Complex system

Complex system (57)
Critical system (12)
Environmental system (7)
National system (16)
New system (5)
Socioeconomic system (10)
System (1351)
System alternatives (9)
System configuration (6)
System innovation (7)
Systems thinking (16)

Synopsis: System: Complex system:

In 1990 Manz 51 posed that integrated microfluidics could be harnessed to create complex systems that integrate all necessary analysis steps on one chip,

-Pardo, R. Guimera, A a. Moreira, L a. N. Amaral, Extracting the hierarchical organization of complex systems, Proc.

technologies and skills that determine a stable context in which highly complex system configurations can develop 12.

Resilience engineering tries to strengthen the intrinsic safety potential in complex systems in industrial safety. This approach has raised recently interest in the risk management field.

but a socio-technical complex system also interacting with its environment and the whole society. The focus has shifted from positivist

Serious FTA recognises that we can apply formal modelling to some features of the complex systems we encounter,

but also their benefits in enabling a better understanding of complex systems that interact in each situation and in defining effective policy responses.

but also their benefits in enabling a better understanding of complex systems which interact in each situation and in defining effective policy responses.

Promoting variation is examined as one way to make policies more resilient in a complex system. Findings Complexity science demonstrates that disruptive events do need not an associated trigger

as they are a normal part of a complex system. This insight implies that if we are always looking for weak signals we will certainly be caught unawares.

There are five relevant elements of complex systems: 1. A system cannot be explained by breaking it down into its component parts

As a result of these interactions complex systems exhibit emergence (self-organised) behaviour that results from these interactions. For example, consider taxies in a city.

Foresight techniques need to enable a vision of changes in the essential profile of a system. 3. The interactions between the component parts of a complex system

Complex systems are not at equilibrium (if they are they are dead) and are always changing.

''Several authors have developed concise descriptions of complex systems incorporating most of the concepts considered above. It is worth

Glouberman and Zimmerman (2002) A complex system is made up of many individual, self-organizing elements capable of responding to others and to their environment.

Axelrod and Cohen (2001) A complex system is a body of causal processes and agents whose interactions lead to outcomes that are unpredictable.

Table I Examples of components in a complex system Element Example Taxis in a city Example Flying flock of birds Agents...

and control approaches do not work in complex systems. The resulting implication is that a system cannot be controlled from above

''and so policy operating in a complex system cannot achieve a specific outcome directly. Instead, policy making needs to embrace emergence to exploit the developing behaviour that results from interactions between the parts of a complex system;

specifically policy makers must focus on the idea of interactions rather than a system's constituent parts

and importance of, the concepts of optimisation and exploration (resulting from the non-equilibrium state of a complex system see section 2. 5 above) also becomes clearer.

(and failures are a normal feature of complex systems) having several options increases the likelihood that at least one option will succeed.

It also provides insight into how foresight techniques need to be developed to perform better in complex systems to enable better decision-making and policy making.

and strengthen those policies VOL. 14 NO. 4 2012 jforesight jpage 301 Foresight methodology Foresight techniques need to be developed to embrace emergence to harness the self-organised behaviour that results from interactions between the parts of a complex system rather than

Policy making In a complex system (which all societies are need) policy makers to recognise that systems are all about relationships and interactions between the constituent parts rather than about the details of the constituent parts.

and therefore that prediction and forecasts do not work well in complex systems. They must recognise that everything is part of the system,

Glouberman, S. and Zimmerman, B. 2002), Complicated and Complex systems: What Would Successful Reform of Medicare Look like?

How can the nature invent a complex system such as the human eye? The emergence of an eye cannot result from following some mechanistic principles that add up to a functioning eye.

The behaviour of these networks is analysed from the perspective of sympoietic complex systems. Embedding FTA within the proposed management dynamic framework enables business networks to develop their sympoietic system capability, through interactions and inclusive dialogue,

The dynamic capability and ability to behave as a complex system are what enable the system to adapt to disruptive changes.

and interactions required to allow business networks to behave as sympoietic complex systems. In this context and according to Hock (1999), enterprises must be able to combine, with harmony, order and chaos, competition and cooperation,

which characterise the fundamental principles of any organism, organisation or complex system, as well as of evolution and nature.

Interpreting complex systems from the perspective of ecosystems, Dempster (1998) coined the expression sympoietic systems, indicating three main differences, related to key system characteristics between autopoiesis and sympoiesis:

The above descriptions present a useful heuristic to complex systems and the interactions between the dimensions of sustainable development

According to Rocha (2003), complex systems require interactivity: in the same way, it is not possible to understand living systems without perceiving the systemic relationshhip of cells

In this article, we open a view towards the systemic capacities, based on a perspective of an organisation as a complex system that is mobile in space time.

The idea springs from the perspective that organisations are complex systems where transformations arise through emergence,

and Analysis (EMA) is a methodology for analysing dynamic and complex systems and supporting long-term decision-making under uncertainty through computational experiments.

in order to better understand the systemic and structural transformations of complex systems, ii) inclusion of a multiplicity of perspectives, worldviews, mental models or quantitative models,

complex systems, including socioeconomic systems. This debate has been in great part centered on the striking similarities between biological evolution and technological/cultural evolution.

Complex systems; Universal Darwinism 1. Introductory thoughts The main objective of this seminar concerns the exploitation of the powerful new capabilities provided by the Information technology Era to advance Future-oriented technology analysis (TFA), both product and process.

complex systems, including socioeconomic systems (see point 3 ahead). Evolutionary arguments in economics, as in biology, originally took purely verbal forms,

some modern approaches from complex systems theory, like self-organization, is an alternative to dbiological analogiest or Darwinism;

complex systems, including socioeconomic systems, also involving a basic philosophical commitment to detailed, cumulative, and causal explanations,

after a lapse of almost a half century after the initial thrust commented on in point 1. Basically he suggested that Darwinism contained a general theory of the evolution of all complex systems,

but the more general process of evolution of complex systems dfor which organic evolution is but one instance.

whose continuing evolutionary process conduces to increasingly complex systems; cultural evolution (and technological evolution as well) is the continuation of biological evolution by other means;

uncertainty is prevalent in complex systems and policy-making related to complex issues. Policy failures are often attributable to the omission of uncertainties in policy-making 7. Policies that would be optimal for one particular scenario often fail in most other scenarios.

when dealing with complex systems 8. Adaptive foresight studies would also hugely benefit from enhanced computational assistance 15.

His research interests are exploration and analysis of dynamically complex systems under deep uncertainty. In his Phd research, he focuses on long term decision-making under deep uncertainty using the Exploratory Modeling and Analysis method.

Social and Political sciences & Solvay Business school of the Free University of Brussels. His research focuses mainly on the multidimensional dynamics of complex systems,

EMA is focused not narrowly on optimizing a (complex system to accomplish a particular goal or answer a specific question,

and learning processes on the one hand and introducing complex system views on the other. They argue that such a combined approach facilitates the shaping

learning about how complex systems can be adapted, so as to gain agility and strengthen preparedness Learning effects impacts Supports system actors to create their own futures Creates a shared vision amongst diverse actors Gain insights into complex interactions

Complex systems, like the global economy, entail emergent properties that can radically transform the system (e g. Funtowitz and Ravetz 1994.

Funtowitz, S. and Ravetz, J. R. 1994)‘ Emergent complex systems',Futures, 26: 568 82. Geels, F. W. and Schot, J. 2007)‘ Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways',Research policy, 36: 399 417.164.

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