Business Use of Complexity Sciences
Organisers
- Exystence
- Hewlett-Packard
Description
Co-sponsored by Exystence* and Hewlett-Packard Comp
(*Exystence is the European Complex Systems Network of Excellence, funded by the Future Emergent Technology Section of the European Commission)
A one day workshop that have brought together technology business managers (2/3) and academics (1/3) explored the sciences of complexity, discussed the practical application of complexity theory in business, based on recent research.
Workshop Organizers
-
HP Corporate Sponsor: Tony Redmond, CTO of HP Services & Corporate CSO
-
Workshop Chairman: Kemal A. Delic, Master Enterprise Architect – Lab Scientist MS SGBU
-
Co-organizer and Moderator: Prof. Eve Mitleton-Kelly, London School of Economics, UK
-
Co-Sponsor: FET, European Commission, Brussels
All opinions expressed are of presenting individuals and not associated business/organization.
Documents
LSE Business Cases: Rolls-Royce Marine Project - Enabling Post-Merger & Acquisition Integration
Presenters
- Professor Eve Mitleton-Kelly — Director, Complexity Research Programme — LSE
Description
Different qualitative and quantitative tools provide rigour in understanding an organization by triangulating the data and testing the findings against the conceptual framework of complexity theory. The Rolls Royce project is an interesting case history where post-merger integration posed a particular problem and the solution depended upon an in-depth analysis of social interdependencies. Different, but complementary information about the organisation offered a deep understanding of real problems. This was used as an informed basis for creating an enabling infrastructure, based on social, cultural and technical conditions that facilitated the emergence of new ways of organizing working practice.
Documents
Harvesting Social Knowledge - Information flow in social networks
Presenters
- Professor Bernardo Huberman — Senior HP Fellow and Director of the Information Dynamics Lab — HP Labs, Palo Alto
Description
The flow of information in business organisations affects productivity and innovation because it determines the speed by which individuals can act and plan future activities. However, it may take place within social networks whose nature and existence is sometimes difficult to identify, because they are often different from what we might infer from the formal structure of a group or organisation.
E-mail, as the predominant means of communication, offers a unique opportunity to observe the flow of information along both formal and informal channels. It is a good medium for social network research, providing plentiful data in electronic form and allowing the discovery of shared interests and relationships which were not previously known. The tendency of individuals to associate according to common interests influences the way information spreads throughout a social group and, whilst personal privacy policies rule out direct associations between individuals and particular e-mail messages, analysis of links and word content can indicate collaboration and knowledge exchange. A number of tools have now been used to extract and aggregate the data enabling conclusions to be made about ‘small world’ dynamics, ‘collaborative tagging’ and ‘viral marketing’.
Documents
The Science of Complex Systems
Presenters
- Professor Paul Bourgine — co-coordinator of Once-CS — Ecole Polytechnique
Description
PAUL BOURGINE, Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, co-coordinator of Once-CS that facilitates both the promotion and education for research on complexity science.
Complexity Science is not yet a science, but it is a movement towards a new science. There has been a debate about using the terms ‘complexity science’ and ‘complex systems science’. Professor Bourgine prefers the term ‘complex systems science’ because ‘complexity’ is a much more ambiguous word. First he discussed the nature of complex systems. The subject can be approached in two ways: either in terms of its ‘extension’ involving a search for examples of complex systems in a number of different areas or in terms of human ‘intention’ which is to do with the ways in which scientists can understand such systems.
Documents
Self Managed Systems - A Control Theory Perspective
Presenters
- Richard Taylor — Principal Scientist — Model Based Analysis Group, HP Laboratories
Description
Self-managed systems are essentially closed loop control systems. For any control system, slow convergence, oscillation, chaotic behaviour or stuck modes are undesirable. It is argued that control functions and compositions should be restricted to those with known ‘good’ properties whose functional space can be demonstrated within cellular automata.
Documents
The Bayesian Aspect of Complex Systems
Presenters
- Pierre Bessiere — Senior researcher — French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Description
The LAPLACE research group has been working on stochastic models for perception, inference, learning and action since 1992. The central thesis is that a subjectivist approach to probability is a simple mathematical theory of cognition and rationality as an alternative and extension of logic. During this time the group has elaborated the Bayesian Programming methodology and software tools.