Alumni Event in Budapest, Hungary celebrates the 50th Anniversary of IIASA

Hungary was one of the first members of IIASA, with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as the last organization to represent the National Member Organization (NMO) on the institute’s governing body. Prof. Kiss was an integral part of shaping the organization's relationship with his home country, starting with his engagement as a scientist, all the way to heading the Hungarian NMO as Secretary General.

The Hungarian NMO promoted collaboration on systems analysis and applied models, and the early years of membership saw cooperation on water-related issues, such as the 1980 book on Recent Developments in Real-Time Forecasting/Control of Water Resource Systems. Furthermore, Hungarian scientists played central roles in IIASA research, beginning in 1990 with an examination of the economic options and pathways for Eastern European nations transitioning to market economies. IIASA also made technical strides to enable the efficient collaboration between researchers. As a result, TPA 70 – dubbed “IIASA Gateway” was given to the institute and became the first East-West computer network gateway, which, through IIASA, transcended to the whole world.

Through the many projects and innovative strategies, there is a lasting impact on the institute’s past and as a result shaped its future path as it heads into the next decade of advancing systems anaylsis.