symposium (and possibly some other high standard contributions.) This is an important point since it allows us to accept a large number of papers at the symposium, with a light, hence quick, reviewing process, and yet maintain high standards for the Annals. But then, it seems a bit difficult to 'force' all attendees to buy the volume, even those whose contributions have been rejected. An alternative would be to include the price of the book in the yearly membership dues of the Society. The drawback here is to oblige the Society to have membership fees, have an accountant, keep books, etc., and we would like to encourage more members to join, and not deter prospective members with membership fees. It was pointed out that building it into the symposium registration fee might also deter researchers from less wealthy countries to attend, although this is usually a small fraction of the cost of travel to the conference site. It was decided that for the 1996 meeting, we should abide by our commitment to Birkhauser, leaving the possibility to waive the automatic purchase scheme for people who would request it on grounds of cost (with legitimate reasons). NEXT SYMPOSIUM We have a proposal from a group in Japan, to hold the next meeting there. In principle, the entire committee members are favorable to it, but there are still a few problems with the current proposal. The proposal is to hold the symposium in December, in conjunction with the CDC, in Kobe. As a consequence, it is proposed to shorten it to a two day event (on Monday and Tuesday, December 9-10). The high price of room charges for sessions would push the registration fees to $250, not including the $40 for the Annals. After some discussion, it was decided to accept the proposal of coupling the symposium with the CDC (Conference on Decision and Control) to be held in Japan in December 1996, as an experiment to see whether the symposium would benefit from this. However, we would like to keep it a three day separate event, and have it organized in the style of the past and current one, as an affordable, more casual meeting, in a cosy environment. Hence this would push it to the week after (or before, but this leaves a two day gap) the CDC, in another city in Japan (further south, was a suggestion made by J. Shinar). Registration fees should not go beyond $250, or preferably $200, including the $40 for the Annals. T. Basar indicated that he would bring these terms to the attention of the prospective organizers from Japan, who would be coming to St. Jovite. There also remains the issue of naming an IPC chairman for the meeting from outside Japan. This issue will be discussed with the organizers, and J. Filar's name will be suggested. 1998 SYMPOSIUM For 1998, it was suggested that we might go to the Netherlands, with Aart de Zeeuw as chair of the organizing committee. Aart will still have to be contacted. BY-LAWS There is a need to formalize somewhat the by-laws of the Society. One key point is to agree on a democratic process to renew the executive board. It was agreed that it will be in the duty of the next president to make proposals regarding this point. NEW PRESIDENT In Grimentz, Tamer Basar had agreed to take a second two-year term, but it was also decided to limit the tenure of a president to two consecutive terms. Hence a new president has to be elected for the next two years. After some discussion, the field of candidates was narrowed down to two: G-J. Olsder and A. Haurie, who were both unanimously endorsed. (At the official banquet of the symposium, on Thursday, Tamer Basar announced that Alain Haurie was named as the president for the next term.) ADJOURNMENT The Committee members thanked Tamer Basar for his pioneering work as the inceptor and first president of the Society. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Contributed by Alain Haurie August 31 Dear ISDG member: I am pleased to initiate, with this letter, the process which should lead toward a more formal statute for our Society, with a set of by-laws for the government of its members and the regulation of its affairs. We have to define first who can be considered currently as a bona fide member of ISDG. The past president, Tamer Basar suggested that we consider as ISDG members the union of the two sets composed of (1) all the participants recorded in the four past symposia on Dynamic Games (Sophia-Antipolis, Helsinki, Grimentz, St-Jovite); (2) all the persons who have been put on the mailing list used for the dissemination of the ISDG newsletter.I agree with this definition. I invite every ISDG member to suggest a type of statute and by-law which she (he) considers appropriate to deal, in particular, with the following questions: -selection of a board of directors -selection of a president -length of tenure for board members and president -replacement procedure in case of incapacitated president or board members -recruitment of new ISDG members -privileges of ISDG members -ceasing of membership You can add any other item you consider relevant. Please remember that we have launched this Society as a network of persons sharing a common scientific interest which is run with a very minimum overhead cost: no membership fees, a newsletter using the e-mail, a conference held every other year and a series of Annals published by Birkhauser under the editorship of Tamer. I think it would be proper to keep the management of the Society as simple as possible. I invite you to communicate with me, using e-mail preferably, and to give your advice before the end of December 1994. I wish you colourful Autumn. Sincerely, Alain B. Haurie Professor, President of the ISDG Mailing address: Dept. of Management Studies University of Geneva 102 Carl-Vogt CH-1211 Geneva 4 Switzerland Tel: 022 705 8132 Fax: 022 781 4100 E-mail: haurie@ibm.unige.ch xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx End of ISDG E-LETTER issue No. 15, 7 October 1994