Welcome to SN Operations Research Forum!

Abstract

Operations research is a fascinating field. We have the entire spectrum from sophisticated and deep theories to applications that make huge impacts on industries, societies, and the sciences. We cross disciplines, involving mathematics, computer science, engineering, and business/economics, to name only those at the core. We identify and formalize new problems, we formulate mathematical models, we work with data, we design and analyze algorithms, we implement software, we interpret and quantify the impact of the solutions we create, and we accompany our research to see it shine in practice. Operations research applications are literally everywhere. Despite this diversity, if we were to agree on the essence of operations research, it would be to quantitatively support decisions, an essential “technology” in our modern world. When we editors were preparing the launch of this new journal, the SN Operations Research Forum, colleagues asked us the obvious: why another journal? Certainly, we do not need just another journal, but instead, we need publication outlets that are able to respond to the evolution we witness: the evolution of our field, operations research, the evolution in scientific culture, and as an implication, the evolution of the ways we share our research.