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The UCL CoMPLEX annual conference this year coincided with a new initiative, the 2013 id² conference, an inter-disciplinary inter-doctoral training centre conference. the conference brings together students, from doctoral training centres in the UK and abroad, with a shared interest in the application and development of tools from mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering to problems in biomedical science. This exciting initiative is the first of what is hoped will be an annual conference bringing together researchers from DTCs around the country.... Read more
The beginning to 2013 has been extraordinarily hectic with new projects being rolled out, so it's quite fitting that my first post of the year nicely coincides with the network science conference organised at the University of Cambridge. As last year we were treated to an abundance of riches as speaker after speaker fired our synapses, and stimulated connections in our brain that possibly weren't there before! It's always a privilege to have the opportunity to meet scientists who truly are... Read more
Solving complex problems is one of the defining features of our age. The ability to harness a wide range of skills and synthesise diverse areas of knowledge is essentially integral to a researcher's DNA. It is interesting to read how MIT first offered a class in 'Solving Complex Problems' back in 2000. Over the course of a semester students attempt to 'imagineer' a solution to a highly complex problem. There is a great need for this type of learning in our... Read more
FutureICT have submitted their proposal to the FET Flagship Programme, an initiative that aims to facilitate breakthroughs in information technology. The vision of FutureICT is to integrate the fields of information and communication technologies (ICT), social sciences and complexity science, to develop a new kind of participatory science and technology that will help us to understand, explore and manage the complex, global, socially interactive systems that make up our world today, while at the same time paving the way for... Read more
Scientific discovery in the natural sciences has proceeded at an exponential rate and we are now seeing the social sciences experience a profound transformation as a consequence of computational social science. How far computational social science will reinvent social science is the big question. Some of the themes I've explored in my own work have been about the relationship between political philosophy and science and whether the computational sciences can help formulate new conceptions of societal organisation. Many in the... Read more
Over the years some of the themes I've touched upon in this blog have been about the outdated paradigms shaping public policy. The realisation came to our acute attention with the ongoing economic crisis since 2008. The crisis has precipitated and energised new thinking in economics, as evidenced by the creation of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. The Institute is a place to explore cutting edge ideas, and challenge calcified theories that have prevented the field from keeping pace... Read more
In 2013 two new journals are going to be published covering network science and agent-based modelling. The publications are indicative of the growth of complexity science thinking, and this is further evidenced by the publication of an ebook on the application of complex networks to the arts and humanities. The ebook is accompanied by a website which greatly enhances the book and features presentations from the influential NetSci conference. In the coming years we are no doubt going to see... Read more
Every year Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hold a conference to present scientific research carried out by their teams from different parts of the world. This year’s conference highlighted some of the strategic challenges facing MSF, and challenged some of our conceptions of medical humanitarian aid, and international development in light of groundbreaking digital technologies. We are as Paul Conneally passionately articulated in his keynote speech – Digital Humanitarian – ‘on the cusp of a global health revolution’.... Read more
I felt compelled to write this after learning about the death of Professor Anne Warner last Wednesday. I came to know her over the last few months as we were working on a project together. There are some people who make an impression upon you even before you’ve met them. When we first started discussing our project, Professor Warner was concerned about her own disability, and whether it would be a hindrance. Her question at the time made me think... Read more
In the last few weeks I’ve been refining a methodology and consulting model together with my colleagues. Creating innovation and accelerating scientific discovery is an exciting challenge especially in this era of convergence. Diversity of people, perspectives and solutions are essential ingredients to creating innovation. However a key challenge is how people are thrown together, and managed to make those giant leaps in thinking. Scott Page explores this brilliantly in his book, ‘The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates... Read more
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