Editorial to the 50th Anniversary Issue

A 50th birthday is an important milestone in the life of any individual and certainly in the development of collectives and organizations. January 2021 is such a milestone in the life of the IEEE Transactions of Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, which had its very first issue published in January 1971. Our 50th Anniversary Issue celebrates this remarkable achievement by introducing 20 survey articles from early pioneers of our field, as well as works by leading scientists conducting research at the cutting edge of systems science, with a focus on human aspects, cybernetics, with crucial societal impact. Our goal is to provide a vista of the remarkable developments in the past, giving a snapshot of the present state of our field, and indicating possible avenues for future progress in our rapidly changing research discipline.