Shaping the future of advanced automation and control systems for society strategic directions and multidisciplinary collaborations of IFAC's social systems coordinating committee

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.