On behalf of the IGS2017 organizing committee, we are honored to welcome you to the 18th Biannual Conference of the International Graphonomics Society, organized by the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio and hosted at its premises in the Aragonese Castle of Gaeta.

The theme of this conference is “Graphonomics for the e-citizens: e-health, e-society and e-education” and is meant to outline the contribution that the fundamental and applied studies of handwriting and drawing skills may provide to the development of individuals in a society where the convergence of information and communication technology are introducing artifacts that are redefining the relation between individuals and the world, as well as the social interactions between individuals. All the interactions required a language to be expressed and the oldest and most universal language we have developed so far is based on signs: handwriting, signatures, drawings. The pervasive use of new devices is not only affecting the way these signs are produced, stored and communicated, but is also extending the alphabet of signs that can be manipulated by them. In such a scenario, graphonomics, because of its multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature, may provide a valuable framework for the social, scientific and technological challenges the e-citizenship endeavours.

We have received 65 contributions by 147 researchers from 21 countries: Australia, Austria, Brasil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America. After the review process 52 contributions were accepted for presentation and publication in the conference proceedings. 27 papers will be presented in 7 technical oral sessions, 10 in 2 special oral sessions and 15 during 3 poster sessions. During the poster session there will be exhibitions and a video installation featuring methods and tools for graphonomics related applications. There are 86 registered participants, 10 of whom are not presenting a paper. Among the 86 participants, we have 11 students. We hope you will find the papers in the proceedings and their presentations during the conference a valuable source of inspiration for your future investigations.

We would like to thank all the authors who submitted their work to the conference, the Program Committee members for reviewing the papers, the Steering Committee for advices and suggestions over the two years the conference was planned, and the Organizing Committee for dealing with all the details needed for the smooth running of the conference. We wish to express our thanks to the invited speakers, Dr. Heidi Harralson, Prof. Mark Schieber and Prof. Oliver Tucha for accepting our invitation to share with us their most recent thoughts on some of the many dimensions of graphonomics. Last, but not least, we thanks our Universities and all the sponsor organizations for their support in the hosting of IGS2017 in Gaeta.

We wish you fruitful scientific discussions and a very pleasant stay in Gaeta!

Claudio De Stefano, University of Cassino
Angelo Marcelli, University of Salerno