The 50th Anniversary of ISCIE International Symposium on Stochastic Systems
Theory and Its Applications

A HISTORY OF SSS
1968-2018
Tohru Katayama
Professor Emeritus Kyoto University
November 1, 2018
Hotel Granvia, Kyoto

2Preliminary
JAACE:=The Japan Association of Automatic Control Engineers,1957
ISCIE:=The Institute of Systems, Control and Information Engineers,1988
Year

Name of SSS

1968

The 1st Symposium on Stochastic Control Theory*
第1回 統計学的制御理論シンポジウム

1975

The 7th Symposium on Stochastic Systems Theory and Its Applications
第7回 確率システムシンポジウム

1985

The 17th JAACE Symposium on Stochastic Systems Theory and Its
Applications

1988

The 20th ISCIE Symposium on Stochastic Systems Theory and Its Applications

1995

The 27th ISCIE International Symposium on Stochastic Systems Theory and ItsApplications* From the English title of Special Issue of the JAACE Journal: Control Engineering,vol.13, no. 8, 1969

PART 1A prehistory of SSS: 1950s - 1960s- Conference on Automatic Control, Cranfield, UK, 1951
- Frequency Response Symposium, New York, 1953
- International Conference on Automatic Control, Heidelberg, 1956
- The 1st IFAC World Congress, Moscow, 1960

41956: Heidelberg• In 1956, the International Conference on AutomaticControl was held in Heidelberg, Germany. Prof. Sawaragi
presented a paper on the statistical linearization techniqueto analyze nonlinear control systems*.
• In Heidelberg, a group of people proposed to establish theInternational Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC).
• The constitution of IFAC was approved next year in Paris,so the IFAC started in 1957; its aim was to promote thescience and technology of automatic control.
* Y. Sawaragi and S. Takahashi, Response of control systems containing
zero-memory nonlinearity to sinusoidal and Gaussian inputs, Proc. Int.
Conference on Automatic Control, Heidelberg, 1956, pp. 271–274.

5Automatic Control in Japan• In 1957, the Japan Association of Automatic Control

Engineers, JAACE, was established in Kyoto.
• In 1957, the National Committee of Automatic Control wasestablished in the Science Council of Japan (日本学術会議).
• In 1958, the 1st Joint Automatic Control Conference, Japan(自動制御連合講演会) was held in Osaka.
- 4 plenary papers and over 100 contributed papers werepresented in the areas of control theory, components, andindustrial applications.

6IFAC World Congress Moscow 1960
• In 1960, the 1st IFAC World Congress was held in Moscow.

• Many international figures attended the Congress; Wiener,Bellman, Kalman, Trapeznikov, Zypkin, Letov (the IFACPresident), etc.
• # papers accepted: 286; # participants: 1200
• From Japan: 18 papers were accepted; but 9 delegates,
including Prof. Sawaragi, attended the Congress.
• It was not easy to attend conferences abroad in early
1960s.

7

IFAC World Congress Moscow 1960

(Gyroscopy& Navigation,
Stepanov,2011)

8

Statistical studies at Kyoto Univ
• In 1950s, a big project in the Laboratory of Prof. Sawaragi

was the statistical studies on nonlinear control systems
based on the equivalent linearization technique. In 1962,
research results were published as a book*.
• After this publication, Prof. Sawaragi organized the USJapan Joint Seminars on Stochastic Systems.
- 1st US-Japan Joint Seminar, Tokyo, 1966
- 2nd US-Japan Joint Seminar, Washington, D.C., 1968
- 3rd US-Japan Joint Seminar, Kyoto, 1971
* Y. Sawaragi, N. Sugai and Y. Sunahara, Statistical Studies on Nonlinear
Control Systems, Nippon Printing & Publishing Co., Osaka, 1962.

91966-1968• In January1966, Prof. Sunahara visited the US andstayed at the Lefschetz control group, Brown University.
• He met Kushner, Wonham, etc., and probably witnessed
many new trends in control theory, including Lyapunov
theory and the Ito stochastic differential equation, etc.
• He returned to Kyoto in August 1967 from the US, andbecame full Professor of Kyoto Institute of Technology,April 1968.

10Start of SSS• The SSS was proposed by Prof. Sawaragi, the chair of

the planning committee of JAACE*.
• The committee asked Prof. Sunahara to organize theSymposium; the SSS was launched in 1968.
• Prof. Sunahara was Chair of the Organizing Committee ofSSS until 1994. He made a great contribution to the SSS.
In fact, he decided the format of Symposium: Abstracts,
Proceedings, Presentation in English, etc.
• The leadership of Prof. Sawaragi and the hard work ofProf. Sunahara brought the success of SSS today.
* JAACE Journal: Control Engineering, vol.13, no.8, pp.501-502,1969

PART 2- 1968-1978: the 1st decade- 1979-1988: the 2nd decade- 1989-1998: the 3rd decade- 1999-2008: the 4th decade- 2009-2018: the 5th decade12

1968-1978: The 1st decade
YearCity, Place

PapersSpecial Lectures

11968

Kyoto, Rakuyu Kaikan

28/85

Y. Sunahara

21970

Kyoto

30/83

31971

Kyoto

23/90

41972

Kyoto

26/91

51973

Kyoto

33/123

61974

Kyoto

24/88T. Nishimura

71975

Kyoto

41/105- Name change

81976

Kyoto

29/79

91977

Kyoto

38/93

Kyoto, Holiday Inn

50/96

10 1978

2-day
3-day

F. Kozin, K. Ito

131968-1978• In 1968, at the first SSS, Prof. Sunahara gave an overview

of the 2nd US-Japan Joint Seminar in Applied Stochastics,
Washington, DC, 1968.
• In 1974, Prof. Nishimura gave a special lecture on Kalmanfiltering in space science at JPL.
• In 1975, the name of SSS was changed to the Symposiumon Stochastic Systems Theory and Its Applications.
• In 1978, the 10th Anniversary was held at Holiday-Inn.
- Special lectures:
1. F. Kozin, Stochastic differential equations: Presentknowledge and future problems
2. K. Ito, On the Stratonovich integral

141979-1988: The 2nd decade
Year

City, PlacePapers

Special Lectures

11

1979

Tokyo, Fujitsu

48/95

T. Kitagawa, Y. Takahashi

12

1980

Kanazawa Inst Tech

51/82

S. Ueno13

1981

Kyoto Inst Tech

34/79

F. Kozin

14

1982

Kobe, KICC

37/75

15

1983

Kyoto Seminar House

44/76

16

1984

Hamamatsu, Murakushi-so 40/64

171985

Kansai Seminar House

53/75- International symposium

18

1986

Tokyo, Mita Press

68/( )- 2 parallel tracks, Posters

191987

Fukuoka, Kyushu Univ

38/71

201988Osaka, Mita Press

56/86

J. Balas, F. Kozin

3-day151979-1988• In 1985, by the effort of Prof. Sunahara, the SSS became

an International Symposium, so presentation in English wasrecommended. This fact was also stimulated by the Kyoto
IFAC World Congress in 1981.
• In 1986, the SSS became a 3-day meeting with 2 paralleltracks. Posters session also started this year; it continued
until 1992.
• SSS1988 - the 20th Anniversary was held in, Osaka.
- Special lectures
1. J. Balas, Nonlinear filtering, asymptotics, large deviations andobserver for nonlinear systems
2. F. Kozin, Statistical linearization and parameter estimation

16

1989-1998: The 3rd decade
Year

City, PlacePapers

Special Lectures

21

1989

Tokyo, Fujitsu

49/65

22

1990

Hiroshima, Information Plaza

40/71

23

1991

Osaka, Mita Press

48/64

24

1992

Kyoto, Suekawa Memorial Hall 56/67
Ritsumeikan Univ

25

1993

Osaka, Mita Press

41/47/73 G. P. Rao- Proceedings

26

1994

Osaka, Mita Press

32/36/61

S27

1995

Beppu, B-Con Plaza

42A

28

1996

Kyoto, Suekawa Memorial Hall 27

29

1997

Tokyo, Waseda Univ

50

30

1998Kyoto, Kyodai Kaikan

44/48/78 K. Nishiguchi
G. Giannakis, P.Stoica

3-day
J. Weizenbaum

G. Kitagawa

N171993 Proceedings• The 1993 Proceedings was published in1994.

（Preface by Prof. Sunahara) - Organization of the Symposium wasmotivated by the fact that there has been a great upsurge in research
activities in the field of Stochastic Control Theory – both among
mathematicians and engineers. Since the first Symposium, a quarter
century has passed and the SSS in 1993 constitutes the 25thInternational Symposium. For this occasion, publication of theproceedings of the symposium has been inaugurated.
- It goes without saying that the principal objective of the SSS is tobring together groups of the researchers and provide a forum forpresentations and discussions on the recent advances in stochastic
control theory and application in various fields of estimation, control,identification, stochastic system analysis, etc. with particular emphasison the coupling of theory and application techniques.

181994• Prof. Sunahara passed away August 1994, after returningfrom the IFAC SYSID 94, Denmark, July 4-6, 1994. He wassupposed to be Chair of SYSID 1997 in Fukuoka.
• The future organization and steering of the SSS werediscussed; and Profs. Sagara, Akizuki and Nakamizo
should take over the role of late Prof. Sunahara.
- Chair is not fixed, and the local organizer will be nominatedfor each future Symposium.
• The 26th SSS1994 was held at the Mita Press, Osaka.
- Chair of organizing committee: Prof. Sagara- Chair of local organizing committee: Prof. Sugimoto

191998 The 30th Anniversary• The 30th Anniversary was held at Kyodai Kaikan.

• We set up Sunahara Memorial Lecture to commemorate

the contribution of Prof. Sunahara. The memorial lecture
continued until 2009.
• Special Lecture- K. Nishiguchi, Large deviation theory and its application to nonlinearfiltering• Memorial Lectures- P. Stoica, Spectral estimation and radar imaging- G. Giannakis, Cyclostationary signal analysis

20

1999-2008: The 4th decade
Year

City, Place

PapersSpecial Lectures

31

1999

Yokohama, Keio Univ

58

A. Nehorai

32

2000

Tottori, Hotel Monarque50/59/84

S. Bittanti

33

2001

Ashikaga Inst Tech48

M. Bremer

34

2002

Fukuoka, Papillon-24

44

A. H. Sayed

35

2003

Ube, Yamaguchi Univ

52/56

T. Katayama

362004Hatoyama, Tokyo Denki Univ

61

C. F. Martin, G. Picci

37

2005

Ibaraki, Otemon Gakuin Univ

45/47/98

H. Takayasu, G. Peskir

38

2006

Suwa, Hananoi Hotel

33/40/67

S. Kondo

39

2007

Saga, Saga Univ

40/51/80

O. Bai, Y. Ikegami

40

2008

Kyoto, Kyodai Kaikan

62/66/119 J. Oommen,
B. K. Ghosh

2-dayK21

1999-2008• In 1999, the 3-day meeting was changed to 2-day meeting.

• In May 2006, the SSS organized a special session for the50th Anniversary of the ISCIE at SCI-06. The memorial
documents were complied by Prof. Sugimoto.
• In 2008, the 40th Anniversary was held at Kyodai Kaikan.
• Sunahara Memorial Lectures- J. Oommen, On the differences between discretized and continuous
stochastic systems as demonstrated by learning automata- B. K. Ghosh, Modeling problems in animal vision and gaze control• Some of the senior members were invited for the 40thAnniversary. See Photo.

22

SSS 2008 40th Anniversary

232009-2018: The 5th decade
Year

City, PlacePapers

Special Lectures

41

2009 Kobe, Konan Univ

52/61/111

A. Isaksson

42

2010 Okayama Univ of Science

44/48/82

H. Kunita

43

2011

61/69/101 H. T. Banks, F. Kappel

44

2012 Tokyo, Kokushikan Univ

51/61/8445

2013 Okinawa, Ryukyus Univ

63/78/128 M. Yamazato

46

2014 Kyoto Inst Tech

39/53

A. Ohsumi

47

2015 Honolulu, Waikiki Marriott

53/86

B. K. Ghosh48

2016 Fukuoka Inst Tech

34/52/72

M. Nagahara

49

2017 Hiroshima Inst Tech

32/47/70

T. Moriya

50

2018 Kyoto, Hotel Granvia

Biwa Lake & Ritsumeikan
Univ

T. Katayama, S. Sugimoto

2-dayS

24

SSS2013 Okinawa

PART 3
Scope of IFAC TC on Stochastic Systems
Concluding Remarks

26

IFAC TC1.4 Stochastic Systems• (Scope of Stochastic Systems, 2018) TC focuses on

statistical and probabilistic methods in modelling, analysis,
estimation, identification, decision, control, etc.
• Stochastic systems arise in various disciplines withinengineering and science, such as control, communications
and networks, signal processing, biology and finance.
• Some key applications include communication systemdesign for both wired and wireless systems, genesequencing and analysis, and biological system modelling,financial data modelling and forecasting, econometrics,
environmental modelling and forecasting, and many others.
(IFAC webpage)

27

Probabilistic/Statistical Methods
Probabilistic methods

Statistical methods

Forward problems

Inverse problems

Model ⊕ Probability space  Theorems

Model ⊕ Data  Model estimation orvalidation

Deductive reasoning

Inductive reasoning

Premise is true  Conclusion is alwaystruePremise is true  Conclusion is notalways true

Information does not increase

Information increases

The statistical method solves inverse problems, while the probabilistic
method deals with forward problems, starting with a model together witha probability space, and derives useful theorems. Both probabilistic andstatistical methods are needed for analyzing, modeling, and designingstochastic systems. It is important to recognize “stochastic” includes
both “probabilistic” and “statistical”.

28Conclusions• For the past 50 years, we have got together to discuss

new problems and exchange information about stochastic
systems theory and applications. I believe that to meet
new colleagues and to exchange ideas will promote future
research activities and the cooperation between
researchers in our areas.
• In the coming age, our life will heavily be influenced by
new technologies, including big data sciences and AI. So
is our SSS. I hope that the future of the SSS is successful,especially by the intelligence and efforts of young people.

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Sources of Information
1

JAACE Journal: Control Engineering (1957-1970), Activity Reports

2

JAACE Journal: Systems and Control (1971-1987)

3

ISCIE Journal: Control/Systems/Information (1988 - )4Memorial Documents for the SSS Special Session at SCI-06 (2006)

5

Ambitious ISCIE: 50-Year History for 1957-2006, Booklet for the ISCIE 50thAnniversary (2006)

6

SSS webpage - http://sci-sss.org/

7

IFAC webpage - https://www.ifac-control.org/about/history
https://tc.ifac-control.org/1/4R. Oldenburger, American Automatic Control Council, IRE Trans. Vol. AC-4, No. 1,pp. 5-7 (1959)

8

Note: A related article will appear in the ISCIE Journal, January 2020.

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