Welcome

 

The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is the premiere organization for individuals interested in a theoretical and computational understanding of the brain and applying that knowledge to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. INNS was formed in 1987 by the leading scientists in the neural network field. In the past 3 decades, the Society played a key role in the field of neural networks pursuing interdisciplinary perspectives. The membership of INNS reflects our diversity; our members represent a variety of fields, backgrounds and level of interest. Our goals are to better understand the human brain/mind and to create more powerful brain/mind-inspired intelligent machines for addressing complex problems faced by 21st-century societies. These goals are challenging, exciting, and rewarding and with our joint efforts, we can make a significant difference in our future.

List of priorities of INNS at our 30th Anniversary

1. Solidify the leadership role of INNS in the international neural network research

INNS should maintain a leading role in the neural network field. The thorough experience and knowledge embodied in INNS and its members should be actively incorporated in today’s cutting edge neural network research, including deep learning (DL), and various machine learning (ML) and AI approaches. This is not simply a matter of pride and well-deserved acknowledgement of INNS and its members, but without INNS active involvement, many acute questions likely remain unresolved and impeded the development in the years ahead.

2. Build international alliances in neural networks-related fields

We build on our traditions with the European Neural Network Society (ENNS), Japanese Neural Network Society (JNNS), more recently with Asia-Pacific Neural Network Society (APNNS) and India Neural Network Chapter. Based on these traditions, we create a framework for productive international collaboration in NN area. Moreover, we develop a broad collaboration with IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) and various other international organizations working in neural networks, AI, computational neuroscience, and neuro-engineering. We explore close collaborations with bio-medical research organizations, as there is a huge need in medical profession for computational modeling tools and INNS is excellently positioned to fill in an existing gap between needs and available tools.

3. Establish steady annual conference series on specific areas

We maintain our successful annual meeting “International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN),” which has been organized in collaboration with IEEE CIS for more than 2 decades. We expand our conference activities by building on the initial successes in the field of deep learning (DL) and big data (BD). Accordingly, we organize a steady line of annual meetings of size smaller than IJCNN, on specific topics such as DL and BD, or other suitable research areas. These conferences would be on a rotation basis at different regions/countries, to support our sister societies, regional chapters, to enhance their local activities, to give value for our existing members, and motivate NN researchers to become new members of INNS.

4. Establish the publication of a stable newsletters/magazine

We have our very successful journal “Neural Networks” published by Elsevier, which is a highly impactful publication in the field of neural networks, linking mathematical, computational and engineering aspects of neural networks, with biological, physiological, and cognitive areas. In addition, we had some promising initiatives in the past decade to establish an additional publication outlet for our members, such as the Tri-Society Newsletters and the Natural Intelligence Magazine. We work on creating a newsletter/magazine in a suitable format, to give value to our members, inform them on cutting-edge events in our field, and help to get them involved in these activities deeply.

5.  Build a broad community in neural networks

INNS has many outstanding pioneers of neural networks field who are our members and Fellows of our society. They often play a prominent role not only in INNS, but also in many other societies, as well as in research and government organizations. They can significantly shape the public image of INNS. We must be able to get them actively involved in the life of INNS, so they could share their wisdom for the benefit of all. We can use their leading examples to attract new generations of students and young scientists to neural network field and to INNS. With well-focused publicity initiatives based on the achievements of our pioneers and our members, we can reach out efficiently to a broad segment of the society, which will pay its dividends in forming the future of brain science and brain inspired machines.