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Dear IIF member, On behalf of the IIF Board of Directors, I wish you and your families a joyful, healthy, and prosperous New Year 2026. I would first like to highlight several key achievements of the Institute in 2025. For the first time in the history of the IIF, the International Symposium on Forecasting was held in Beijing, China. This event was a remarkable success, thanks to the outstanding efforts of the organizing team, who devoted considerable time and energy to preparing a rich program. With approximately 600 participants, ISF 2025 reached the highest attendance ever recorded. Those who had the opportunity to attend will undoubtedly remember the unforgettable Gala Dinner. Hosting the conference in China was part of the IIF’s broader ambition to strengthen its engagement with this region of the world. In this spirit, we also plan to foster the development of a new group of researchers—a Chapter or Section, as we call it—bringing together forecasters with shared interests in Asia and Australia. In March 2025, we also resumed the Foresight Practitioner Conference at the University of North Carolina. The goal is to bring together leading forecasting practitioners and business leaders to exchange ideas, share best practices, and discuss emerging trends in forecasting. Thanks to the organizers, the conference was highly successful. IIF sponsored a $10k prize for the Forecasting Practice Competition, which was awarded to the project presented by Wayfair. Jointly with the Society for Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics, we hosted our second one-day virtual workshop for young researchers in November 2025. The event attracted around 70 high-quality submissions, of which seven were selected for presentations during the workshop. Eva Janssens (University of Michigan) received the Best Paper Award. Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be another outstanding year for the IIF, with two major events on the horizon. From June 28 to July 1, we will return to Montreal for ISF26—more than 40 years after the last ISF held in this remarkable city in 1985. I encourage you to take a few minutes to look at the ISF85 program; you will recognize many giants of the field. The ISF26 organizing team, all from UQAM, is preparing an exceptional event with a fantastic lineup of speakers. Please remember to submit your papers and propose invited sessions. We very much look forward to welcoming you in Montreal—especially those of you who enjoy jazz music. In addition, we will continue the Foresight Practitioner Conference, which will take place in Bruges (Belgium) on March 2–3, 2026. The IIF will once again sponsor a $10,000 award for the Forecasting Practice Competition. I would like to warmly thank the organizers and the IIF Board members involved in the preparation of this event, which is becoming an increasingly important pillar of the Institute’s activities. Beyond these flagship events, we will of course continue our activities, including program certification, academic workshops, summer schools, research funding, the Forecasting Impact podcast, and the work of our Sections and Chapters. Note that we will have this year a Distinguished Lecture Series consisting of four online lectures by C. Baumeister (Univ. Notre Dame) on “Recent Advances in Forecasting Energy Prices”. These lectures will be freely available to all IIF members, and I encourage you to register. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Directors in charge of these programs, as well as the leaders of our thematic Sections, for their invaluable contributions. I am also pleased to announce that the latest issue of Foresight will be now available free of charge. This decision was made to broaden the journal’s readership and impact. Please feel free to spread the word, and do not hesitate to contact the Editor-in-Chief if you are interested in contributing to or sponsoring the journal. Finally, I would like to acknowledge recent changes within the Board of Directors in 2025. In particular, I wish to express my deep gratitude to Tao Hong for his outstanding contributions to the IIF Board. I sincerely hope that you will remain closely involved with the Institute—the IIF continues to benefit greatly from your energy and commitment. I also extend a warm welcome to Lauren Davis, who has recently joined the Board. I cannot conclude this letter without thanking our Business Manager, Ying Fry, whose dedication and professionalism make her a true pillar of the Institute. Thank you for being part of this vibrant community! With my warm regards, |
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Laurent Ferrara President, International Institute of Forecasters |