Foreword

The 23rd IFAC World Congress takes place from August 23 to 28, 2026, at BEXCO in Busan, Republic of Korea. Held every three years, the World Congress is the largest gathering of the automatic control community, and with this edition IFAC returns to Korea for the first time since Seoul in 2008.

The Congress received more than 4,200 submissions in total from 90 countries. Of these, more than 3,000 technical papers were accepted for presentation across 37 parallel tracks, together with 5 plenary lectures, 6 semi-plenary lectures, 12 tutorials, 14 forums, and 3 live competitions. More than 4,400 participants from over 70 countries have registered, making this the largest IFAC World Congress to date.

There are several remarkable features, some of which appear for the first time. This is the first World Congress organized around IFAC's newly streamlined set of 520 keywords, adopted during the 2023 to 2026 triennium. It is also the first Congress to offer a simultaneous journal submission option, through which 570 papers were submitted to 14 special issues across six IFAC journals. Support from the City of Busan and from industry sponsors covered almost a quarter of the Congress budget, which allowed the registration fee to be held at the level of recent Congresses, and 93 young and underrepresented researchers are attending through the DC-YAS and D&I support programs.

The motto of the Congress, "Feedback in Busan," carries three meanings in one phrase: the return of IFAC to Korea, the discipline of feedback control at the heart of the field, and the interaction between academia and industry. Busan, a port city on the southern coast, offers its sea and its hospitality as the setting for the week.

The IFAC Technical Committees organized submissions and handled the review of every paper, supported by the International Program Committee and by hundreds of diligent, expert reviewers across the federation. The National Organizing Committee has worked relentlessly on the preparations for eight years. This work was carried out by dedicated volunteers, and we cannot thank them enough. We are also grateful to INTERCOM, our Congress organizer, which handled the operational work with remarkable professionalism, and to the sponsors and partners who supported this week.

The IFAC 2026 Congress Organizers cannot assume liability for any changes in the program due to external or unforeseen circumstances. The IFAC 2026 Congress Organizers reserve the right to cancel, postpone, relocate, or change any of the features described in this document. Content within this document is the most up to date and accurate at the time of editing.