The international scientific-theoretical journal "Cybernetics" ("Cybernetics and Systems Analysis" since 1991) celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. The journal reflects the history of the development of the Soviet and Ukrainian theoretical informatics, cybernetics, and computer engineering beginning with first years of formation of these sciences up to their modern level. The journal is fully translated into English by the Springer publishing house, and the published articles are annotated and indexed by many world scientific rating agencies and databases. The journal is among world-wide editions with high ratings in the field of informatics.
The journal was founded in 1965 by Victor Mykhaylovich Glushkov, a distinguished Ukrainian scientist. By then, he already was the creator and director of the Institute of Cybernetics of the Academy of Sciences of UkrSSR, an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the vice-president of AS of USSR, and the winner of the Lenin premium. It was a sidereal time of the Ukrainian cybernetic science.
V. M. Glushkov arrived to Kyiv in 1956. A well-known algebraist and doctor of physico-mathematical sciences, he abruptly changed his professional profile and began to master computer science, which was new for those times. At that time, any investigations in cybernetics (some philosophers very negatively treated this science), computer sciences, and informatics (in its modern understanding) were not yet pursued in our country, but electronic computers were at the incipient stage. In the continental Europe, the first computer with the von Neumann architecture was created in Kyiv in 1951 under the direction of academician S. O. Lebedev.
When S. O. Lebedev moves to Moscow, a small staff of the laboratory of computer engineering was headed by V. M. Glushkov who began the grandiose revolutionary work on the creation of a new science. He quickly mastered the body of knowledge existed in the theory and practice of computers at that time and planned his activity for many years ahead. The first problem was the creation of a powerful creative collective that would make it possible to gain ground. It was also necessary to receive public support in understanding problems that arose in connection with the need for the development of computer engineering and its applications.
The foundations of computer science and cybernetics were actively propagated, cadres were trained at the Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, the scope of basic research was determined, friendly and scientific contacts were established, and fruitful interaction with adjacent fields of science was organized. As a result, a small laboratory turned into the Computing Centre of AS of UkrSSR during a year and, during five years, into the Institute of Cybernetics, which became one of the largest science and technology centers in the Soviet Union and was well known to the world computer community.
V. M. Glushkov's school of automata theory and algorithms was finally formed in Kyiv in 1965. Works on automatic programming were conducted. At the Institute of Cybernetics, new subdisciplines of "Wiener's" cybernetics were developed by O. I. Kukhtenko and O. G. Ivakhnenko, well-known specialists in automatic control. A group of young scientists who were representatives of the well-known B. V. Gnedenko Ukrainian school of probability theory actively worked. This group was headed by V. S. Mikhalevich who subsequently became an academician of AS of UkrSSR and AS of the USSR, the director of the Institute of Cybernetics, and editor-in-chief of the journal "Cybernetics" when V. M. Glushkov departed this life. The main line of investigations of this group was the development of optimization methods and their applications in economy and industry. The Department of Biological Cybernetics was then headed by academician M. M. Amosov. The Special Design Bureau of Mathematical Machines and Systems mainly developed projects in the field of computer engineering and prepared these projects for the implementation at industrial enterprises. Scientific cybernetic investigations were also deployed in other cities of Ukraine.
Against this background, the creation of a new journal for the publication of results on cybernetics and computer sciences became an imperative need. Previously, articles were published in mathematical and technical journals that did not correspond to the cybernetic subject area. The orientation of the journal "Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Physics" published under the direction of academician A. O. Dorodnitsyn at the Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Moscow) was closest to cybernetics but its resources and also possibilities of foreign publication of articles were limited at that time.
Scientific workers of the entire Soviet Union immediately began publishing their works in the journal "Cybernetics." Its editorial board consisted of well-known scientists from the most powerful scientific centres of Moscow, Leningrad, and Novosibirsk and scientists of Lithuania, Belarus, and other republics of the former Soviet Union. Starting from first numbers of the journal, foreign authors also joined it.
During the 60s, journal articles were mainly devoted to theoretical problems of automata and algorithm theories, optimization methods, and application of these methods in the national economy.
V. M. Glushkov published his articles on algebra of algorithms and his evidence algorithm that, for many years, had determined paths of further development of domestic works in the field of artificial intelligence and application of algebraic methods in programming and designing computer systems. Academician V. M. Glushkov was a scientist with wide scientific interests. In addition to the purely algorithmic line of investigation, which was applied in programming and the science of designing computers, he supported the development of optimization methods and probabilistic and stochastic methods in every possible way. Considerable attention was given to the application of automated management systems in the national economy, in particular, to robots connected with the well-known project of the Nation-Wide Economic Management System initiated by V. M. Glushkov. Many articles and reviews of well-known scientists in the field of informatics were published including articles of representatives of Moscow and Novosibirsk scientific schools of Russia among which were Yu. I. Zhuravlyov, Yu. G. Yevtushenko, A. P. Ershov, M. M. Moiseyev, and others.
From the second half of the 70s, computations connected with solving various complicated problems on multiprocessor computer systems became popular. In the Soviet Union, several domestic projects of supercomputers were developed, in particular, "Elbrus" (Moscow), "MARS" (Novosibirsk), and "ES-1766" (Kyiv). The latter was a supercomputer with macroconveyor organization of computations and had no analogues in the world at that time. These projects were reflected on journal pages and, in this case, considerable attention was given to theoretical problems of parallel computations, architectures of multiprocessor systems, and to their software.
In 1991, the journal was renamed as "Cybernetics and Systems Analysis," and themes of publications on the theory of complex systems, optimal control methods, design and development of complex systems, in particular, for decision-making in various object domains, and discrete and stochastic optimization methods were considerably broadened.
In the 90s of the past century, multiprocessor supercomputers became an everyday reality, and the question of efficient implementation of parallel computations and development of technologies for solving supercomplicated problems on supercomputers again became topical. This trend stimulated the development of new methods and technologies for solving such problems and was reflected on pages of the journal "Cybernetics and Systems Analysis."
Important results were obtained in the field of the theory of programming and creation of software of computers and various complex systems. Investigations in this direction were systematically reflected in the journal by scientists of the Institute of Cybernetics (K. L. Yushchenko, O. A. Letichevsky, P. I. Andon, V. N. Redko, I. M. Parasyuk, O. I. Provotar, Yu. V. Kapitonova, and others).
The journal "Cybernetics" was the first to publish the powerful optimization method developed by V. S. Mikhalevich and N. Z. Shor and called the method of successive analysis of variants. This method became an outstanding achievement in mathematics and its applications. Ukrainian scientists have published many works on the investigation of discrete optimization problems (I. V. Sergienko,
G. O. Donets, and V. P. Shilo), systems analysis (M. Z. Zgurovsky, V. S. Deyneka, M. Yu. Ilchenko, Yu. G. Krivonos, and V. V. Skopchesky), stochastic optimization (Yu. M. Ermoliev, P. S. Knopov,
V. I. Norkin, and others), and mathematical theory of control and dynamic game theory (V. M. Kuntsevich, B. M. Pshenichnyi, and A. O. Chykriy).
The journal began to cover probabilistic and stochastic methods as far back as the 60s of the past century. They included important investigations of V. S. Korolyuk on stochastic automata and enlargement of states of complex systems, T. P. Maryanovich on program methods of statistical modeling, and I. M. Kovalenko and M. Yu. Kuznetsov on complex system reliability theory. An essential groundwork of past years is the application of probabilistic methods in genetics (A. M. Gupal).
From the middle of the 70s, Ukrainian scientists (I. M. Kovalenko, A. V. Anisimov, V. K. Zadiraka, and A. O. Levytska) investigate information security issues. The majority of their results are published in the journal "Cybernetics." It is pertinent to note that V. M. Glushkov paid attention to the importance of developing this line of investigation.
From 1965 to 2013, the unchangeable deputy editor-in-chief of the journal was Nadiya Sergiivna Furs. During these years, starting from the first number, she organized the work of the editorial staff. Nadiya Sergiivna took part in preparing anniversary and thematic issues that reflected new achievements of domestic and foreign cybernetics. The editorial staff of the journal was first to constantly use computer technologies in preparing issues of the journal. Nadiya Sergiivna has created highly professional editorial collective. Her professionalism, ability to respond to progressive ideas in science, and administrative experience promoted the creation of the journal honoured in the world scientific community.
At present, the journal "Cybernetics and Systems Analysis" is an internationally recognized edition with a high rating. Its editorial board consists of outstanding scientists of international standing from our country and also well-known representatives of foreign science. The journal publishes articles of leading scientists from the whole world.
The editorial board and editorial staff diligently work to provide the further growth of the authority of our journal.
