Selected Papers from the 1st International Online Conference on Forecasting

Dear Colleagues,

Forecasting plays a key role in supporting decision-making across a wide range of scientific, industrial, and economic applications. From energy systems and financial markets to weather and climate prediction, the ability to anticipate future events and trends is increasingly important for improving efficiency, managing risks, and addressing complex challenges.

In recent years, advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistical methods, and computational techniques have opened new opportunities for forecasting research. At the same time, important challenges remain, including the management of uncertainty, model interpretability, robustness, and the integration of forecasting models into real-world decision-making processes.

These topics were at the center of the 1st International Online Conference on Forecasting (IOCFC 2026), which brought together researchers from different disciplines to share recent developments, methodological advances, and practical applications in forecasting.

Building on the scientific discussions and contributions presented at IOCFC 2026, this Special Issue aims to collect original research articles and review papers that provide new insights into forecasting methodologies, applications, and emerging challenges.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions on topics including, but not limited to:

• Energy Forecasting and Analytics: forecasting of energy demand, renewable energy generation, electricity markets, energy storage systems, and applications supporting efficient and sustainable energy management.
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Forecasting: deep learning, large language models, hybrid forecasting approaches, explainable AI, and emerging data-driven forecasting techniques.
• Statistical and Econometric Forecasting: time series analysis, econometric models, economic and financial forecasting, nowcasting, and advanced statistical methodologies.
• Weather and Climate Forecasting: meteorological and climate prediction, extreme weather events, ensemble forecasting, and data-driven approaches for environmental applications.

We welcome submissions from participants of IOCFC 2026, as well as contributions from the broader international forecasting community. We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Alessandro Niccolai
Prof. Dr. Sonia Leva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forecasting is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.