Section One: Theories for Complex Systems. The Systemic View of the World: The INTEGRAL Logo of G... more Section One: Theories for Complex Systems. The Systemic View of the World: The INTEGRAL Logo of General Systems Research A. Rapoport. Systems Science Fundamental Principles J.R. Simms. A Cosmological Imperative: Emergence of Information, Complexity and Life E.J. Chaisson. The Co-Creation Hypothesis H. Sabelli. What is Infodynamics? S. Salthe. Section Two: Emerging Foci on Systems Research and Practice. The History on Sociocybernetics, RC51, of the International Sociological Association R. Lee. Systems Practice at the United Kingdom's Open University R.L. Ison. The WOSC and some Views about Cybernetics R. Vallee. Presentation of Wiener Gold Medal to Dr. Candace Pert S. Beer. Section Three: Human Systems in the 21st Century. On Misdirected Systems R.L. Ackoff, J. Pourdehnad. The Complexity of Performance and the Instruments of Mastery P.C. Wohlmuth. Understanding Imperfection M. Zwick. Engaging with Transient Complexity in Development Projects J. Friend. Meaning Networks and Verbal Communication: A Semiotic Perspective of Human Discourse M. Danesi. Can Religion be Reconciled with Science? J.F. Haught. Section Four: The Challenge of Sustainability. The Bridge to Humanity's Future W.R. Fey, A.C.W. Lam. Energy, Hierarchy and Money H.T. Odum. Capitalism in the New Millennium: The Challenge of Sustainability B. Shireman. Section Five: The Art and Science of Forecasting in the Age of Global Warming. Technological Forecasting and Assessment Tools: The Changing Scene H.A. Linstone. Forecasting the Innovation of Complex Technologies D.E. Kash, R. Rycroft. Making Technology Foresight(and Systems Studies?) Useful A.L. Porter. Section Six: Y2K. Why the Century Date Change Occurred So Smoothly S.A. Umpleby. Implications for the Security of the International Information Infrastructure O. Bosch. Y2K -- 'Ten Months After': Two 'Double Binds' and a 'Double Blindness' K.H. Muller. Section Seven: The Future of Systems Science. The Future of the Natural Systems Sciences L.R. Troncale. Systems Thinking and the Social Sciences M.C. Jackson. Systems Thinking for the 21st Century G. Midgley. OR 2000: Challenges and Prescriptions for the New Millennium S.C. Holmberg. Section Eight: ISSS Presidential Addresses. The Systems Movement and ISSS in the New Millennium G.A. Swanson. The Systems Sciences in the Year 3000 P.A. Corning. Continuing the Traditions of ISSS -- Systems Science in the Service of Humanity H. Nelson. Index.
ABSTRACT Total Systems Intervention (TSI) (Flood & Jackson, 1991a; Flood, 1995c) is an ev... more ABSTRACT Total Systems Intervention (TSI) (Flood & Jackson, 1991a; Flood, 1995c) is an evolving metamethodology. It evolves in two different ways. First, it grows by reviewing models and methodologies and incorporates new ideas on them in its own process. Second, as this development takes place, TSI evolves and matures through self-reflective critique employing these new ideas to review its own principles and practice. TSI interprets and brings into action the resulting system of problem-solving approaches (Flood, 1995a Flood, 1995b Flood, 1995c). It then becomes a process of intervention where practitioners can learn about and manage complex interacting organizational and societal issues employing the system of problem-solving approaches.
In this talk I will present the challenges of national and global scale digital identity systems ... more In this talk I will present the challenges of national and global scale digital identity systems for people and other things. The key underlying theme is that of building trustworthy systems, which is today, systems that people do not simply trust, but that can demonstrate why they should be trusted. This entails designs, deployments and operations that are transparent, and respect privacy and other rights of the users, whilst also implementing the promises of inclusion in the digital economy society, whilst improving the efficiencies of government and related services for everyone. Many systems are being deployed today that only partially realise these goals. I will discuss some of the future improvements to those sorts of systems.
The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination is funded by the NHS Executive and the Health Department... more The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination is funded by the NHS Executive and the Health Departments of Wales and Northern Ireland. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS Executive or the Health Departments of
Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, 2010
Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Proceedings of the 54th Meeting of the Intern... more Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Proceedings of the 54th Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. ...
Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ISSS, 2008
Page 1. 1 Table of Contents Welcome Message, Dr Gary Metcalf, ISSS President ..... 3 Sponsors and... more Page 1. 1 Table of Contents Welcome Message, Dr Gary Metcalf, ISSS President ..... 3 Sponsors and Affiliated Organizations ..... 5 Conference Schedule..... ...
Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the ISSS, 2009
... The positive attractor: the role of the holistic worldview in the evolution of a sustainable ... more ... The positive attractor: the role of the holistic worldview in the evolution of a sustainable societal system Analysing Liveability - More than Constructive Ambiguity ... 1291 Ngana Achieving a Sustainable Health System - a Conceptual Framework for Holistic Decision Making ...
In this paper we examine the systemic methodological choices involved in studying the ethical dec... more In this paper we examine the systemic methodological choices involved in studying the ethical decision space within which Chinese women come to decide to attend an American university in pursuit of a business education. In the research we wished to develop insight about the role of the student herself in the decision-making process in relation to others involved. Insofar as the decision-making process involves a multitude of interacting influences, the researchers conceived of this space as a system of people and ideas that contribute a sense of the “rightness” of studying abroad in a young adult Chinese woman’s life. From a research design perspective, exploring a decision space like this was not straightforward. We were studying what we conceived as a systemic ethical decision-making phenomenon, fraught with the difficulties inherent in cross-cultural data collection. This research was not designed to critique the complex decision-making processes that study participants had engag...
We believe that a general theory of systems is attainable in principle and would be valuable in p... more We believe that a general theory of systems is attainable in principle and would be valuable in practice. In this paper we present our perspective on the key projects to be undertaken and key questions to be addressed for a program to develop a general systems transdiscipline and put it into effective use. In our view this program is urgent and important, and we urge the systems community to support efforts to make this potential a reality.
The search for a General Systems Theory (GST) formally became a scientific enterprise with the fo... more The search for a General Systems Theory (GST) formally became a scientific enterprise with the founding of the Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory (living on today as the International Society for the Systems Sciences) in 1954. Many scientific advances have been made towards a GST, but GST is still incomplete and there is a rich ongoing debate about the nature, structure and value of GST. In this paper we argue that the general theory of a discipline has a generic structure, which can be inferred by attending to the process by which disciplines build up their knowledge base. We develop a model of this generic structure and then use it to envision the structure and scope of GST. This provides a principled baseline for assessing the developmental status of GST, planning work towards its completion, and defending the potential value of GST.
The field of systems is still a nascent academic discipline, with a high degree of fragmentation,... more The field of systems is still a nascent academic discipline, with a high degree of fragmentation, no common perspective on the disciplinary structure of the systems domain, and many ambiguities in its use of the term “General Systems Theory”. In this paper we develop a generic model for the structure of a discipline (of any kind) and of disciplinary fields of all kinds, and use this to develop a Typology for the domain of systems. We identify the domain of systems as a transdisciplinary field, and propose calling it “Systemology” and its unifying theory GST* (pronounced “G-S-T-star”). We propose names for other major components of the field, and present a tentative map of the systems field, highlighting key gaps and shortcomings. We argue that such a model of the systems field can be helpful for guiding the development of Systemology into a fully-fledged academic field, and for understanding the relationships between Systemology as a transdisciplinary field and the specialized disciplines with which it is engaged.
Section One: Theories for Complex Systems. The Systemic View of the World: The INTEGRAL Logo of G... more Section One: Theories for Complex Systems. The Systemic View of the World: The INTEGRAL Logo of General Systems Research A. Rapoport. Systems Science Fundamental Principles J.R. Simms. A Cosmological Imperative: Emergence of Information, Complexity and Life E.J. Chaisson. The Co-Creation Hypothesis H. Sabelli. What is Infodynamics? S. Salthe. Section Two: Emerging Foci on Systems Research and Practice. The History on Sociocybernetics, RC51, of the International Sociological Association R. Lee. Systems Practice at the United Kingdom's Open University R.L. Ison. The WOSC and some Views about Cybernetics R. Vallee. Presentation of Wiener Gold Medal to Dr. Candace Pert S. Beer. Section Three: Human Systems in the 21st Century. On Misdirected Systems R.L. Ackoff, J. Pourdehnad. The Complexity of Performance and the Instruments of Mastery P.C. Wohlmuth. Understanding Imperfection M. Zwick. Engaging with Transient Complexity in Development Projects J. Friend. Meaning Networks and Verbal Communication: A Semiotic Perspective of Human Discourse M. Danesi. Can Religion be Reconciled with Science? J.F. Haught. Section Four: The Challenge of Sustainability. The Bridge to Humanity's Future W.R. Fey, A.C.W. Lam. Energy, Hierarchy and Money H.T. Odum. Capitalism in the New Millennium: The Challenge of Sustainability B. Shireman. Section Five: The Art and Science of Forecasting in the Age of Global Warming. Technological Forecasting and Assessment Tools: The Changing Scene H.A. Linstone. Forecasting the Innovation of Complex Technologies D.E. Kash, R. Rycroft. Making Technology Foresight(and Systems Studies?) Useful A.L. Porter. Section Six: Y2K. Why the Century Date Change Occurred So Smoothly S.A. Umpleby. Implications for the Security of the International Information Infrastructure O. Bosch. Y2K -- 'Ten Months After': Two 'Double Binds' and a 'Double Blindness' K.H. Muller. Section Seven: The Future of Systems Science. The Future of the Natural Systems Sciences L.R. Troncale. Systems Thinking and the Social Sciences M.C. Jackson. Systems Thinking for the 21st Century G. Midgley. OR 2000: Challenges and Prescriptions for the New Millennium S.C. Holmberg. Section Eight: ISSS Presidential Addresses. The Systems Movement and ISSS in the New Millennium G.A. Swanson. The Systems Sciences in the Year 3000 P.A. Corning. Continuing the Traditions of ISSS -- Systems Science in the Service of Humanity H. Nelson. Index.
ABSTRACT Total Systems Intervention (TSI) (Flood & Jackson, 1991a; Flood, 1995c) is an ev... more ABSTRACT Total Systems Intervention (TSI) (Flood & Jackson, 1991a; Flood, 1995c) is an evolving metamethodology. It evolves in two different ways. First, it grows by reviewing models and methodologies and incorporates new ideas on them in its own process. Second, as this development takes place, TSI evolves and matures through self-reflective critique employing these new ideas to review its own principles and practice. TSI interprets and brings into action the resulting system of problem-solving approaches (Flood, 1995a Flood, 1995b Flood, 1995c). It then becomes a process of intervention where practitioners can learn about and manage complex interacting organizational and societal issues employing the system of problem-solving approaches.
In this talk I will present the challenges of national and global scale digital identity systems ... more In this talk I will present the challenges of national and global scale digital identity systems for people and other things. The key underlying theme is that of building trustworthy systems, which is today, systems that people do not simply trust, but that can demonstrate why they should be trusted. This entails designs, deployments and operations that are transparent, and respect privacy and other rights of the users, whilst also implementing the promises of inclusion in the digital economy society, whilst improving the efficiencies of government and related services for everyone. Many systems are being deployed today that only partially realise these goals. I will discuss some of the future improvements to those sorts of systems.
The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination is funded by the NHS Executive and the Health Department... more The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination is funded by the NHS Executive and the Health Departments of Wales and Northern Ireland. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS Executive or the Health Departments of
Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, 2010
Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Proceedings of the 54th Meeting of the Intern... more Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Proceedings of the 54th Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. ...
Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ISSS, 2008
Page 1. 1 Table of Contents Welcome Message, Dr Gary Metcalf, ISSS President ..... 3 Sponsors and... more Page 1. 1 Table of Contents Welcome Message, Dr Gary Metcalf, ISSS President ..... 3 Sponsors and Affiliated Organizations ..... 5 Conference Schedule..... ...
Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the ISSS, 2009
... The positive attractor: the role of the holistic worldview in the evolution of a sustainable ... more ... The positive attractor: the role of the holistic worldview in the evolution of a sustainable societal system Analysing Liveability - More than Constructive Ambiguity ... 1291 Ngana Achieving a Sustainable Health System - a Conceptual Framework for Holistic Decision Making ...
In this paper we examine the systemic methodological choices involved in studying the ethical dec... more In this paper we examine the systemic methodological choices involved in studying the ethical decision space within which Chinese women come to decide to attend an American university in pursuit of a business education. In the research we wished to develop insight about the role of the student herself in the decision-making process in relation to others involved. Insofar as the decision-making process involves a multitude of interacting influences, the researchers conceived of this space as a system of people and ideas that contribute a sense of the “rightness” of studying abroad in a young adult Chinese woman’s life. From a research design perspective, exploring a decision space like this was not straightforward. We were studying what we conceived as a systemic ethical decision-making phenomenon, fraught with the difficulties inherent in cross-cultural data collection. This research was not designed to critique the complex decision-making processes that study participants had engag...
We believe that a general theory of systems is attainable in principle and would be valuable in p... more We believe that a general theory of systems is attainable in principle and would be valuable in practice. In this paper we present our perspective on the key projects to be undertaken and key questions to be addressed for a program to develop a general systems transdiscipline and put it into effective use. In our view this program is urgent and important, and we urge the systems community to support efforts to make this potential a reality.
The search for a General Systems Theory (GST) formally became a scientific enterprise with the fo... more The search for a General Systems Theory (GST) formally became a scientific enterprise with the founding of the Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory (living on today as the International Society for the Systems Sciences) in 1954. Many scientific advances have been made towards a GST, but GST is still incomplete and there is a rich ongoing debate about the nature, structure and value of GST. In this paper we argue that the general theory of a discipline has a generic structure, which can be inferred by attending to the process by which disciplines build up their knowledge base. We develop a model of this generic structure and then use it to envision the structure and scope of GST. This provides a principled baseline for assessing the developmental status of GST, planning work towards its completion, and defending the potential value of GST.
The field of systems is still a nascent academic discipline, with a high degree of fragmentation,... more The field of systems is still a nascent academic discipline, with a high degree of fragmentation, no common perspective on the disciplinary structure of the systems domain, and many ambiguities in its use of the term “General Systems Theory”. In this paper we develop a generic model for the structure of a discipline (of any kind) and of disciplinary fields of all kinds, and use this to develop a Typology for the domain of systems. We identify the domain of systems as a transdisciplinary field, and propose calling it “Systemology” and its unifying theory GST* (pronounced “G-S-T-star”). We propose names for other major components of the field, and present a tentative map of the systems field, highlighting key gaps and shortcomings. We argue that such a model of the systems field can be helpful for guiding the development of Systemology into a fully-fledged academic field, and for understanding the relationships between Systemology as a transdisciplinary field and the specialized disciplines with which it is engaged.
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Papers by Jennifer Wilby