We were very pleased to once again extend to the delegates and, we are pleased to th say, our friends the warmest of welcomes to the 8 International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems at Wellington - stitute of Technology in Wellington, New Zealand. The KES conferences attract a wide range of interest. The broad focus of the c- ference series is the theory and applications of computational intelligence and em- gent technologies. Once purely a research field, intelligent systems have advanced to the point where their abilities have been incorporated into many conventional appli- tion areas. The quest to encapsulate human knowledge and capabilities in domains such as reasoning, problem solving, sensory analysis, and other complex areas has been avidly pursued. This is because it has been demonstrated that these abilities have definite practical applications. The techniques long ago reached the point where they are being exploited to provide commercial advantages for companies and real beneficial effects on profits. KES 2004 provided a valuable mechanism for delegates to obtain a profound view of the latest intelligent systems research into a range of - gorithms, tools and techniques. KES 2004 also gave delegates the chance to come into contact with those applying intelligent systems in diverse commercial areas. The combination of theory and practice represents a uniquely valuable opportunity for - preciating the full spectrum of intelligent-systems activity and the βstate of the artβ.