Back-up Item 8.2.1
Proposal for
SIGEVO An ACM SIG for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation
Erik Goodman, ISGEC Chairman David E. Goldberg, GECCO Business Committee John R. Koza, GECCO Business Committee
The purpose of this document is to outline the creation of an ACM SIG devoted to Genetic and Evolutionary Computation for consideration by the SIG Governing Board Executive Committee.
The document briefly discusses (1) the primary focus of the proposed SIG, (2) the primary audience served, and (3) the initial activities to be undertaken by the group.
Primary Focus
The primary focus of SIGEVO is the theory, implementation, and practice of genetic and evolutionary computation (GEC). Loosely stated, GEC is the use of ideas from genetics and evolution to help create computational systems that evolve and adapt, and GEC is now used to optimize complex systems, as a learning mechanism in sophisticated machine learning systems, or as a means of modeling biological or other evolutionary systems. Genetic and evolutionary computation have been around since the late 1950s and different terms have captured different origins and styles of work, including genetic algorithms (GAs), evolution strategies (ESs), evolutionary programming (EP), and genetic programming (GP). Today, GEC is a vibrant area of active research and practice, with GEC being used across the spectrum of human endeavor. For example, GEC has been used to design antennas and electrical circuits, design jet engines, optimize schedules, catch criminals, model advanced materials, and create aesthetically pleasing art and music.
The proposed SIG grows out of 18 years of organized conferences in the field. In 1985, the first International Conference on Genetic Algorithms and Their Application (ICGA) was held at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) with roughly 60 people in attendance. The ICGA led to the establishment of the International Society for Genetic Algorithms. In 1999, the Genetic Programming (GP) Conference and ICGA merged their efforts to form the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO, www.isgec.org/GECCO-2004), and that merger led shortly thereafter to the International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (ISGEC, www.isgec.org). Since 1999, GECCO has been held on an annual basis with between 450 and 600 attendees each year. GECCO is, by far, the largest conference in the GEC field. Every other year, the society sponsors, a workshop, The Foundations of Genetic Algorithms (FOGA), and dues from the society are used to support two independent journals (Evolutionary Computation, published by the MIT Press and Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers). ISGEC and GECCO have undertaken various programs to promote the overall growth of the field, including, for example, the subsidy of the travel and housing expenses of over 100 students each year at recent GECCO conferences.
This proposal largely recommends building on the demonstrated long-term success of ISGEC and transferring it to the new SIGEVO of the ACM.
Primary Audience
The primary audience for SIGEVO is practitioners and academics interested in genetic and evolutionary computation. That this audience is sizable and sustainable is proven by the long- term success of the activities that have led to the formation of the ISGEC. Prior to GECCO-2003, Back-up Item 8.2.1
ISGEC had 290 dues-paying members, and others joined during the conference. Since 1999, the GECCO conference has attracted an average of 490 paying attendees and 43 “comped” registrants (tutorial presenters, etc.). Each GECCO conference has generated a surplus (typically a few tens of thousands of dollars), and the activities of GECCO and ISGEC have been self-sustaining.
Evidence of the size and vitality of the field may also be found in the number of books and papers published in this field. 81 edited or authored books (exclusive of conference proceedings) exist in the GEC field. A recent listing of workshops and conferences with substantial GEC content lists 38 different activities over the next year. A current bibliography of only genetic programming papers lists over 3156 publications as of August, 2003, and GP is estimated to represent no more than a 20-25% of the activity in the field.
Initial Activities
The initial activities to be undertaken by SIGEVO include the following:
1. Sponsor and run GECCO conference on an annual basis (2004 in Seattle) 2. Sponsor and run FOGA workshop on a biennial basis (2004, location TBA) 3. Seek SIGEVO affiliation of one-two other high-quality conferences in the field to get better geographical distribution of effort (a key candidate is EuroGP). 4. Start a new publication, SIGEVO Review, a semiannual publication highlighting practical and basic advances in the field. 5. Offer discounts to two key journals in the field: Evolutionary Computation and Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines. Discussions are ongoing between ACM publications and these two independent journals for affiliation status. 6. Place GECCO and FOGA proceedings in the digital library and offer access to SIGEVO members. 7. Raise funds to support student travel to SIGEVO conferences and workshops.
Each of these is briefly discussed.
GECCO. GECCO has been successful run on an annual basis at a surplus since 1999 with between 450 and 600 attendees each year. Its predecessors (GP and ICGA) were successful. ICGA dates back to 1985 – the oldest conference in the field. The GP Conference dates back to 1996. GECCO puts out a one- or two-volume conference proceedings and runs a variety of workshops, tutorials, late-breaking paper, and poster sessions (see www.isgec.org/GECCO- 2003). Separate workshop, tutorial, and late-breaking paper volumes are available only on-site, to conference registrants.
FOGA. FOGA (The Foundations of GAs) started out as a non-aligned workshop in 1990 at Indiana University. It has been run on a biennial basis since then and puts out a high-quality book proceedings of edited papers after each conference. It is now governed by an ISGEC bylaw.
New conference. There are a number of high quality conferences in the field. We will seek to bring one or two of them into the SIGEVO fold. ACM affiliation should act as a magnet and offer academic credentials to these proceedings.
SIGEVO Review. A practice-oriented publication will be started and published twice a year (initially).
Academic Journals. Two journals are sponsored through ISGEC dues (Evolutionary Computation and Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines). These journals will be offered to SIGEVO members at a discount. The journals are exploring formal ACM affiliation.
Back-up Item 8.2.1
Digital Library. SIGEVO proceedings and publications will be placed in the ACM Digital Library and made available to SIGEVO members.
Student Support. A key focus of the ISGEC and its predecessors, the GP Conference and ISGA, has been supporting student travel to GEC-related workshops. SIGEVO will carry on that tradition by raising and dispensing funds for student travel.
Structure of Existing Organization (ISGEC). ISGEC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Illinois corporation. The corporation is in good standing with state and federal authorities. The corporation has cash-on-hand of about $100,000 and physical assets (notably audio-visual equipment used at the GECCO conference and other office equipment) worth about $17,000. The corporation carries liability insurance. The corporation is governed by a 15-member board, of which one fifth is elected each summer for 5-year terms.
Conclusions
SIGEVO represents an opportunity for ACM to expand its SIG offerings in a low-risk manner to an audience of growing breadth of application and intellectual and commercial import. As GEC transitions from the laboratory to practice, ACM affiliation represents a way to broaden the impact of GEC ideas and technology. Back-up Item 8.2.1
Response to ACM Request on 12 November 2003 for Further Information Regarding the Proposed SIGEVO
Erik Goodman, David E. Goldberg, & John R. Koza International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation 23 November 2003
Introduction
On 12 November, 2003, Ms. Donna Baglio, Director of SIG Services for ACM, requested additional information to supplement a pre-proposal submitted on 4 September 2003 for a new ACM SIG tentatively called SIGEVO. The purpose of this document is to respond to that request. In particular, six areas of additional information were requested:
1. Relationship of this special interest to other ACM SIGs, i.e., overlaps, related interests, previous involvement, etc. 2. Brief biographical sketches from 5 individuals who would initially be the core group to champion the effort. 3. Criteria which would be used to evaluate success after year one and two (if different from year one). 4. Will you bring any funds with you? 5. Would GECCO cease to exist and be supplanted by the new SIGEVO? 6. How many members would you expect to have, would you do anything other than run a conference annually, how many people would be interested in being officers, would these be elected or appointed, and so on.
In the remainder of this document, each of these items is discussed.
Relation of Proposed SIGEVO to Other SIGS
There are no current SIGs within the ACM structure that compete directly with the proposed SIGEVO; however, there are two SIGs that have some overlap:
1. SIGART 2. SIGKDD
In the past, SIGART was more active and ran a newsletter, although many of the larger artificial intelligence (AI) conferences were supported by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and other entities outside the ACM umbrella. More recently, SIGART has changed status from being a full-service SIG to becoming a conference SIG (http://www.acm.org/sigart/). In this new role, we can imagine synergies with SIGART such as co-sponsoring the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) and other activities of SIGEVO.
SIGKDD is an active SIG with a large conference and significant growth. In many ways, SIGKDD and SIGEVO have followed parallel paths, having come from significant independent conference activities with both seeking greater recognition and participation under the ACM umbrella. SIGEVO would have no interest in data-mining matters beyond those involving GEC, and SIGKDD has no significant interest or focus on larger genetic and evolutionary concerns (simulation, optimization, evolutionary systems as models, etc.), and in this way both SIGs have a rather large niche to themselves with some overlap at the boundaries between machine learning and evolutionary systems. Having said this, we can see opportunities for co-sponsorship or co- location of future workshops and conferences between SIGKDD and SIGEVO and would be excited to explore other opportunities for synergies and cooperation with SIGKDD. Back-up Item 8.2.1
The two SIGs listed above are closest to SIGEVO. There are a number of SIGs where genetic and evolutionary algorithms will play or are playing a more significant role. As such, we believe there are potential opportunities for cooperation, co-sponsorship, or other interaction with SIGEVO that may be interesting. The intellectual ties are briefly explored in the listing below, although the list is not exhaustive:
SIGACT. Evolution and genetics are fundamental processes of computational theory. Potential synergies exist between SIGACT and the rigorous theoreticians in SIGEVO, especially those who participate in the biennial Foundations of Genetic Algorithms workshop (FOGA).
SIGAPP. Increasingly genetic and evolutionary computation is being packaged in the same way as applied computing software. Synergies exist in incorporating GAs and EC in hybrid with traditional nonlinear optimizers and solvers.
SIGARCH & SIGBED. There is increasing interest in the EC world in so-called evolvable hardware. At present, these efforts have largely been restricted to fairly low-level circuit design, but as these techniques mature there may be synergies between SIGARCH and SIGEVO. The same can be said for SIGBED. At present GAs are already used in circuit and software testing and design, and these activities will increase as time goes on.
SIGCHI, SIGECOM & SIGGRAPH. A vibrant area of GEC is so-called interactive evolutionary computation in which humans make choices among genetically configured alternatives. In this way, GAs are now being used to evolve art, music, and other matters that require human aesthetic judgment.
SIGCOMM & SIGDA. GAs are increasingly used as optimizers in difficult design problems. In this way, the concerns of SIGCOMM and SIGDA present an opportunity for future cooperation and synergy.
SIGSAM. Genetic programming in particular has achieved a remarkable amount of success in evolving symbolic systems to solve a problem with given specs. This represents and opportunity for cooperation between the concerns of SIGSAM and SIGEVO.
No doubt, other opportunities exist for cooperation between SIGEVO and SIGs unmentioned, and the list above is not intended to preclude such interaction. By its nature, genetic and evolutionary computation is strongly interdisciplinary, and members of many different SIGs are already counted among our ISGEC members and GECCO attendees. No doubt, these individuals will act as ambassadors to other SIGs, seeking cooperation, cross-listing, and synergy whenever it is at all appropriate.
Brief Bio-sketches of Five SIGEVO Champions
Erik Goodman Goodman is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University. He helped to organize and directed for twenty years the A. H. Case Center for Computer-Aided Engineering and Manufacturing. He was also director of MSU’s ten- year-long Manufacturing Research Consortium. He serves as Vice President, Technology, of Red Cedar Technology, Inc., a company that uses for consulting and is introducing as a product the HEEDS software, based on a hierarchical, heterogeneous distributed evolutionary computation core developed by Goodman. He received the Ph.D. in Computer and Communication Sciences from the University of Michigan in 1972, studying genetic algorithms under John Holland, where his thesis research involved running for nearly a year a real-coded GA for solution of a high-dimensionality optimization problem in microbial modeling. He has conducted research in evolutionary computation during most of the last thirty years, and co-chairs Back-up Item 8.2.1
MSU’s Genetic Algorithms Research and Applications Group (GARAGe). He chaired EvCA’96 (the first evolutionary computation conference in Russia), ICGA-97, and GECCO-2001, and was elected to the executive boards of the International Society for Genetic Algorithms (ISGA) and of the International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (ISGEC), which he currently chairs.
David E. Goldberg Goldberg is the Jerry S. Dobrovolny Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and director of the Illinois Genetic Algorithms Laboratory (IlliGAL). At the University of Michigan, he earned the BSE and MSE in Civil Engineering, and the Ph.D. (in 1983) in Civil Engineering with a cognate in Computer Science. His first academic position was at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa), from 1984- 1990, where received a 1985 NSF Presidential Young Investigator award. In 1989, he wrote the fourth most widely cited text in computer science, Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning, and followed that with The Design of Innovation: Lessons from and for Competent Genetic Algorithms, in 2002. Goldberg co-chaired ICGA-1993, is past chair of the International Society for Genetic Algorithms, and founding chair of the International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation. He chaired the first GECCO, GECCO-1999 and has served on GECCO’s business committee since its inception. He is Consulting Editor for the Kluwer Series on Genetic Algorithms and Evolutionary Computation.
John Koza Koza has served as Consulting Professor in Computer Science at Stanford University, and now has appointments in both the Department of Electrical Engineering and Stanford BioMedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine. He received the B.S. in computer science, M.S. in mathematics, M.S. in computer science, and Ph.D. in computer science (in 1972), all from the University of Michigan. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors and of the Science Board of the Santa Fe Institute. He chaired the 1996, 1997, and 1998 Genetic Programming Conferences. He is consulting editor for Kluwer's book series on genetic programming. He wrote the first book on genetic programming (Genetic Programming: On the Programming of Computers by Means of Natural Selection), and three additional volumes, the most recent of which appeared in 2003 (Genetic Programming IV: Routine Human-Competitive Machine Intelligence). He is a member of the Advisory Board of Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, on editorial boards of Evolutionary Computation, of Artificial Life, and of Evolutionary Optimization, and was an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation from 1997-2000. His industry experience includes co-founding and chairing Scientific Games, Inc., presidency of Third Millennium Venture Capital Limited and of Third Millennium On-Line Products, Inc., and of Genetic Programming, Inc. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of ISGEC since its formation by the merger of the ISGA and the Genetic Programming organization, and has served on the business committee of every Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Confernce.
Darrell Whitley Whitley is chair of the Department of Computer Science at Colorado State University, where he also directs the Colorado State Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), including five faculty members and about a dozen graduate student researchers. He received the Ph.D. in anthropology from Southern Illinois University in 1985, and the M.S. in computer science in 1986. He joined Colorado State University in computer science in 1986, and was promoted to professor in 1997. His areas of research interest include artificial intelligence, genetic algorithms, heuristic search, neural networks, and scheduling. He was a member of the Governing Board of the International Society for Genetic Algorithms, chairing it from 1993 to 1997. He was editor-in-chief of the first journal in the field, Evolutionary Computation, from 1997 to 2002. He has chaired the Foundations of Genetic Algorithms workshop, and is a member of the executive board of the International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation. He was general chair of GECCO-2000. Back-up Item 8.2.1
Erick Cantú-Paz Cantú-Paz is a Computer Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he works on large-scale scientific data mining systems. He received the Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999. He wrote the book Efficient and Accurate Parallel Genetic Algorithms, which was published by Kluwer in 2000, and has authored many other journal and conference publications in the field. He is on the editorial boards of three journals and is an associate editor of the Journal of Heuristics. He has served on the program committees of ten conferences and workshops, and reviews for twenty journals. He is a member of ISGEC's Council of Authors. He has served in many leadership roles for the GECCO conferences, including publicity chair in 1999, general chair in 2002 and editor-in-chief of the proceedings in 2003.
Criteria for Measurement of Success of the SIG
Success of SIGEVO will be measured by several criteria:
1. SIGEVO membership 2. Creation of SIGEVO website 3. Continuation of GECCO 4. Continuation of FOGA 5. Continuation of GA-Digest 6. Creation of a SIGEVO newsletter 7. Continuation and extension of awards program 8. Successful continuation of Evolutionary Computation and Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines.
Each of these is reviewed briefly in what follows:
Number of members of the SIG. ISGEC membership now runs at slightly over 300 members at any point. Any increase in membership during the first year would be considered to be a success, as some attrition is common whenever any organizational change is made. By the end of year two, the SIG transition message should be familiar to members and former members, and some inroads into broader ACM membership should be made; an increase in membership to 375-400 or more would certainly represent a successful transition. By year five, we anticipate a near doubling of membership to 500-600 members.
Creation of SIGEVO website. ISGEC has maintained an active web since its inception (www.isgec.org). A key activity during year one is the creation of a SIGEVO website. Many of the categories and much of the content can be transferred from www.isgec.org, but there are SIGEVO-specific items, and the transition should also be used as an opportunity to redesign and modernize the present site.
Successful continuation of the annual GECCO conferences. The annual GECCO conference is the largest conference in the field of evolutionary computation, and has been financially self-sufficient since its creation by merger of the biennial ICGA (oldest conference in the field, dating from 1985) and the annual Genetic Programming conference in 1999. Success will be measured by continuing to attract at least 400 attendees in even-numbered years and 500 attendees in odd-numbered years, while essentially breaking even on conference costs, and without decreasing standards, including acceptance of a maximum of 50% of submitted papers as for regular presentation and inclusion in the proceedings.
Successful continuation of the Foundations of Genetic Algorithms (FOGA) workshops. These biennial workshops are designed to serve as a small (about 50 participants) forum in which theorists in evolutionary computation can meet and discuss their work. The Back-up Item 8.2.1
proceedings, consisting of edited and improved versions of the material presented at the workshop, are produced as books in the FOGA series, and generate significant continuing sales revenues. The measure of success for FOGA will include holding a workshop at some time in the first two years of SIG operation and continuing the successful FOGA series.
Continued operation of GA Digest, or creation of an equivalent. GA Digest is a weekly electronic distribution of information about upcoming events in the field and forum for interchange of research information, including questions/answers about resources from new researchers to the field. GA Digest does not receive financial support from ISGEC, but does perform a function that ISGEC would otherwise need to provide. It has operated for thirteen years, and is extremely widely read by professionals in the area. ISGEC has chosen to support and work with the individuals producing the GA Digest, rather than seeking to compete with it. If the GA Digest were to cease operation, ISGEC would organize a similar venue for prompt distribution of information and for assistance to new researchers in the field.
Creation of a SIGEVO newsletter. This newsletter will be posted to the SIGEVO website and will be sent, either electronically (as .pdf) or on paper, to all members of the SIG, at member option. It will provide information about not only the activities of the SIG, but also about other events, and will contain brief technical articles about new developments of broad interest in the field. Successful production and distribution of the newsletter will be a criterion for SIG success. Initial frequency will be twice a year, and this will be increased to quarterly after the second year.
Continuation and extension of awards program. GECCO offers a number of best-paper prizes and supports a substantial number of student attendees at the conference. Additional ISGEC recognizes outstanding contribution by its members in a fellows program. We intend to continue and extend these awards under SIGEVO and the ACM rubric.
Identification of one or both of the ISGEC-affiliated journals with ACM and SIGEVO. ISGEC supports two journals in the field–the first, Evolutionary Computation (MIT Press), and a newer one, Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines (Kluwer). All ISGEC members receive subscriptions to both of these journals as part of their ISGEC annual dues. While formation of the SIG does not depend on affiliation of these journals with ACM or the SIG in any way, a measure of the success of the SIG would be the affiliation, in any of the many ways allowed by ACM, of these journals with ACM. That will require the concurrence of the publishers and editorial boards of these journals.
Funds Transitioning from ISGEC to SIGEVO
It is proposed that all funds currently held by ISGEC at the time of SIG creation become available to the SIG to support its operation. These assets include cash in excess of $75,0000, electronic databases, and a set of ten LCD projectors (purchased in 2003) used in ISGEC-sponsored activities. Prior to the formal termination of ISGEC (see below), SIGEVO would have access to all of the ISGEC resources.
Ultimate Fate of ISGEC
Upon successful operation of two GECCO conferences after SIGEVO formation, it is proposed to terminate the formal ISGEC structure (which is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation registered in the State of Illinois), transferring all of its assets to the SIG, so long as there are no legal reasons requiring continued maintenance of that corporation. Assuming that the initial governance structure of SIGEVO is created as suggested below, essentially cloning the current ISGEC structure, the ISGEC structure would be discontinued, with their corresponding functions performed by the corresponding body in the SIG. Back-up Item 8.2.1
Membership and Structure of SIGEVO
Membership of SIGEVO is projected as starting at or near the current ISGEC membership of 300 persons. It is projected to grow to more than 375-400 persons during the first two years of SIG operation, and perhaps much larger, as more ACM members become aware of the SIG and want to participate.
Governance of the SIG is proposed to use the structures already established and working very well in ISGEC. ISGEC is governed by an Executive Board of 15 members with five-year terms, of which three are elected each year. The Executive Board elects a chair to a three-year term. Nominations to the Executive Board are by a nominating committee appointed by the chair and include six nominees. ISGEC members may vote either electronically before the annual GECCO conference, or using a paper ballot at the conference. ISGEC also has three councils: a Council of Authors, open to all who have written or edited (or been first author or editor) on a book in the field, a Council of Conferences, open to the chairs of all conferences in the field scheduled to be held within the next year, and a Council of Fellows. Fellows and Senior Fellows are elected annually, from among a list of nominees prepared half by the current Council of Fellows, and half by the Executive Board. Each year, two new Fellows and two new Senior Fellows (over 45 years of age) are elected, from among twice that number of nominees in each category, who must be members of ISGEC. All current ISGEC members are eligible to vote.
The GECCO conferences are organized by a general chair and a business committee, both approved by the Executive Board. GECCO is a very "federal" conference, successfully combining work from many "tracks" or program areas that share many commonalities, but also differ significantly in both history and directions. The ISGEC bylaws contain many provisions that assure the independence and representation of these tracks, and contain explicit provisions for introduction of new tracks as the field evolves, so that no track can dictate the standards or determine the acceptability of work submitted to GECCO from any other track.
The FOGA workshops are organized by an organizing committee, selected from groups submitting proposals to the Executive Board that include the organizing team, proposed location, and proposed dates of the workshop.
It is proposed that this structure, with appropriate re-naming, become the operating structure of SIGEVO. It has proved to work effectively for many years, allowing continuing evolution of the field and continuing health of the GECCO conference. Although some modifications will be made, the bylaws of ISGEC will be used to guide the bylaws of SIGEVO quite closely (see http://www.isgec.org/bylaws.html/).
Will You Do Anything Besides Run a Conference?
The success criteria above list a number of activities we seek to continue or create in the first two years. Following that transition effort and with the growth in our ranks that ACM membership should provide, we believe we will be well poised to take on other activities along the lines of the best practices of other SIGs. Some of the possibilities are listed below:
1. Sponsor regional conferences in Europe, Asia, and South America. 2. Sponsor specialty workshops in up-and-coming sub-areas. 3. Organize lobbying activities for GA and EC research funding. 4. Organize GEC software and applications standards as commercial use matures. 5. Sponsor a Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Summer School. 6. Create a SIGEVO CD-ROM project collecting GEC publications for broader dissemination. 7. Unify GEC bibliography efforts. 8. Centralize GEC academic/industrial/governmental jobs postings. Back-up Item 8.2.1
These are exciting possibilities, but the challenges of establishing and publicizing the new SIGEVO should take precedence over expansion activities during the first two years. Thereafter, the activities above will be embraced according to membership need and volunteer availability. Back-up Item 8.2.1
Donna Baglio,
Here is our reply to the two questions you posed on 10 December.
I stand ready to clarify our response.
Dave Goldberg
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Question 1: The leadership of SIGART remains concerned about the technical overlap of the two specialties. How would you work with them to avoid conflict on programs, conferences, etc.
Reply: Our relationship with SIGART is analogous to the relationship we outlined with SIGKDD. SIGEVO would have no interest in artificial intelligence matters beyond those involving genetic and evolutionary computation (GEC), and SIGART has no significant interest or focus on larger genetic and evolutionary concerns (simulation, optimization, evolutionary systems as models, etc.), and in this way both SIGs have a rather large niche to themselves with some overlap at the boundaries between artificial intelligence, machine learning, and evolutionary systems. Having said this, we can see opportunities for co-sponsorship or co-location of future workshops and conferences between SIGART and SIGEVO and would be excited to explore other opportunities for synergies and cooperation with SIGART.
As evidence of this lack of overlap, in 1998 the Genetic Programming Conference (GP-98) was co-located in Madison, Wisconsin with one of the larger AI conferences, AAAI-98. A post- conference check of both rosters of attendees showed that less than 10 people registered for both conferences. Traditionally, AI and GEC have gone their separate ways and represent different intellectual communities. The creation of a SIG within ACM can help promote common interests between the AI and GEC communities through inter-SIG cooperation.
Question 2: Concern about narrowness of focus. Can you provide them with details on long range plans for the SIG?
Reply: Evolution is one of the big ideas of modern science. It has spawned significant subfields in traditional scientific areas of natural and social science. For example, evolutionary economics, evolutionary psychology, ethology, evolutionary sociology, and evolutionary organizational theory are all subfields with strong followings and ongoing research. Since their advent in the late 1950s and 60s, genetic algorithms and other forms of evolutonary computation have been used as optimizers, as models of machine learning, and as simulation models of complex adaptive systems such as economies, organizations, biological systems, and so forth.
In the same way that evolution is a big idea that has diffused through many branches of science, evolutionary computation is a big idea that is now diffusing across the spectrum of human endeavor. The CS citation tracking service CITESEER lists 2 of its top-ten citations in all of CS from the literature of genetic algorithms (#4 is Goldberg's, Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning and #8 is Holland's Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems). 1000s of papers now document how genetic algorithms are being used in art, in the humanities, in the sciences, and in technology and computer science. The top journal in our field, Evolutionary Computation, has an impact factor of 1.92 according to Citeseer, placing it number 40 on the list, and in the top 3.3% of CS publications more generally. This places it below Machine Learning (#15, 2.2, 1.1%) and somewhat above Artificial Intelligence (#48, 1.85, and 3.8%).
Back-up Item 8.2.1
The stance of the SIGEVO champions is that far from being narrow, this represents the kind of breadth that can attract new members to ACM, members drawn from computational subpopulations in the arts, humanities, the sciences, and the ranks of engineering and business, to an idea that is immediately useful as a metaphor for computation and for a way of thinking about complex systems. Many of these are potential members who might not otherwise have much motive to become involved in ACM.
In the pre-proposal and our answers to previous questions, we have stuck to the concerns of evolutionary computation in particular, but there are many excellent conferences that might be gathered under the phrase Natural Computing or Biological-Inspired Computing. Artificial Life is a conference, journal, and a small society that uses genetic and evolutionary computation at its core. The Simulation of Adaptive Behavior, likewise, is a conference, journal, and small society that shares many ideas with the proposed SIGEVO. The terms Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing elicit possible future connections to neural computing, and fuzzy systems and computing. In the future it is conceivable that some of these groups would find a home under SIGEVO or an enlarged version thereof. However, for the purposes of this proposal, we believe that it is important to bring over a coherent, focused group to launch a successful SIG. Clearly, there are many possibilities for expansion and enlargement as mentioned above, but these should be pursued following the establishing of a successful SIGEVO.
Back-up Item 8.2.1
The SGB EC informed EVO leaders that their fellows program would have to be renamed so that it did not conflict with the ACM Fellows Program. Their response follows.
Donna,
The fellows are listed at http://www-illigal.ge.uiuc.edu:8080/fellows.html
Although all have passed through our fellows process and are thus worthy in the eyes of our members, the one name on the list that should receive additional consideration is John Holland. John is the undisputed intellectual father of our area. If he is not an ACM fellow (and I believe he is not), we would take it as a sign of very good faith if a number of high profile ACM fellows would help us put his name up (through normal channels). Fellows programs depend on other fellows "blessing" the application of new fellows. Since we genetic algorithmists been off doing our own thing for almost two decades, some help from existing ACM fellows in bootstrapping a key ISGECmember to ACM fellowhood would be useful. Doing this would help (a) add a distinguished scholar to the ACM fellows roll and (b) demonstrate to GA researchers all over that we are embraced in more than a casual way by our new ACM colleagues. Of course, ISGEC members would be willing to do the heavy lifting in the preparation of the ACM fellows paperwork, but backing of a few key ACM fellows is probably a key element of making the application work
To go back to your original question, however, the existing ISGEC fellows program would be renamed the "SIGEVO Outstanding Contribution Award (OCA) Program." Existing ISGEC fellows would be grandfathered into the SIGEVO program and new contributors would be awarded SIGEVO OCAs according to ISGEC fellows rules or some modification thereof. Let me know if there are other questions.
Dave G.