Message from EDSI President PJ Byrne

Dear EDSI Colleagues and Friends,

It is with great honour that I start my term as EDSI President and I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all. EDSI, the European Division of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), is a well-established and vibrant network, with a focus on interdisciplinary research into decision-making techniques and processes in private and public organisations.

The highlight each year is our annual meet up at our regional conference. As a European network our annual conference has been to many different locations including: Barcelona (Spain) in 2010, Wiesbaden/Frankfurt (Germany) in 2011, Istanbul (Turkey) in 2012, Budapest (Hungary) in 2013, Kolding (Denmark) in 2014, Taormina (Italy) in 2015, Helsinki (Finland) in 2016, Granada (Spain) in 2017, Udine & Venice (Italy) in 2018, Nottingham (United Kingdom) in 2019, Lund Sweden (online) in 2021, Dublin (Ireland) in 2022, Nantes (France) in 2023.

Having hosted the annual EDSI conference in Dublin in 2022, it was my pleasure to recently attend the 2023 conference in Nantes, France, under the excellent leadership of Prof. Mihalis Giannakis (Program Chair). The conference was again a showcase for interdisciplinary decision making research with a particular focus on ‘Building Resilience for Sustainable Transition”. This year’s annual meeting returns to Italy and to one of the best known tourist destinations in the world – Venice. The theme of the conference is “The Science of Responsible Decisions” and addresses the urgent need for action on the multifaceted and complex challenges of our time.

As my term begins, I am looking forward to contribute to the growth and development of our chapter in cooperation with the EDSI Board. As a progressive institute I would encourage existing members to continue to affiliate and support EDSI. We are also particularly interested in reaching out to new members including both established researchers and to those of you in the earlier stages of your research journey. As an inclusive and welcoming institute I would encourage you to consider joining DSI and set your affiliation to the European region.

As the first Irish President of the EDSI, I would like to conclude by saying, tá áthas orm ról uachtarán EDSI a ghlacadh and I look forward to working with you all over the year ahead.