Technology is a key enabler in the context of doing business better: businesses need to actively search for appropriate technologies and tools that assist in improving operations. An example is a new trend that brings together emerging techniques from disciplines such as Operations Research (OR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We already see evidence of solid practical accomplishment from these fields through software solutions that provide real, commercial and competitive advantages, including annual savings of $42 million to Sears, $17.5 million to Usinor, $150 million to British Telecom and $30 million to Hong Kong International Terminals. The business of better, indeed.

Hence, we have a strong interest in how technology can be used to assist in doing business better; how technology can assist businesses in meeting their challenges to operational excellence, in other words, “the technology of better”.