During the last two decades we have seen a tremendous development within the computer and communication industry. The ever increasing density on silicon, the increasing transmission speeds on fiber based systems as well as twisted pairs, the revolutionary development in the wireless area and of course the Internet have all led to many opportunities for new service developments. It is interesting to note that the last time this conference was held three years ago, the Web really did not fully exist. We are now ready to face new interesting challenges. It is an utmost importance for the performance community to focus on the modeling and analysis of the Internet, the multimedia applications and the untethered applications that are coming to the forefront. There will be a need for new and better simulation methods, new analytical tools and a much better understanding of measurement techniques. "Performance of Information and Communication Systems", PICS'98, which takes place in Lund, Sweden, May 25-28, 1998, is the seventh conference in a series on performance of communication systems organized by IFIP TC 6, WG 6.3. In response to our call for papers, we have received nearly fifty submissions.

This was the first conference jointly organized by the IFIP Working Groups 6. 2, 6. 3, and 6. 4. Each of these three Working Groups has its own established series of conferences. Working Group 6. 2 sponsors the Broadband Communications series of conferences (Paris 1995, Montreal 1996, Lisboa 1997, Stuttgart 1998, and Hong-Kong 1999). Working Group 6. 3 sponsors the Performance of Communication Systems series of conferences (Paris 1981, Zurich 1984, Rio de Janeiro 1987, Barcelona 1990, Raleigh 1993, Istanbul 1995, and Lund 1998). Working Group 6. 4 sponsors the High Performance Networking series of conferences (Aaren 1987, Liege 1988, Berlin 1990, Liege 1992, Grenoble 1994, Palma 1995, New York 1997, Vienna 1998). It is expected that this new joint conference will take place every two years. In view of the three sponsoring Working Groups, there were three separate tracks, one per Working Group. Each track was handled by a different co chairman. Specifically, the track of Working Group 6. 2 was handled by Ulf Korner, the track of Working Group 6. 3 was handled by Ioanis Stavrakakis, and the track of Working Group 6. 4 was handled by Serge Fdida. The overall program committee chairman was Harry Perros, and the general conference chairman was Guy Pujolle. A total of 209 papers were submitted to the conference of which 82 were accepted. Each paper was submitted to one of the three tracks."

During the last two decades we have seen a tremendous development within the computer and communication industry. The ever increasing density on silicon, the increasing transmission speeds on fiber based systems as well as twisted pairs, the revolutionary development in the wireless area and of course the Internet have all led to many opportunities for new service developments. It is interesting to note that the last time this conference was held three years ago, the Web really did not fully exist. We are now ready to face new interesting challenges. It is an utmost importance for the performance community to focus on the modeling and analysis of the Internet, the multimedia applications and the untethered applications that are coming to the forefront. There will be a need for new and better simulation methods, new analytical tools and a much better understanding of measurement techniques. "Performance of Information and Communication Systems," PICS'98, which takes place in Lund, Sweden, May 25-28, 1998, is the seventh conference in a series on performance of communication systems organized by IFIP TC 6, WG 6.3. In response to our call for papers, we have received nearly fifty submissions.