Humanity faced a virus causing the deadly and contagious COVID-19 disease that first occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. The definition of “normal life” has changed with this encounter ever since, and the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the pre-existing state of affairs, transforming all aspects of manufacturing and service systems. In addition, this pandemic has had severe economic consequences worldwide, which have caused dramatic changes in the way consumers behave and required many businesses to close as it caused extraordinary supply chain disruptions almost in all sectors. Companies have faced several COVID-19 related long-term challenges, such as health and safety of personnel, ambiguity in business environments, production reduction, uncertainty in import and export gates, etc., that pandemics imposed on them. It is evident that Industrial Engineering can have a vital role in understanding the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic and determining the strategies and policies that will reduce the adverse effects of the pandemic and end it. The Global Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Its Application Areas (GJCIE) 2022 will shed light on the role of industrial engineering in this endeavor.

TThe GJCIE 2022 is composed of three co-located conferences: the 7th Global Conference on Industrial Engineering (GCIE), the 8th Global Conference on Healthcare Systems Engineering and Management (GCHSEM), and the 9th Global Conference on Engineering and Technology Management (GCETM). The GJCIE 2022 will be an internationally renowned forum for researchers, practitioners, and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, experiences, and challenges in the field of industrial engineering. It will bring together experts from academia and industry to exchange the latest research results and trends and their practical applications in the areas mentioned earlier of industrial engineering. This will be accomplished through the following three modes of communication: keynote presentations, parallel sessions, and poster sessions.

The GJCIE 2022 is designed as a hybrid conference with on-site participation in Istanbul, Turkey, and online from October 29th to October 30th. Istanbul is the only city in the world built on two continents. Its rich history has given it a multitude of museums, historical buildings and mosques, Byzantine churches, and Roman aqueducts. This exciting venue is alive with the hustle and bustle of business and trade which for centuries has made it a vital trading hub between east and west. Straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul is the largest and most monumental city in Turkey. It is a melting pot of cultures that mix harmoniously on both sides of a city that is split geographically by the Bosphorus strait. This bustling city is home to over 15 million people and from 29 to 30 October will also be home to the GJCIE 2022.

It is evident that the pandemic-related developments for the coming days are difficult to predict. This relates in particular to possible travel restrictions and further legal and governmental regulations regarding the participants. Accordingly, there remains a non-negligible possibility that the conference will take place online only. Hence, the final orientation of the conference remains an active process so we will try to adapt to the situation in the coming months in the best way possible.