In an era of rapid advancements in highly intelligent digital systems, blockchain, and other transformative technologies, the role of control and automation in shaping human civilization is of paramount, even critical, importance. This paper examines the strategic significance of IFAC's Social Systems Coordinating Committee (CC), a unique multidisciplinary global community of researchers and practitioners comprising leading universities, research centers, industry partners and international agencies at the forefront of integrating technological and societal progress.This paper reports the results of a strategic "milestone" review, including an extensive meta-analysis of the Social Systems CC's five Technical Committees (TCs) and their activities. It uncovers key themes emphasizing this CC's contributions to models, systems, infrastructures, and operations. Using content analysis and word clouds, 272 keywords were refined to elucidate the main themes of the CC, revealing significant current and future collaborations with other IFAC communities and external organizations. The paper identifies high-potential new cooperation opportunities between this CC and the other IFAC CCs and their TCs, suggesting ways to achieve these collaborations. The findings highlight the Social Systems CC's unique position at the heart of the global automation and control community, where it offers practical applications in planning, management, and sustainability as well as fostering cross-sector cooperation crucial for human progress and effective humanitarian and environmental responses. This paper underscores the Social Systems CC's role in advancing control science and automation systems engineering to tackle pressing societal challenges, advocating for a future where technology and human systems synergize for the global well-being of all living systems.

Control and automation technologies are playing a critical role in the trajectory of human civilisation and its impact upon living systems. Interactions between advances in automation and control and society in it's broadest sense are addressed by IFAC's 'Social Systems' Coordinating Committee (CC9) and its five Technical Committees (TCs). CC9 is at the crossroads of several disciplines including business and commerce, pedagogy, international development, urban planning, digital culture amongst many others. This paper reports the results of an envisioning of CC9 and its TCs. It begins with an overview of CC9 and it's TCs. Following a strategic review of CC9 TCs, a qualitative analysis of TC reports is outlined. The findings offer a basis for a strategic agenda for social systems (CC9) in its relationship to other technical areas of IFAC. The analysis highlights potential for cooperation between CC9 communities and thirteen non-CC9 TCs, suggesting ways this might be accomplished.

Industry is an important driver for prosperity in Europe. Industrial and technological developments have influenced European society more than any other developments. The challenge has always been for policy makers to protect citizens from the negative aspects and embrace the positive elements. Innovation is one of the key elements for novel technological developments. The European Commission state that future technological evolutions must respect all key priorities including the environmental, social, human-centric ones. This means complex and challenging problems that need to be solved will require new ways of thinking and working. One of the most important assets we have is a well-educated workforce. Futureproofing this workforce with diverse and inclusive work practices will be critical ensure that top talent will be attracted, and remain, in these companies going forward. “Managing for diversity” as described by Chavez et al. in 2008 means bringing that competitive advantage through the attraction, retention, and leveraging of the unique skills and capacities of a diverse workforce [1].

It is a tradition to present on nearly each IFAC World Congress an update of this dynamic TC. Therefore, in this contribution the role of process and manufacturing automation especially control engineering will be presented and discussed based on previous papers. In addition, Ethics and Diversity are shortly discussed. In this paper an outlook on the topics of this IFAC TC will be given from the viewpoint of control engineering and related subjects.

Electricity and all its forms, are an irreplaceable way of supplying with electricity to all engineering systems. One of the forms of electricity that has revolutionized the last 30 years is Solar Energy, where as such it has proven to be a cost oriented solution of producing energy. This paper examines all the steps, advantages and the most modern photovoltaic technologies. "How ready is Kosovo for solar energy p roduction?" this question that finds the answer within this paper. Part of this paper is the modeling and design of photovoltaic systems on the Innovative Campus UBT, which can be considered as a guide for solar system installers. After presenting the efficiency of the installation of photovoltaic systems on the Innovative Campus of UBT, it seems clear that the needs of state and citizen awareness at the same time on the true purpose of installing solar systems, contributing to the overall social well-being. The application of solar systems in institutions and the benefit that the application of this technology brings not only in financial aspects, as it is presented in the case of the Innovative Campus UBT study, but also the most important aspects are environmental aspect, making a drastic reduction of the emission of polluting elements in nature.

In March 2020 the world as we know it was shaken to the core by the Covid-19 global pandemic. This crisis has had a significant impact on the EU27 economy and triggered unprecedented policy responses across Europe and the globe. Collaborative Robotics, or Cobots, have made a significant difference to many manufacturing plants by facilitating social distancing between workers, introducing flexibility on the factory floor and allowing the plants to manufacture high quality items for use in the medical field. California-based DCL Logistics, a third-party logistics company, decided to employ Cobots to manage a 30% increase in orders in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak and the Cobots have led to a 300% increase in productivity and a 60% jump in labor cost savings [1]. This paper will look at these flexible robots and discuss the benefits they brought to manufacturing in a time of global crisis.

Manufacturing engineering is now moving into the digital era, otherwise known as Industry 4.0. The next paradigm shift that is fast approaching and this is the era of personalisation and customisation, known as Industry 5.0. To facilitate this personalisation of products, human and technology must work together seamlessly in a manner where the best of both is leveraged. Human centred systems are at the heart of this revolution. One of the most important enablers of this change is the education of our technologists, our university degrees and post graduate programmes must embed this expertise into their core modules. This contribution looks the educational aspects of the MSc in Engineering Management in the Technical University of Vienna Austria (TUWien) as an example of education which has evolved to facilitate emerging trends. An introduction and a short history of this executive postgraduate MSc is presented, as it is a long established and well know programme which dates back to 1995.

Energy is a critical element in the sustainable conversation of our planet. As global demand continues to increase, renewable systems are being deployed, but renewable resources are intermittent. Research shows that by combining systems in a hybrid manner, emissions can be reduced and quality of life improved. This case study focuses on the south-east region of Ireland. Two domestic scenarios are investigated. Housing developments of 800 and 2,000 houses are studied with hybrid alternatives. HOMER is used to gather electrical generation data, carbon emissions and cost analysis. Qualitative research investigated Ireland’s energy policies, and three experts were interviewed.

Automation, and closely related information systems are, naturally innate, and integrated ingredients of all kinds of objects, systems, and social relations of the present day reality. This is the reason why this contribution treats the phenomena and problems of this automated/information society in a historical manner with a wider, structural framework, giving special emphasis to TECIS. The classical International Federation of Automatic Control's (IFAC) topic of social effects is continually evolving and is moving towards human-machine cooperation. This means that automation technologies require a more interdisciplinary educated workforce. In addition developing countries need access to the newest technology to efficiently and effectively improve their industries. This contribution benchmarks selected important development trends of the Technical committee 9.5 (TECIS). It outlines the social aspects of automation, cost orientated automation, semi-automated assembly and disassembly (end of life), mechatronics systems and robotics, cooperative robotics, engineering ethics and diversity and inclusion in automation. As well as looking forward to future development trends it also looks backwards at the history of automation in the context of TECIS. Copyright (C) 2021 The Authors.

It is widely accepted that every country needs to be forward thinking to remain competitive in manufacturing in the twenty first century. Some European countries have the advantage of a rich history in automation and robotics in their manufacturing industries. Looking forward, Industry 5.0 will be the next industrial revolution, and will emanate from Industry 4.0. Collaborative Robotics will play a significant role by enabling humans and robots to work together in harmony. In 2021, as part of a doctoral thesis titled "Collaborative robotics in Industry 5.0" data were gathered for a case study in the south east of Ireland by the author of this paper. The results serve to provide an interesting benchmark for collaborative robotics in Irish industry. A brief summary of some of these results is shared here as well as ta novel conceptual framework and definition of Industry 5.0.

Pollution rates in cities, mainly produced by vehicles, continue to rise. Meanwhile, electric vehicle solutions are not available to the average, even medium/high incomes citizen of peripheral countries. In turn, a large number of vehicles are available in circulation to be recycled into hybrid or electric vehicles with a cost approx. 10 times lower than that of an electric/hybrid vehicle. A modular and comprehensive concept for cars hybridisation or electric conversion is presented, reusing existing vehicles and accessible to the wide public. From an integrated mechatronic vision the work touches on mechanical, electronic and computer (control) aspects, which with a transdisciplinary approach are complements from the side ecology and sustainable development. The design of a special in-wheel motor-generator and their dynamic control is the focus of the hard technology aspects.

There are three basic strategies in End-of-Life Management (the "3-R" possibilities): Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Additionally, "Recover" can be added to enhance the method to a "4-R" theory: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover. Recover describes the energy recovery from the waste stream. This possibility should not be left out. As the fifth and last option, the strategy landfill is mentioned. This is not an EoL option in the narrow sense, but it is still very important in waste treatment nowadays. There exist some early approaches in the literature to support the decision for a special EoL strategy but they are mostly applicable only in a narrow, specialized field. Therefore in this contribution the current state of the art in (semi) automated disassembly will be described by means of some realized examples. Finally an outlook on further necessary developments with special emphasis to 1ECIS is given. Copyright (C) 2021 The Authors.

With the establishment within IFAC of the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group in TECIS in Sozopol, Bulgaria in September 2019 the issue of Diversity and Inclusion within the discipline of engineering has been strengthened with both a new platform and a voice (Doyle-Kent et al, 2019:2020). It captures the themes already live in IFAC and is a very positive and forward thinking initiative. IFAC is a worldwide organization with over 20,000 individual members. This paper shows the core values at the heart of the new Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. It is precisely because of the establishment of this group that this “Statement of Values” has emerged in order to crystalize the strongly held beliefs and values that are at the core - the group’s “raison d’être” so to speak. This statement of values has been accepted by the members of the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. Going forward it will be proposed as a companion document to the IFAC “Code of Conduct” and it is hoped that it will be included on the IFAC website and at conferences. This paper shows the journey to date and acts as a discussion document in which inputs are sought rather like a green paper.

Industry 4.0 has brought about a revolution in how the manufacturing industry operates, from the product concept generation to the automated, high-tech factories that fabricate the products. Manufacturing systems are fully integrated, multi-robot and collaborative. The key elements of Industry 4.0 are information and communications technology (ICT), connectedness, sensor technology, robotics and innovative production systems. Smart manufacturing systems producing smart products. The result of this highly automated environment of Industry 4.0 is that the humans are at risk of no longer playing a valuable role. This paper asks the following questions: Can we ensure that humans have a place in the highly automated workplace of the future (Industry 5.0) by optimizing human capital? Can the traditional educational provider supply the skills required to educate this modern worker or do we require an innovative educational system?

The use of robots for any manufacturing process is present in almost every industry nowadays. Nevertheless, automating the manufacturing process has always been a challenge for every one of them due to costs and complexity of adding this kind of automation. Acquiring robotic equipment in a concentrated market where the vendors have locked-in their clients can be expensive. In addition to this, the development of intern-factory made solutions has a very steep learning curve and it is not easily achievable. Due to these barriers small and medium size players can’t easily jump into this revolution.

The IFAC TC on "Supplemental Ways for Improving International Stability - SWIIS" is one of the longest situated in IFAC. According to first ideas during the IFAC World Congress in Kyoto 1981 this IFAC - at that time - Working Group organised in 1983 the first Workshop in this highly interdisciplinary field in Austria. Meanwhile a Technical Committee in IFAC, SWIIS was always a bridge between (control) engineers and various other disciplines to open IFAC to other related fields. If s a tradition to present on nearly each IFAC World Congress an update of this dynamic TC. Therefore in this contribution the role of process and manufacturing automation especially control engineering will be presented and discussed based on previous papers. In addition Ethics and Diversity are shortly discussed. As an indicator selected Keywords of the main sponsored events of this TC were used. This contribution is based on Kopacek,P, L.Stapleton, M.Dimirovski (2017). Copyright (C) 2020 The Authors.

There has been considerable focus on building inclusion and diversity into engineering careers and education, especially in developed countries, but despite this, the percentages for minorities remain unchanged over decades. The multi-cultural interaction of TECIS was a springboard for the launch of a working group to investigate the reasons for this lack of improvement. The genesis of this working group occurred in Sozopol, Bulgaria at the TECIS 2019 conference where twenty-three researchers from over ten countries came together to discuss the lack of women and other marginalized groups in engineering. The objective of this paper is threefold, to outline the future direction of the inclusion and diversity working group in TECIS, to support and foster greater knowledge of gender diversity in engineering education and to outline future research activities that could make a substantial contribution to our understanding of diversity issues in engineering in addition to making best practice recommendations that can be used in the engineering industry. The scope of this paper is limited to women in engineering. Future work will look at other inclusion and diversity issues in STEM.

In Ireland 2019 there is an obvious lack of female engineers in the workplace. This paper investigates the reasons why this is so and if gender diversity is needed in engineering? A qualitative and quantitative study was carried out and the results discussed. Comparison with international data is made and an analysis of the reasons behind the low figures is offered. Finally, potential solutions to attracting and keeping females engaged in engineering are proposed.

Process - and manufacturing automation as well as robotics are currently one of the fastest growing fields in automation. Cyber-physical systems, industry 4.0 and "advanced robots" are not longer a headline. Production 4.0 is in realization but production 5.0 is knocking on the door. Production 4.5 was introduced one year ago as an immediate step for small and medium enterprises. They are some first dreams on production 6.0. An important part of production automation is (semi) automated assembly. This topic is currently only outlined in the literature with some description of laboratory tests. Concerning of one of the scopes of TECIS "End of life management - EoL" an important part (semi) automated disassembly is currently missing in all of these concepts. Therefore in this contribution first ideas on (semi) automated disassembly 4.0 including new tasks for "advanced" robots will be given and shortly discussed. As a consequence of these developments new social, ethical and human questions appear. (C) 2019, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.