Madison 2008 Conference Program and Schedule

Conference Program and Schedule

FINAL

 

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Pre-conference workshops more details...

09:00 - 11:00 Key Tools for Doing Systems Science, Len Troncale. Room: Inn Wisconsin

09:00 - 17:00 Fundamentals of Relational Science: Building a Curriculum, John Kineman and Judith Rosen. Room: Old Madison East

13:00 - 17:00 Introducing a System of Systems Processes (SOSP), Len Troncale. Room: Inn Wisconsin

 

13:00 - 18:00 Registration, Annex Room, Memorial Union Lobby

18:00 - 20:00 Reception, Main Lounge, Memorial Union

 

Monday, July 14, 2008

08:00 - 18:00 Registration, Annex Room, Memorial Union Lobby

08:00 - 09:00 ISSS Roundtable, Capitol View Room, 4th Floor

09:00 - 09:30 Conference Opening, Gary Metcalf: The Science and the Perspective of Systems (1069), Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

09:30 - 10:15 Bobby Milstein, Centers for Disease Control: Crafting a Health System that Protects us All: Syndemics, Simulation Scenarios, and Social Change (1061)

10:15 - 10:45 Coffee Break, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

10:45 - 11:30 David Schwartz, U. of WI, Genomics: Plunge of the New Biology into Complexity (1033)

11:30 - 12:15 Manfred Drack, Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Sciences: von Bertalanffy Lecture: Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s Early System Approach (1031)

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch, Great Hall, 4th Floor

13:30 - 15:00 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Evolutionary Development	SIG: Applied Systems and Development	SIG: Hierarchy Theory	SIG: Agent-based Social Simulation; Systems Modeling and Simulation	ROOM OPEN
Chairs: Alexander and Kathia Laszlo	Chair: Dennis Finlayson	Chair: Jennifer Wilby	Chair: Takehiro Inohara
Introduction and Discussion for Evolutionary Development	1008 (no paper) Human Rights Revisited: Reciprocity, Stakeholders, Lifecycles and Systemic Issues? Finlayson, Dennis Edward	885 (894) A Business Model Architecture: Observation Problems and Solutions in Modelling Businesses and their Networks Shaw, Duncan Robert	964 (1007) Preservation of Misperceptions: Stability Analysis of Hypergames Sasaki, Yasuo; Kijima, Kyoichi
1055 (no paper) Leaders of Change: Social Entrepreneurship and the Creation of Ecologies of Solutions Castro Laszlo, Kathia	1049 (no paper) Design for an Assessment of Gaining Access to the International Interoperability Systems in the Bid for Secession Solomons, Leonie Marilynne	931 (no paper) Coevolving Open Source Business Models and Private Source Business Models Ing, David	921 (no paper) Methodology toward a Model of Earthquake Prediction Patino-Ortiz, Julian; Badillo-Pina, Isaias Jose; Patino-Ortiz, Miguel
994 (1077) Co-Creating Living Systems that Thrive on Diversity Lewis, Nancy; Moore, B; Southern, Nancy	928 (no paper) Slum Communities as Complex Adaptive Systems: Using Complexity Science to Inform an Adaptive Ecosystem Approach to Environment and Health in Informal Settlements in Chennai, India Bunch, Martin Joseph; Franklin, Beth; Morley, David; Romona, Gananathan	916 (1006) The Hard Facts of Soft Social Systems: A General Systems Explanatory Model for Schools and Workplaces Gabriele, Susan Farr	969 (974) Architecture Case Study in Transformity Factorization Collins, Dennis Glenn

 15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

15:30 - 17:30 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Evolutionary Development	SIG: Health Systems	SIG: Hierarchy Theory	SIG: Living Sytems Analysis; What is Life and Living?	SIG: Special SABI panel:  Conversation on globalization and localization
Chairs: Alexander and Kathia Laszlo	Chair: Ockie Bosch	Chair: Jennifer Wilby	Chair: Jim Simms	Chair: David Ing
915 (1075) Toward a Description of the Consciousness Field Ordunez-Zavala, Enrique; Badillo-Pina, Isaias Jose; Peon-Escalante, Ignacio	866 (973) A Difficult Balance:  Decisions in Health Care Metcalf, Marilyn A	1057 (no paper) Complexity, Global Climate Change and Soil Carbon Cycling: Factors Controlling the Temperature Response of Microbial Decomposition Wixon, Devin	904 (905) A Service Science Perspective Swanson, G.A	Proposed trigger question: What can we expect in social systems and economies as the world simultaneously seems to be becoming global (with free trade, information and communication technologies) and becoming local (as supplies of energy, soil and water have become stressed)?
934 (no paper) How Do We Know? How Do We Acquire Wisdom? A Systemic Classification of Knowledge Aceves, Francisco Javier; Alvarado, Jesus; Tejeida-Padilla, Ricardo	1042 (1048) Measuring the Inequity of a Health System: A Systems Perspective - Systematic Analytical Mapping Approach Ngana, Jean-Paul	1040 (no paper) Scenarios Addressing United Parcel Service’s Energy Acquisition: A Methodology for Performing a Comparative Analysis of Alternative Fuels Pease, Megan	1050 (no paper) A Status Report on the Development of Living Systems Science Simms, James Robert
	955 (no paper) Real Life or Death Application of System Theory: The 2000 Years Daily Decision Making Experience of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners EC Leung Wong, Thomas Sui; Yan Huang, E C	1074 (no paper) A Systems Perspective On Ecological Restoration: Should The Current Historic Climax-Community Restoration Model Be Replaced By A Future Oriented Dynamic Ecosystem Based Model Thomforde, Stephen L	1039 (1046) Fundamentals of Relational Complexity Theory Kineman, John
		Sandbox Tim Allen	910 (990) Are Ecosystems Alive? Vesterby, Vincent

17:30 - 18:00  Presentation by the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

18:00 - 19:30  ISSS Board Meeting, Inn Wisconsin West

19:30 - 21:00  Past Presidents Fireside Chat with Student SIG, Reception Room, 4th floor

 

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

08:00 - 18:00 Registration, Annex Room, Memorial Union Lobby

08:00 - 09:00 ISSS Roundtable, Capitol View Room, 4th Floor

09:00 - 09:15 Conference Updates, Gary Metcalf, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

09:15 - 10:00 Steve Carpenter, U. of WI, Zoology: Scenario Thinking to Solve Complex Environmental Problems (1064)

10:00 - 10:45 Jon Foley, U. of WI, Sustainability and Global Environment: Living on a Shrinking Planet:  Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Future (1070)

10:45 - 11:00 Coffee Break, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

11:00 - 11:45 David Waltner-Toews, University of Guelph, Population Medicine: The Ecosystem Approach: Complexity, Uncertainty and Managing for Sustainability (1072)

11:45 - 12:15 Poster Session, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

12:15 - 13:00 Council Meeting, Reception Room, 4th Floor

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch, Great Hall, 4th Floor

13:30 - 15:00 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Evolutionary Development	SIG: Designing Educational Systems	SIG: Research towards General Theories of Systems	SIG: Systems Modeling and Simulation	ROOM OPEN
Chairs: Alexander and Kathia Laszlo	Chair: Sue Gabriele	Chair: Lynn Rasmussen	Chair: Takehiro Inohara
925 (1025) Toward a Unified Field Theory of Human Behaviour (Global Cultural Evolution) Abundis, Marcus	924 (981) E-Teaching: Eroding the Stronghold of Teachers Chroust, Gerhard	982 (989) Adapting Banathy's Systems View of Education to a Systems View of Human Systems Rasmussen, Lynn	900 (947) A Systems-Theoretical Representation of Technologies and their Connections Inohara, Takehiro
875 (1021) Being Values and Beneficent Obsessions: Applying Theories from Maslow and Assagioli to Evolutionary Guidance Media Klisanin, Dana	952 (954) Using Systems Thinking and Social Network Theory to Improve Children's Mathematical Problem Solving Skills Pinzon-Salcedo, Luis; Barros, Ricardo; Zarama, Roberto; de Meza, Margarita; Carulla, Cristina; Bejarano, Astrid	996 (997) Operating Principle of the Uni-Versity Mandel, Thomas	929 (1013) Analysis On Trust Game by Reciprocal Agents Okayasu, Hidetoshi
884 (958) Evolutionary Ethics: Vision and Values for a World of Insurmountable Opportunities Laszlo, Alexander		980 (998) The System of Systems Processes Brian Hilton	909 (971) A Viable System Model Approach to Enterprise Resources Planning Systems Badillo, Isaias Jose; Tejeida-Padilla, Ricardo; Morales-Matamoros, Oswaldo

 15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break and ISSS Membership Meeting, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

15:30 - 17:30 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Evolutionary Development	SIG: Environment/ Sustainable Systems	SIG: Foundations of Information Systems and Information Systems Design	Complex Systems	Special SABI panel:  Conversation on the information revolution / services revolution in business
Chairs: Alexander and Kathia Laszlo	Chair: TBC	Chair: Jed Jones	Chair: Tim Allen	Chair: David Ing
919 (no paper) Social Implications of a Partial Privatization of the Mexican Petroleum Industry Avalos-Villarreal, Elvira	959 (961) Holistic Method for Developing Risk Maps in Rural Zones Aceves, Francisco J.; Audefroy, Joel F.; Peon, Ignacio E.	977 (1023) A Systems Approach to Streamlining the Creation of Web-Based Content Jones, Jed C.	927 (no paper) Resource Use, Economic Transformation, and Transportation: A Case Study in Southern Wisconsin Allen, Peter; Allen, Timothy F.H	Proposed trigger question:  How much have learned about the "new economy" associated with the "information revolution" or "services revolution", and what don't we yet know?
906 (970) A Systems Sciences Approach to the Design of a Municipal Integration Model for Sustainable Tourist Development. Case: The Orient Zone of Mexico State Tejeida-Padilla, Ricardo; Badillo-Pina, Isaias; Vargas-Castro, Juan Carlos	914 (no paper) Climate and the San Luis Valley: Changes in Growing Season and Temperature Mix, Ken	1029 (1030) A Basic Principle for the Architecture of Computer-Based Information Processing Kampfner, Roberto R	877 (no paper) Integration Science: Reconciling the Boundaries of Humans and Nature Lucio Lopes, Vicente
991 (999) Systemics and the Mutually Binding Economy Networks: A Knowledge-Based Approach for Sustainable Communities Teissier-Fuentes, Honorato C.; Mendoza-Santillan, J. Gabriel	873 (no paper) Assessing Adaptive Capacity in an Urbanizing Watershed Vogl, Adrian L; Roberts, Susan; Fotinos, Timothy A; Klier, Joh	913 (949) Digital Democracy and Citizenship as the Democratic Political Systems for the Information Age Cho, Ilsoo	951 (960) Negotiating Social Complexity Bausch, Ken
	1018 (1054) Backstage of the Global Climate Change: A System that No-one Thinks to Himself Frias, Ricardo Andres; Gessaga, Tariana Maia; Rabassa, Jorge Oscar	887 (1000) Application of a Model of Planning for the Continuous Improvement of the Development of the  Telecommunications Vega, Cirilo Leon	872 (no paper) Entropy Debt: A Link to Sustainability? von Schilling, Caroline; Straussfogel, Debra

 

Evening Dinner Get-together: hosted by Tim Allen, details to follow.

 

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

08:00 - 15:00 Registration, Annex Room, Memorial Union Lobby

07:45 - 09:00 ISSS Roundtable, Capitol View Room, 4th Floor

09:00 - 10:30 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Organisatiional Transformation and Social Change	SIG: Applied Systems and Development	SIG: SABI session on DIALOGUE	SIG: Spirituality and Systems	SIG: Living Systems  Theory
Chair: Tamar Zohar Harel	Chair: Dennis Finlayson	Chair: Jed Jones	Chair: Thomas Wong	Chair: Jim Simms
876 (895) Social Responsibility: An Innovation of Ethic Toward Requisite Holism as a Basis for Humans to Make a Difference in Affluence Mulej, Matjaz; Potocan, Vojko; Zenko, Zdenka; Knez-Riedl, Jozica; Hrast, Anita; Prosenak, Damjan	1011 (940) Korean Politics and Complex Systems Theory Sim, Youn-Soo	926 (983) Dialogue and Ecological Engineering in Social Systems Design Metcalf, Gary	1037 (1047) How to Look across the Room Ong, John Nathan	Special Workshop 9 am to 10:30 am on Living Systems Science and Science of Society Workshop 4 more details...
930 (979) Searching for Ourselves: A Methodological Exploration of a Soft System Dynamics Method as a Social Learning Tool for Watershed Implementation Planning Brown, Stephan Edward	946 (1002) What's the North Korean Nuclear Weapons' Future? Kwon, Hyuk Kihl	932 (1022) Business Models and Evolving Economic Paradigms: A Systems Science Approach Ing, David	992 (no paper) The System and Control Theory in the Vipassana Meditation of the Noble Eightfold Path as Taught by Buddha: Understanding Meditation with the Taichi Yin-Yang System in Modern Terminologies Leung Wong, Thomas Sui; Yan Huang, E C	continues...
957 (no paper) How Would Asian Government Emerge through the Electronic Moneys of Private Institutions? Takahashi, Kazuyuki Ikko			889 (938) The Traditional Morality of Totalitarianism: Juche Ideology Through Hyo Park, Chul Ho	continues...

 

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break and Poster Session, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

11:00 - 12:30 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Organisatiional Transformation and Social Change	Special Session: New Economic Systems	SIG: Systems Applications to Business and Industry	SIG: Duality	ROOM OPEN
Chair: Ignacio Peon Escalente	Chair: Sally Goerner	Chair: David Ing	Chair: Luis Sancho
937 (no paper) Self, Organization and Self-Organization within Social Organizations. How Knowing The Difference Makes a Difference in Appreciating Common Denominators: The Case of Self Regulation Zohar Harel, Tamar	1009 (no paper) The New Science of Sustainability: Implications for Economic Theory and Practice Goerner, Sally	1014 (no paper) Meaningful Measurement in the Contemporary Enterprise Kosits, Marianne	859 Gender Duality: informative women, energetic men Luis Sancho
1004 (1005) Evolving to Sustainability Li, Jon	Roundtable Discussion: Dorothy Lageroos, Sally Goerner and Jennifer Wilby	869 (893) Systems Thinking for Team and Organisational Learning: Case of Performance Measure Conflicts in a Multinational Supply Chain Maani, Kambiz E.; Fan, Annie	860 Temporal information: the arrow of Einstein, the arrow of Evolution Luis Sancho
1016 (1024) Are Organizational Size and Efficiency Engaged? Frias, Ricardo Andres; Barrera, Ricardo		899 (967) Audit Support Plug-In System by the Use of Ontology Model Minegishi, Junya; Gehrmann, Andreas; Nagai, Yoshimitsu; Ishizu, Syohei

 

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch, Great Hall, 4th Floor

 

12:30              Field Trip 1: Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio tour. Airconditioned coach, box lunches, coach and tour, $75 per person. Limited to 20 people.

12:30              Field Trip 2: Ecology field trip with Tim Allen: out into the wilds of Wisconsin, buffet lunch as usual and then at 13:30 onto bus, $15 per person. Limited to 30 people.

14:00              Field Trip 3: Tour of the Laboratory for Molecular and Computational Genomics, on the campus at Madison, hosted by David C. Schwartz, the Director and Principle Investigator, no charge, after lunch meet in Main Lounge at 13:30 p.m.   Limited to 15 people.

 

Thursday, July 17, 2008

08:00 - 18:00 Registration, Annex Room, Memorial Union Lobby

08:00 - 09:00 ISSS Roundtable, Capitol View Room, 4th Floor

09:00 - 09:15 Conference Updates, Gary Metcalf, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

09:15 - 10:00 David Hawk, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Management and Architecture: The Business Educators Dilemma: Teaching Analytics to those who Strive to Manage Systems (1058)

10:00 - 10:45 Bill Rouse, Georgia Institute of Technology, Industrial and Systems Engineering and College of Computing: Modeling & Managing Complex Systems: A Case Study of Healthcare Delivery (1060)

10:45 - 11:00 Coffee Break, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

11:00 - 11:45 Doug McDavid, IBM Almaden Research Center, Executive Research Consultant: Sociable Technologies for Enterprising Sociality (1059)

11:45 - 12:30 ISSS Membership Meeting, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch, Great Hall, 4th Floor

13:30 - 15:00 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Organisatiional Transformation and Social Change	SIG: Metamodeling and Systems Epistemology	SIG: Systems Applications in Business and Industry	SIG: Critical Systems Theory	ROOM OPEN
Chair: Tamar Zhoar Harel	Chair: Janet McIntyre	Chair: David Ing	Chair: Pamela Buckle
1026 (1027) Informing the Consumer is Strengthening the Economy Gabriele, Anthony	936 (1001) Systems of Things That Flow Al-Fedaghi, Sabah Saleh	863 (no paper) Idealized Design: An "Open Innovation" Process for Successful Business Model Creation Pourdehnad, John	886 (939) "You Are Adapting More to Me Than I Am Adapting to You" (But What Does More Mean?):  Cybernetic and Foucaultian Explorations of the Domain of Power Guddemi, Phillip V
907 (993) Bureau-Pathologies in Public Organizations: Synthesizing a Botanic Garden Case for a General Policy System Theory Slawski, Carl	868 (1028) Making a Difference through E-Government from Below: An Evaluation and Future Directions McIntyre, Janet Judy	903 (922) Failure of Foresight: Learning from System Failures through Dynamic Model Nakamura, Takafumi; Kijima, Kyoichi	864 (1015) A Boundary Critique of Gender in the Project Management Body of Knowledge Buckle Henning, Pamela; Thomas, Janice
945 (984) Systemic Metamethodology for Methods Design Peon-Escalante, Ignacio Enrique; Aceves, Francisco Javier; Badillo, Isaias Jose	874 (968) The "Cosmo-Planetary and Terrestrial Meta-Dynamics Systemicity" Blanc, Jean-Jacques	858 (1003) Incorporating Systems Thinking in Organizational Change Projects Using Action Research By Practitioners Conducting Academic Research Sankaran, Shankar	1035 (no paper) Structure/Process as Ontology for Critical Systems Thinking & Practice Bowers, Todd David

 

15:00 - 15:30 Coffee Break, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

15:30 - 17:30 Paper Sessions

Stream 1: Inn Wisconsin East	Stream 2: Inn Wisconsin West	Stream 3: Old Madison East	Stream 4: Old Madison West	Stream 5: Reception Room
SIG: Aging Systems; Human Systems Inquiry; Women and Children	Information Systems Design and Information Technology	SIG: Systems Applications in Business and Industry	SIG: Research towards General Theories of Systems	ROOM OPEN
Chair: Daniel Hershey	Chair: Ockie Bosch	Chair: David Ing	Chair: Lynn Rasmussen
901 (no paper) Entropy Theory of Aging Systems: Humans; Corporations; and the Universe Hershey, Daniel	878 (995) Technology Acceptance in Libraries: A Systemic Approach Quijano-Solis, Alvaro	972 (975) Symbiosis as a Metaphor for Sustainability Practice in Human Affairs Leonard, Allenna	865 (871) A Novel Approach to the Concept of System Information Yahyavi, Mehdi
898 (no paper) Exploring Organisational Paradigms: Systemic Inquiry Revisited Klein, Louis	911 (963) Ontology-Driven Decision Support Systems for Management System Audit Syohei, Ishizu; Gehrmann, Andreas; Minegishi, Junya; Nagai, Yoshimitsu	948 (966) Growth Strategy and Hierarchy Theory: Emergence of Super-Players in the Healthcare Computed Tomography Oligopoly Galbrun, Jerome; Kijima, Kyoichi	1067 (no paper) Finding Linkage Propositions between Systems Processes Troncale, Len
1056 (no paper) Tacit Dimension of Soft Systems Approaches in Administrative Behavior Yoshida, Taketoshi	917 (1012) After-Sales Service Parts Supply Chain System in OEM Telecommunication Firms Morales-Matamoros, Oswaldo; Flores-Cadena, Mauricio; Tejeida-Padilla, Ricardo; Lina-Reyes, Ixchel	920 (1019) A Soft Systems Methodology Approach to Design a Restaurant Management Model for a Great Tourism Hotel Briones-Juarez, Abraham; Tejeida-Padilla, Ricardo; Morales-Matamoros, Oswaldo	1068 (no paper) Defining Systems Diseases Using Systems Pathology Troncale, Len
867 (988) Cannibalizing Childhood's Future as Rising to Falling Rope Robbins, Jeffrey H	1044 (no paper) New Models for Sustainable Fashion Industry System: A Case Study about Fashion Net Factories Sbordone, Maria Antonietta

 

17:30 - 19:00 Break

19:00 - 22:00 Banquet, Memorial Union, Main Lounge, Memorial Union

 

Friday, July 18, 2008

08:00 - 13:00 Registration, Annex Room, Memorial Union Lobby

08:00 - 09:00 ISSS Roundtable, Capitol View Room, 4th Floor

09:00 - 09:10 Conference Updates, Gary Metcalf, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

09:10 - 09:25 Vickers Award Student Presentation

09:25 - 09:45 Jennifer Wilby, University of Hull, UK: Harnessing Complexity in Managing International Public Health Policy in The 21st Century (1036)

09:45 - 10:30 Tim Allen, University of Wisconsin, Botany Department, Incoming President ISSS: Confronting Economic Profit with Hierarchy Theory: The Concept of Gain in Ecology (1062)

10:30 - 10:45 Coffee Break, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor

10:45 - 11:30 Jim Gustafson, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Vertical and Horizontal Scaling Strategies to Avoid Destruction in the Modern Contest: Riding Out the Perturbations of its Largest Scale, of the Seizing of High Gain/Cheap Energy and the Expensive Refining of Low Gain Energy, As Argued by Tim Allen and Colleagues (1071)

11:30 - 12:15 Speakers from UW Madison, Botany Department: Tim Allen's Sandpit
Megan Pease (1040), Peter Allen (927), Devin Wixon (1057), Steve Thomforde (1074)

12:15 - 13:00 Australian Presentation for ISSS2009

13:00  Conference Close

14:30 - 18:00 Connections Meeting, Langdon Room, 4th Floor

 

Saturday, July 19, 2008

9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Connections Meeting, Langdon Room, 4th Floor

Madison 2008 Conference Registration

Registration for the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ISSS, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, July 13-18, 2008.

On-line conference registration will be managed using the University of Wisconsin, Madison, registration system. This is now available at Conference Registration. Off-line paper registrations (by post and fax) will still be available through contact with the ISSS office.

On-line hotel reservation is available through Conference Registration. For a description of accommodation offered through the registration website, please see: Madison Accommodation.

Once you have completed registration, to print an invoice, please see: Print Invoice

If you need to make an additional payment to complete registration for the conference or accommodation, please see: Make Additional Payment

If you require a letter in support of a visitor's US Visa Application to attend this conference, please contact the ISSS Office at 2008cnf@dsl.pipex.com for further information. Please Note: the automated visa letter function for the conference has been withdrawn.

Preparing and Submitting Abstracts and Papers for ISSS Madison 2008

The deadline for submission of abstracts is May 1, 2008.

Abstracts submitted after this date and before May 10 will be considered for inclusion in the program on a space-available basis.

Authors submitting abstracts and papers to the conference Journals site, written using Microsoft Word, must save those submissions in Office 97-2003 or earlier. Office 2007 versions will not be accepted due to compatability issues for reviewers.

Papers accepted for presentation will be compiled on a CDROM and distributed at the conference.

The deadline for submission of full papers is May 10, 2008.  (Late papers received after May 10 may still be accepted to the conference, but they are included on the CD-ROM proceedings for the subsequent year.)

Introduction

Since 1998, the conference proceedings have been published on CD-ROM with an ISBN. Also, for the third year, the conference proceedings will again be published on-line through the Journals website.

To submit abstracts and papers, please follow these instructions step-by-step and if you have any problems contact the ISSS office at 2008 'at' dsl.pipex.com

Submission to the JournalsISSS web site:

Each author should log in to and register on the JournalsISSS website. http://journals.isss.org/index.php/proceedings52nd

If you were registered last year, you can go directly to the Login area at the right hand side of the page and use the login name and password from last year.

If you are a new user, click on the Register heading at the top of the page and fill in the requested information.

Once you have registered and logged in to the Journals site you can then upload your abstract or paper. The steps to submit your abstract or paper are described in the section “Submitting Your Abstract and Paper to JournalsISSS”, below.

The topics of interest to the ISSS Madison 2008 meeting are described in the Call for Participation, and more specifically, the Calls for Papers that detail the specific SIG calls for papers. In addition, Guidance on the Style of Abstracts and Papers for Annual ISSS Meetings can be consulted.

Preparing Abstracts for ISSS Madison 2008

 Here are step-by-step instructions on preparing your abstract for the conference.

1.  Click **this link to open the ISSS template for abstracts**. Download the file to your computer.
2.  Open the ISSS template using Microsoft Word. Authors submitting abstracts to the conference Journals site, written using Microsoft Word, must save those submissions in Office 97-2003 or earlier. Office 2007 versions will not be accepted due to compatability issues for reviewers.
3.  Save the document under a name that includes the surname of the lead author, e.g. 2008ISSSAuthor1.doc
4.  Using the template as an example, delete out or write over the sample text. Use the built in styles, including:

• Title
• Author
• Address
• Body text (for paragraph text)
• Abstracts SHOULD NOT exceed 600 words

5.  Resist using:

• Underscores
• Figures and tables in the abstract
• Content that requires references at the end of the abstract
• Footnotes
• Font size changes.
• No internal headings
• Colors

6. Log in to the Journals website. Follow the 5-step instructions for uploading the abstract file as detailed below.

When you upload your abstract, there is a checklist of requirements that you should meet, including agreement with submitting your work under the Creative Commons License.

Submitting Your Abstract on JournalsISSS

1.  Log in at http://journals.isss.org with the userid and password that you had previously registered.
2.  Under “Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ISSS”, select the role of “Author”.
3.  You should be on the “Active Submissions” page. Select “Step one of the submission process”.
4.  On the “Step 1. Starting the Submission” page, …

• Ensure that your abstract meets the criteria on the “Submission Checklist”, and tick each checkbox.
• For the “Journal Section”, select the title of the SIG to which you wish to submit your abstract
• Enter any comments you want to give to the editor about your submission, if any.
• “Save and continue”.

5.  Step 2: Entering the Submission's Metadata

• Fill in the names and information for the author(s). Below the “Bio Statement” field, you can create additional fields by selecting the “Add Authors” button. If there is more than one author, be sure to designate the primary author using the button below that author's name.
• Insert the working title in the “Title” field.
• Under the Indexing section, specify at least two, and no more than five, keywords into the “Keywords” field.
• Leave the Language box selected as “en” for English, unless special arrangements have been made with the Editor to submit in another language.
• If there are supporting agencies for your work, list those in the appropriate fields.
• Copy the text of the abstract into the abstract entry box in the submission page as well as uploading the electronic Word file in the next step.
• “Save and continue.”

6.  Step 3: Uploading the Abstract file

• Follow the instructions on the page to attach your abstract to the JournalsISSS site.
• DO NOT attach additional files for the abstract: you should not include figures or tables in your abstract.
• “Save and continue.”

7.  Step 4: Confirming the Submission

• Under “File Summary”, verify that the correct file has been uploaded to the web site.
• “Finish submission.”

8.  You should receive e-mail notification on the progress of your abstract. To check at any time, you can log in and return to the “Active Submissions” page to see the status.

Preparing and Submitting Papers for ISSS Madison 2008

Here are step-by-step instructions on preparing and submitting your paper.

1.  Click **this link to open the ISSS template for papers**. Download the file to your computer. A sample file is available for download so you can see the format applied to a full paper for reference. Authors submitting full papers to the conference Journals site, written using Microsoft Word, must save those submissions in Office 97-2003 or earlier. Office 2007 versions will not be accepted due to compatability issues for reviewers.

The submission of a final paper, if your abstract is accepted to the conference, follows similar steps to submitting an abstract.

2.  Sign in at http://journals.isss.org with the userid and password that you had previously registered.
3.  Under “Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ISSS”, select the role of “Author”.
4.  You should be on the “Active Submissions” page. Click on "Step One of the Submission Process". DO NOT upload your paper as a supplemental file to your previous abstract submission.

5.  On the “Step 1. Starting the Submission” page, …

• Ensure that your paper meets the criteria on the “Submission Checklist”, and tick each checkbox.
• For the “Journal Section”, select the category: Paper
• Enter any comments you want to give to the editor about your submission, if any.
• “Save and continue”.
• DO NOT submit a PDF format file. Files must be submitted in an editable format or they will be returned to you for correction.

6.  Step 2: Entering the Submission's Metadata

• Fill in the names and information for the author(s). Below the “Bio Statement” field, you can create additional fields by selecting the “Add Authors” button. If there is more than one author, be sure to designate the primary author using the button below that author's name.
• Insert the working title in the “Title” field.
• Under the Indexing section, specify at least two, and no more than five, keywords into the “Keywords” field.
• Leave the Language box selected as “en” for English, unless special arrangements have been made with the Editor to submit in another language.
• If there are supporting agencies for your work, list those in the appropriate fields.
• Copy the text of the abstract into the abstract entry box in the submission page as well as uploading the electronic Word file in the next step.
• “Save and continue.”

7.  Step 3: Uploading your Paper

• Follow the instructions on the page to upload your paper to the JournalsISSS site.
• “Save and continue.”

8.  Step 4: Uploading Additional Supplementary Files

• You can attach additional supplementary files, such as images or drawing files. Please note in the “Brief Description” box what the additional file contains.
• “Save and continue.”

9. Step 5: Confirming the Submission

• Under “File Summary”, verify that the correct file has been uploaded to the web site.
• “Finish submission.”

10. You should receive e-mail notification on the progress of your paper. To check at any time, you can log in and return to the “Active Submissions” page to see the status.

If you have any problems with this procedure, please contact the ISSS Office at: 2008 'at' dsl.pipex.com for help. 

Creative Commons Licensing

Formalization of Content Licensing with the Creative Commons:

The ISSS approach to copyright of conference proceedings is in contrast to that of many other conferences. ISSS has never assumed the copyright on papers published in the proceedings. As a venue to develop new ideas and collaborate with other members, the ISSS encourages the contribution of content in many forms and at varying levels of completedness, ranging from early findings and through to nearly-completed research. Theoretical, empirical and applied works are welcomed. Most contributions would generally be classified as “working papers” distributed to peers for comments and discussion. Inclusion into the proceedings has neither required transfer of ownership from the original author, nor exclusivity. Thus, the copyright of the work has remained available for the author to assign to publishers of prestigious journals such as Systems Research and Behavioral Science. The ISSS board has recently approved the use of “Creative Commons Licensing” for the proceedings to formalise this policy and the details of CCL can be read below.

The ownership and privileges of content contributed to past annual ISSS meetings has been vague. For this reason, although many authors have declared their interest in making their conference papers available on the ISSS web site, the ISSS had not been formally assigned the privileges of redistribution. In order to protect the rights of both authors and the ISSS, this ambiguity has now been clarified.

The ISSS requests that you permit your work to published on the ISSS web site under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 license. This is the license that has been selected by the ISSS Board of Directors for all of the content on the ISSS web site, beginning in 2006. In a description of the features of this license,

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute your work …, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on your work. All new work based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature. (Source: “Meet the Licenses”, Creative Commons)

This Creative Commons license has a deed, and a legal code associated with it. The license is not an alternative to your copyright, but instead, on top of your existing copyright. Your work is automatically copyrighted once it is put into tangible form (e.g. pressing the save button). This license is not mutually exclusive with other licenses that you may choose to place on your work. If you want to make money with the work, in another license with another party, that option is still open to you. If someone wants to make a different use of the work, (e.g. publishing it in a book), he or she is still obligated to contact you directly.

When you submit your abstract and paper to JournalsISSS, an agreement to license the work under a Creative Commons license will appear as one of the checkboxes in the “Submission Checklist”. Checking off that box represents sufficient permission for the ISSS to post your abstract and paper on its web site.

 

Madison 2008 Conference Announcement and Call for Participation

Main Conference Theme

Under the theme “Systems that Make a Difference”, the 52nd annual meeting of the ISSS will be held in Madison, Wisconsin from July 13 to 18, 2008.

The title for this conference, Systems that Make a Difference, borrows from Gregory Bateson’s definition of information as “a difference that makes a difference.” The question for systems researchers and practitioners is, “what difference are we making?”

The Challenge

The modern systems movement draws upon a rich tradition developed by some of the best and brightest minds of the 20th and 21st centuries. Systems and cybernetic concepts have filtered into much of the scientific literature of the past five decades, and today systems-inspired words such as feedback, input/output, regulation, and interdependence have found their way into common language.

And yet, the systems tradition itself appears to remain largely invisible as a body of knowledge to many of the scientists, academics, politicians and businesspeople who are making the decisions that deeply impact our collective social, economic, and ecological future. This represents a crucial opportunity for the systems community to make a difference in the world in ways that may matter most. Some questions naturally arise:

• How can we as a community make systems concepts more accessible to decision makers and researchers in the larger global community?
• How can members of the systems community apply the existing, rich knowledge base of systems concepts and methodologies toward making a positive, sustainable difference within our own spheres of influence?

Toward Making a Difference

The 52nd Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS 2008) will bring together professionals on the cutting-edge of the systems movement with influential decision makers facing far-reaching, real-world complexities on a daily basis. While we must continue to make systems theories and approaches ever more rigorous, to remain relevant we must also connect our work with the dilemmas in the world for which people are seeking solutions right now. The objective of ISSS 2008 is to further build much-needed bridges between rigor and relevance in systems work. Speakers and authors are invited to present who can address any part of this spectrum, from better methods for systems research to clarifying the nature of real-world problems in need of resolution.

We encourage those interested in attending our event to register today and become a part of creating this important event.

Confirmed Plenary Guest Speakers

• Timothy F. H. Allen, President-elect, ISSS (2009) and Professor, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin
• Steve Carpenter, Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin
• Manfred Drack, Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, Vienna, Austria
• Jon Foley, Professor, Department of Sustainability and Global Environment, University of Wisconsin
• David L. Hawk, Dean of the School of Management and Faculty in the New Jersey School of Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Doug McDavid, Executive Research Consultant, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA
• Bobby Milstein, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Syndemics Prevention Network
• Bill Rouse, Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a joint appointment in the College of Computing. Also, Fellow, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) 2006 and recipient of the IBM Faculty Award in 2005 and 2006
• David Schwartz, Professor, Chemistry and Genetics, University of Wisconsin
• David Waltner-Toews, Professor, Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph and founding president of the Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health
• Jennifer Wilby, Director of the Centre for Systems Studies and faculty member in Management Systems at the University of Hull, UK

Call for Papers

Although the conference will accept papers related to the following areas of research, the list is neither exclusive nor restrictive. Proposals of new sessions and tracks are very welcome, but should be submitted for consideration by March 1, 2008. Each session chair takes the final responsibility for running his/her session. All submitted papers are encouraged to state how relevant the paper is with regard to systems thinking, systems modeling and/or systems practice. The areas listed below have additional contact and content information listed on the specific SIG Calls for Papers page.

Areas proposed by existing Special Integration Groups (SIGs) [click here for full contact details] and current exploratory groups:

• Agent-based Social Systems Sciences
• Aging Systems
• Applied Systems & Development
• Arts Based Inquiry
• Daily Roundtable - please refer to the invitation by the Roundtable Coordinator
• Designing Educational Systems
• Duality Theory
• Evolutionary Development
• Foundations of Information Systems
• Futurism & Systems Change
• Hierarchy Theory
• Human Systems Inquiry
• Information Systems Design & Information Technology
• Living Systems Analysis
• Meta-Modeling & Systems Epistemology
• Medical and Health Systems
• Organizational Transformation & Social Change
• Research Towards General Theories of Systems
• Spirituality and Systems
• Student SIG
• Systems Applications in Business & Industry
• Systems Biology and Evolution
• Systems Modeling & Simulation
• Systems Pathology
• Systems Philosophy & Systems Ethics
• Systems Psychology & Psychiatry
• Systems Specific Technology
• What is Life/Living
• Women and Children

In addition to paper presentations, the Student SIG and Roundtable will organise sessions, and there will be Mini-Conversations again, based on interactions from the field trip experiences. Anyone who is interested in these sessions is welcome to participate in them without prior notice; no papers or abstracts are required in these sessions.

Madison 2008 Letter from the President

ISSS 2008

Madison, WI Conference

President’s Letter

Gary S. Metcalf, Ph.D.

Regardless of how firm the plans, or how clear the initial vision, a conference is an evolving process. This one even began without a location, since I had no physical university campus or facility from which to host it. Thanks to Tim Allen, our incoming president, we were able to secure space in a beautiful venue on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. That was only the beginning of the process, though, because it was through the connection with Tim that I learned much more about his work, and that of his many colleagues and the larger network of researchers focused on the immense complexities of ecological systems and sustainability. Rather than changing the focus of the conference, it only brought more focus and clarity to it.

The theme initially chosen for the conference was Systems That Make a Difference, drawing from Gregory Bateson’s notion of information as “a difference that makes a difference.” The intent, though, was never to make this a conference about Gregory Bateson, or about his work explicitly. It was to borrow from his thoughts as yet another way to challenge our collective work and our direction as a society. In my incoming presidential address, I tried to capture the same intent in terms of the (apparent) dichotomy between rigor and relevance (explained earlier and more eloquently by Edgar Schein.) It is critical that our work be sound, and that we not tolerate groundless fantasies as representing us. If our work results in no direct value to the larger society, though, we can hardly blame the general public for not understanding.

We know the implicit value of our work. For over 50 years we have been led and joined by dedicated, intriguing, and often brilliant thinkers. Sometimes others have understood the importance of systems sciences; often they have not. Many of those who have glimpsed its importance have done so at a distance, and opaquely. Universities rarely knew where to situate programs. Funding agencies typically preferred simpler, narrower approaches that promised unequivocal answers or predictions, regardless of their limitations.

Some have declared the systems sciences to be vestiges of the past; something which had its time, but whose value is gone. On the contrary, it may be another 50 years, or more, before these ideas move into the mainstream.

In the meantime, sustainability (or some related term) has become a catchword in almost every realm. Unfortunately, it is often used with little rigor or clarity, and thus causes as much confusion as understanding. Individuals and organizations around the world are “going green,” stumbling over themselves to be seen as environmentally conscious, limiting waste, reducing their carbon footprints, and working on renewable strategies. Politicians are promising economic growth through “green jobs,” while battling for which energy subsidies are most likely to benefit their constituents, regardless of the true viability of the source. Companies spend time and money (some with legitimate intent, some not) only to be accused of “greenwashing” when their efforts appear misplaced.

On the one hand, many of the decisions that are being made today will make a difference, for good or for ill. On another, environmental issues and sustainability seem to be an accessible entry point for thinking about systems, even for those who have little or no familiarity with formal systems concepts. It seems almost impossible, for instance, to study something as an ecosystem (natural, organizational, political, etc.) without considering the interrelatedness of the systems involved.

Again, the point is not to change the nature or focus of the conference. These are offered only as examples of issues which are in the public consciousness (i.e. have current relevance) and about which systems scientists have done, and are doing, some of the most rigorous work available. Some of our keynote speakers will focus on biological and medical systems. Others come from organizational backgrounds of study. All cross traditional boundaries in terms of their interests and ways of thinking. Our Special Integration Groups (SIGs) offer further diversity of topics and fields of study.

We have, as society, made a difference simply by carrying forward the ideas of our founders. We have much more that we can do.

I welcome each of you to this conference, with all of the ideas and energy that you care to bring to it. I think that you will find room for all that you are willing to share and contribute.

Madison 2008 Featured Speakers

• Timothy F. H. Allen, President-elect, ISSS (2009) and Professor, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin
• Steve Carpenter, Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin
• Manfred Drack, Researcher, Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, Vienna, Austria
• Jon Foley, Professor, Department of Sustainability and Global Environment, University of Wisconsin
• David L. Hawk, Dean of the School of Management and Faculty in the New Jersey School of Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Doug McDavid, Executive Research Consultant, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA
• Bobby Milstein, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Syndemics Prevention Network
• Bill Rouse, Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a joint appointment in the College of Computing. Also, Fellow, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) 2006 and recipient of the IBM Faculty Award in 2005 and 2006
• David Schwartz, Professor, Chemistry and Genetics, University of Wisconsin
• David Waltner-Toews, Professor, Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph and founding president of the Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health
• Jennifer Wilby, Director of the Centre for Systems Studies and faculty member in Management Systems at the University of Hull, UK

Madison 2008 Co-Host and Conference Partners

Conference Partners

• The 21st Century COE Program “Creation of Agent-based Social Systems Sciences"
• American Society for Cybernetics
• System Dynamics Society

Madison 2008 Committees

Committees

Organizing Committee:

Jennifer Wilby, ISSS Vice President for Administration

Gary Metcalf, ISSS President

Ockie Bosch, ISSS Vice President for Membership and Conferences

Jed Jones, Sponsorship and Marketing

Program Committee:

Chair: Gary Metcalf, ISSS President

Ockie Bosch, ISSS Vice President for Membership and Conferences

Jennifer Wilby, ISSS Vice President for Administration

All SIG chairs and Members of Council

ISSS Business Office:

Jennifer Wilby, ISSS Vice President for Administration, isssoffice@dsl.pipex.com

ISSS Communications:

ISSS Vice President for Communication and Systems Education, 2008-2009

Madison 2008 Venue and Travelling to the Conference

Location: University of Wisconsin, Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street, Madison, Wisconsin

The 52nd conference will be held at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, July 13-18, 2008. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is located in Madison, WI, and the campus spreads out along Lake Mendota, encompassing wooded hills, friendly shores and lively city streets. Madison ‹the state's capital city with a population of 208,000) offers the perfect combination of natural beauty, stimulating cultural offerings, outdoor recreation, distinctive restaurants, unique shops and vibrant nightlife.

The university¹s location in south central Wisconsin makes for convenient access to Milwaukee (80 miles), Chicago (150 miles) and Minneapolis (270 miles). Daily buses serve all three cities.

Madison has its own airport (MSN). Direct domestic flights may be available from your own US airports. International flights will connect through certain gateway cities such as Chicago, New York, Denver, etc. Contact your own travel agent to find the best travel arrangements from your own airports.

Taxis and shuttle buses are available from the airport into downtown Madison to the University and conference hotels.

The Van Galder Tour and Travel company runs a bus service from both Midland and O'Hare Airports in Chicago directly to the University of Wisconsin, Madison Campus, dropping off at the Memorial Union building.

Related Web Sites

• University of Wisconsin-Madison: www.wisc.edu
• City of Madison: www.ci.madison.wi.us
• Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau: www.visitmadison.com
• Dane County: www.co.dane.wi.us
• State of Wisconsin: www.wisconsin.gov/state/home
• Visiting Wisconsin: www.travelwisconsin.com

Madison 2008 Important Dates

December 5, 2007:	The start of abstract submission and registration. (Please allow at least two weeks for your abstract to be reviewed.)
December 5, 2007:	The start of registration. The on-line registration will be managed using the University of Wisconsin, Madison, registration systems. Off-line paper registrations (by post and fax) will still be available through contact with the ISSS office.
February 1, 2008:	The start of on-line hotel reservation system.
March 1, 2008:	The deadline for panel, workshop and stream proposals.
April 30, 2008:	The end of early, discounted registration.
May 10, 2008:	The deadline for abstracts and full papers, recognizing that some abstracts will not be developed into full papers. Late papers may still be accepted for the conference after May 10, 2008, but will be published on the CD-ROM proceedings for the subsequent year.)
Special Note:	Only ONE paper per registered participant will be accepted for the conference.
July 13, 2008	Conference Opening

SIG and Exploratory Groups Full Call for Papers

ISSS 2008 Special Integration Groups

Descriptions and Calls for Papers

The 52nd annual meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) marks the beginning of another half-century history of interdisciplinary collaboration and synthesis of systems sciences. The ISSS is unique among systems-oriented institutions in terms of the breadth of its scope, bringing together scholars and practitioners from academic, business, government, and non-profit organizations. Based on fifty years of tremendous interdisciplinary research from the scientific study of complex systems to interactive approaches in management and community development, the 51st annual meeting of the ISSS intends to promote systems sciences as a holistic and integrated scientific enterprise.

The conference theme, guiding questions, and sub-themes serve as platforms for consideration by the various Special Integration Groups that comprise the backbone of the ISSS.

See also Special Integration Groups, a page that describes the ISSS-wide purpose and organization of the SIGs.

See also Vickers Award for Best Student Paper.

SIG: Aging Systems

Chair: Daniel Hershey

Daniel.Hershey@uc.edu

An Integrated Study of Humans, Organizations (Corporations), and the Universe: Lifespan and Factors Affecting It

The aging process is, of course, a universal phenomenon. And for living systems (humans), the end result is death, the universal attractor. For so-called inanimate systems such as corporations, they need not die, but many do. And what of the universe, perhaps our largest and most important system. Aging theories abound, from wear and tear, free radical, autoimmune, finite potential, to those driven by thermodynamics, incorporating the ideas of Ilya Prigogine and Claude Shannon.

Abstracts (two or three paragraphs) are invited, for work dealing with “lifespan and factors affecting it”, “must we grow old”, and “entropy, infinity, and death” for humans, corporations, or the universe.

For more information, please contact Professor Hershey, at the University of Cincinnati, USA. Or go to his web site to see his work involving aging systems (www.basaltech.com).

SIG: Agent-Based Social Simulation

Chair: Shingo Takahashi

shingo@waseda.jp

Social simulation with agent-based modeling can be considered as developments of, and sometimes challenges to, social systems sciences. We intend in this track to provide both social scientists and computational researchers as well as systems researchers with an oppotunity to discuss various types of problems found in this developing field.

We aim to promote agent-based social systems sciences, social simulation, and new tools and techniques for social systems education as well as research.

The topics include, but are not limited to, the following computational social systems science approaches and issues:

 

Methodologies for Agent-based Modeling

Applications of Agent-based Modeling

Implications of Agent Based Modeling for Social Theory

Validation Techniques

Computational Organization Theory

Evidence Based Social Simulation

Social Simulation and Laboratory Experiment

Hybrid Gaming Simulation

Collective Intelligence

Social Complexity

Social policies

Integrated social/physical modeling for environmental policy formation

Emergence of social structures and norms

Social simulation and software design

Advanced computing technologies (e.g. the grid) and social simulation

 

SIG: Applied Systems and Development

SIG Chair: Dennis Finlayson

dfinlayson@btopenworld.com

Call for papers in preparation. Please email initial inquiries to the SIG chair email.

Presentation Format:

SIG: Critical Systems Thinking and Practice

SIG Chair: Jennifer Wilby

j.wilby@hull.ac.uk

The special integration group in Critical Systems Thinking and Practice invites contributions for participation in its paper sessions at the 2007 annual meeting of the ISSS. This is a multidisciplinary and challenging area that represents an alternative to understanding current human, social, and political issues, from a mainly managerial perspective.

Its scope goes beyond the boundaries of traditional management sciences. On the one hand, it involves a reflection on issues emerging from current systems thinking and practice from contemporary philosophy (e.g., post-structuralism, critical theory, postmodernism), and other social disciplines. On the other, it also includes research that although systemic in orientation is mainly grounded in those disciplines. Our aim is to take advantage of the multidisciplinary background and theoretical approaches of the participants, to generate a meaningful dialogue to inspire future research.

As a Critical Systems group we expect to be creative and innovative. Therefore, although the submission of a formal abstract and paper is expected, we would like to organise the sessions in accordance to the participants’ needs and expectations. Please let us know of any suggestions about the topics, discussions or any other proposals as soon as possible.

For more information please contact Jennifer Wilby j.wilby@hull.ac.uk, at University of Hull Business School, The University of Hull, Hull, HU6? 7RX, United Kingdom.

SIG: Designing Educational Systems

SIG Chair: Patrick Jenlink

pjenlink@sfasu.edu

You are invited to submit papers that respond generally to the overall theme of the conference and specifically to ideas expressed in one of the questions that align with the 52nd Conference and Annual Meeting of ISSS:

 

What can the sciences of complexity teach us about educational systems design that is concerned with democratic practice, social justice and sustainability?

What is the nature of the relationship between education, educational systems, and democratic consciousness?

How do we educate future generations of citizens (local, national and global citizens) to manage information and make socially responsible decisions?

How do we create and nurture educational systems that serve human needs while also protecting our resources (intellectual, aesthetic, moral, cultural and natural resources) for future generations?

 

The theme for the Designing Educational Systems SIG is focused on creating the human condition through designing educational systems that serve humanity and foster democratic civil society.

Papers are solicited that fit within the following ideas:

 

Educational Systems Design as Social Discourse and Social Action – Designing educational systems that address issues of social justice, equity, and caring in the context of growing diversity and globalization of society. Specifically, types/examples of social discourse, including dialogue, ethical, and design, and how these types of discourse are used in the creation and sustainment of educational systems that contribute to democratization levels of society.

Educational Systems Design in the Service of Sustainability – Examining how systems and educational scholars and practitioners–scholarly practitioners–can serve on the behalf of “sustainability” by seeking to create new relationships within and across boundaries of existing social systems, and/or addresses the potential of diversity and complexity in the solving of human problems. Research papers, philosophical position papers, and theoretical papers that reflect considerations for Education in the Service of sustainability particularly as related to educational systems design and creating alternative future possibilities.

Designing Democratic Educational Systems through Design – Seeking models, exemplars, and idealized designs of educational systems that are “public spheres”, premised on dialogue and democracy, with the purpose of reconnecting individual citizens and creating an authentically engaged public who embraces the responsibility for the education of future generations.

The Complexity of Educating Society, Locally and Globally toward Democracy and Sustainability, through Educational Systems – Understanding the complexity of educational systems and role educational systems play in democracy and sustainability of national and global society. Research papers, philosophical position papers, and theoretical papers that reflect considerations for the systemic relationship of all social systems, particularly as related to educational systems design focused on ensuring sustainability of intellectual, aesthetic, moral, cultural and natural resources.

Integrating Educational Systems through Design – Investigating models, studies, and position papers that focus on how educational systems (i.e., public education and higher education, systems education and K-12 education, parochial education and public education, etc.) have been integrated through systems design and how these integrated systems have incorporated complexity and democracy to addressed social issues and cultural problems in ways that hold promise and potential for serving humanity’s needs.

Open Theme – General papers on designing educational systems and related systems design efforts concerned with education that do not fit one of the other themes, but which addresses the larger theme of the ISSS 2006 Conference, Complexity, Democracy and Sustainability.

An opening general session for the SIG will be scheduled to present the week's program. The sessions will be organized so as to maximize interaction among presenters and participants. Each presenter is asked to include with their abstracts a set of 3-5 “trigger” questions selected to promote/provoke a conversation about the presenter's issue or premise. Presenters are asked not to read their papers, but rather present their work in a conversational style that invites participation from the audience in attendance.

 

Presentation Format: Presenters should bring 20 copies of their papers, along with triggering questions that may be used to guide conversations. These will be made available to interested participants.

SIG: Evolutionary Development

SIG Chairs: Alexander Laszlo and Kathia Castro Laszlo

info@syntonyquest.org

We cordially invite you to join us at the 52nd annual meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS). Specifically, we hope you will consider contributing a paper and/or poster for presentation in the Evolutionary Development SIG (Special Integration Group) that it is our pleasure to co-chair. This will be the ninth year of productive meetings as an intact line of inquiry, the first four under the name of the Evolutionary Learning Community SIG, and the last five as the ED SIG. We will continue to focus our efforts on issues of timely relevance to which ELCs may best be dedicated.

The 52nd Conference and Annual Meeting of the ISSS promises to be a grand event. It will take place from 13-18 July 2008 at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The theme of this year’s conference is: "Systems that Make a Difference," and will address issues relating to the role of systems approaches in an ever more interconnected and interdependent world, with particular attention to their potential to make a positive, constructive, and lasting difference. This exploration will seek to build bridges between rigor and relevance in systems thinking, theory, and practice.

The conference theme and focus on moving from systemic vision to pragmatic reality provide an exciting platform to catalyze the collective explorations of the ED SIG.

Inquiry in the area of Evolutionary Development involves revision of development notions and strategies, from a systemic and evolutionary perspective, in order to integrate the often isolated areas of human, economic, social, and sustainable development. Doing more with less, promoting living simply and meaningfully, and creating a sustainable economy where present and future human needs can be met without compromising the natural environment are some of the concrete objectives of Evolutionary Development. Evolutionary Learning Communities, as learning environments where people can learn together about the interconnected nature of our world, the ecological impact of our individual and collective choices, and the joy of finding a meaningful way to contribute to the emergence of sustainable and evolutionary futures, are the social units where Evolutionary Development can be set in motion for the ongoing self-organization of human societies in syntony with the planetary life support systems upon which they depend.

We invite both theoretical analyses relating to the principles and constructs of Evolutionary Development as well as presentation of explorations and practical applications that foster Evolutionary Development. This SIG welcomes treatment of themes that include, but are not limited to, consideration of the following topic areas:

 

Human, social, and natural capital

Self-directed sustainable development

Community empowerment and participatory/anticipatory democracy

Socio-ecological competence and the evolution of consciousness

Design of ELCs as evolutionary guidance systems

Evolutionary Systems Design as praxis

Syntony as an organizing force in societal evolution

Evolutionary Leadership for Sustainability

 

While all of the topics listed above will the considered in the ED SIG, this year special emphasis will be given to the theme of "Evolutionary Leadership for Sustainability." This will involve an exploration of the cognitive, ethical, and affective competencies involved in the mastery of evolutionary leadership, including:

 

evolutionary thinking and envisioning a sustainable society

personal leadership and taking transformative stands

systems thinking and understanding the dynamics of complexity

sustainability principles and their application to organizations and communities

language, metaphor, and narrative in service of strategic conversations that shape reality

 

The ED SIG will be run as follows: During the conference itself, no formal paper presentations will be made, even though acceptance of both abstracts and full papers and/or posters is required. In order to be congruent with the general theme of the conference and the specific focus of our inquiry, our sessions will be conducted as learning conversations. Participants will engage first in a generative conversation in which they will have the opportunity to share the core ideas of their work with each other. After the group has attained a basic collective cognitive map of the research and constructs represented in the room, we will to move into a strategic conversation to identify areas of synergy. Once common themes and directions have been identified, we will move into an evolutionary conversation to create new knowledge and insights, and propose further collaborations.

Of course, if there is anything we can help clarify for you with respect to the above, please do get in touch with us.

For further information, please contact:

Alexander & Kathia Laszlo

- Co-Chairs, ISSS ED SIG

U.S.A.: 810-A Quarry Road - The Presidio, San Francisco, CA 94123

Mexico: Cardenal 1310, San Andres - El Barrial, Santiago NL 67300

Tel/Fax: ++415/346.1547 (USA) Tel/Fax: ++81/82.66.81.86 (Mex)

mailto:info@SyntonyQuest.org >< http://www.SyntonyQuest.org

For more information on the SIG, see SIG on Evolutionary Development

SIG: Futurism and Systems Change

SIG Chair:

Call for papers in preparation. Please email initial inquiries to 2008cnf@dsl.pipex.com

Presentation Format:

SIG: Hierarchy Theory

SIG Chair: Jennifer Wilby

j.wilby@hull.ac.uk

The Hierarchy Theory SIG invites papers relating to the study of hierarchical structures and their relationships in theory and practice.

Hierarchy theory views systems as a set of ordered levels with a governing-governed relationship between the levels wherein the hierarchical levels are the sub-units of the whole system of interest. Further, the levels within the hierarchy are defined by the scale of observation chosen by the researcher (observer) and exploring this process of choice of scale is also of interest within the SIG.

Abstracts are invited from all fields of research whether natural or social systems, and research or practice. In addition, this year it would be interesting to hear from people willing to participate in discussion sessions on the principles and practice of hierarchy, and input is welcomed as to what form these sessions should take.

Presentation Format: 30 minute sessions, up to 20 minutes presentation and 10 minutes discussion.

SIG: Human Systems Inquiry

SIG Chair:

2008cnf@dsl.pipex.com

Human Systems Inquiry (HSI) Special Integration Group (SIG) has a central emphasis on those Systems Sciences directly concerned with human beings. We invite you to contribute a paper relevant to the conference theme that also pertains to human systems inquiry. Any paper making this connection will be considered. The purpose of the HSI SIG is to provide an arena for ISSS members to present, exchange information, learn, and discuss:

 

1) ideas and viewpoints concerning issues in systems methods and methodologies relevant to human beings and the human condition;

2) applications of systemic ideas to systems practice in human contexts;

3) innovations in systems methodology; and

4) systemic case studies conducted in, with, or by human activity systems.

 

Any one or more of these purposes may be related to the conference theme. For consideration, submit your abstract of 300 words maximum that includes at least one sentence relating the paper directly to the conference theme, and at least one sentence that connects your paper to any one or more of the four SIG focus areas stated above.

Presentation Format:

SIG: Information Systems Design

SIG Chair: Béla A. Bánáthy

During the past century we have made spectacular advances in communications and computing technologies (IS) and the use of these technologies. It is clear that in the 21st century, communications, storage, processing, and process control capacities, as well as the human-machine interface will be developed to levels that are at present unimaginable. We have already greatly increased the surface-area of human-machine contact. Perhaps more importantly, we are elevating the contact to increasingly higher levels abstraction.

Still there is a big gap and question mark between the optimistic decision makers and politicians who think that IS are the solution to many problems and those who think that IS are an expensive technology with no or little impact on the progress on human condition on earth. Some may be think that IS makes the human conditions worse.

With many of the technical problems that constrained the information systems design efforts of the past having been solved, we can now focus more clearly on these fundamental questions and the foundations of the design task.

Papers addressing this general topic are invited, in special papers that develop and apply systemic or co-design ideas fostered in the ISSS and related scientific societies are most welcome. Especially papers reporting upon practical implications and practical experiences from deploying human-centric solutions contributing to a higher value for humans are encouraged.

In addition, to lend more focus to the sessions, two main themes are proposed:

 

 

Information system design – foundations, design and research approaches, including new forms of innovation, quality assurance and transfer of knowledge.

Information systems design – Industrial and society applications and their impact on human conditions, now and in the future. In particular the future design and applications of Internet and other developed collaborative work environments are of interest.

 

More specific papers and cases direct focusing the value of IS are welcome, example topics are:

 

Suggestion of value models for IS in use.

How do we form a discussion or statement of the value of an IS?

In a wider context than short-term financial gains of the issuing organization?

Examples of Second Order IS, meaning IS that host a discussion on their own usefulness.

Examples or ideas for Knowledge Management IS that support a systemic/Co-Design view of knowledge.

 

Topics can be addressed at the level of an individual human being, that of a group, a community, the larger society, or combinations of these. In each case it is of particular importance for us to ask fundamental questions involving the epistemological, ontological and ethical aspects of human-machine interaction in different organizational and societal settings.

Presentation Format: Contributors are encouraged to provide a brief (10-15 minute) overview of the key ideas followed by a more extensive discussion. We anticipate posting of the papers on the web prior to the meeting to provide a basis for discussion.

SIG: Living Systems Analysis

SIG Chair: James Simms

jrsimms@juno.com

The missions of the Living Systems Analysis (LSA) Special Integration Group (SIG) are the development and application of living systems theory and science. LSA is one of the oldest and continuously operating SIGs in the society. Much has been accomplished in the development and application of living systems theory and science. Miller's living systems theory provides the basis for much of the living systems analysis associated with the SIG. Also, the fundamental principles of a living systems science, equivalent to those of the other natural sciences, have been developed.

You are invited to submit papers that deal with the conference theme (Integrated Systems Sciences: Systems Thinking, Modeling, and Practice) from a living systems perspective. Also, papers linking living systems theory and science to other science and bodies of theory (e.g. biology, physics, chemistry, hierarchy theory, duality theory, accounting theory, economics, behavioral theories) are encouraged. We are especially interested in papers that extend living systems science and that apply the science.

Presentation Format: This SIG follows a more conventional presentation format with each author subsequently allocated 15 to 20 minutes for presentation and the remaining time allocated for questions and discussion.

SIG: Medical and Health Systems

SIG Chair: Contact ISSS Conference Office

2008cnf@dsl.pipex.com

In recognition of this year’s conference theme, the Medical and Health Systems SIG invites papers that reflect an integrative approach, linking systems thinking, systems modeling and systems practice. Ideally, papers for this session will address integrated approaches to health and healing that explore the connections between personal, social, and environmental dimensions of health. Further, given the location of this year’s conference, we encourage papers that examine the relationship between Eastern and Western models. Also of particular interest are papers documenting applied and community-based research.

Presentation Format: Authors will be asked to provide a brief (10 minute) overview of key ideas or findings from their research, leaving the remaining time for more interactive discussion among participants. PowerPoint or other media may be used to highlight important points, if desired, although more informal presentation styles are welcome and encouraged. The primary goal of this session is to facilitate dialogue and collaborative learning.

SIG: Meta-modeling and Systems Epistemology

SIG Chair: Janet McIntyre

Description to add.

Presentation Format:

SIG: Organizational Transformation and Social Change

SIG Chair: Maurice Yolles

prof.m.yolles@gmail.com

One interest of this SIG is seeing organisations as social communities, thereby allowing for a convergence between management systems/cybernetic theory and sociology. Another concerns the change imperative for autonomous organisations in a complex world (more on this can be found at the Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change ). Abstracts are therefore invited from all fields of organisational or social systems research and/or practice.

The format for submissions should be as a normal academic paper. The content may be a balance between theory and practice or a theoretical paper. A paper directly totally towards practice may be better directed towards the SIG on Systems Applications in Business and Industry (SABI). In any case the two SIGs work closely together. If requested, papers published in these SIGs will also be considered for the Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change.

Presentation Format: This SIG follows a more conventional presentation format (as compared to that of the SABI group), with each author sequentially alloted 15 to 20 minutes for presentation.

SIG: Research Towards a General Theory of Systems

SIG Chair: Lynn Rasmussen

lynnras@maui.net

The ISSS GST-SIG embodies the original objectives of this society in their purest form, namely (1) to compare systems to discover processes that are similar (2) to enable transfer of useful fundamental knowledge between systems in order (3) to develop better theoretical models (4) for increased understanding of the unity of science.

We invite papers that identify, compare, or further develop several of the different schools of thought or general theories that are currently active or have historical significance. It is very important that the members of this society clearly distinguish between the various approaches and models that have been developed to date, who their caretakers are, and how they are being improved. We cannot help others if we do not understand ourselves. We also invite papers that conduct more detailed elucidation of any of the parts of these extant systems theories, that is, a paper can be tightly focused on one of the components of a general theory rather than on the theory as a whole. We also invite papers that compare and improve any of the tools and techniques used to study systems in general. Papers that reveal shortcomings of some extant theories or how theories that are now separate can be unified are also welcome. Any papers submitted to these sessions must exhibit the criteria of a general theory. If you do not know references that clarify these criteria, feel free to suggest such criteria. A discipline that does not have criteria that are useful in selecting among its output does not evolve and improve.

Presentation Format: Presentation format will depend upon numbers of submissions and will be developed by the group by email in the months preceding the meeting.

SIG: Daily Morning Reflection Roundtable

SIG Chair: Sue Gabriele

sgabriele@gemslearning.com

Get Ready for the ISSS MORNING ROUNDTABLE!

Pick up breakfast on the 1st Floor (Der Rathskeller opens at 7am; Daily Scoop at 7:30am); then join us on the 4th Floor in the Capitol View Room.

Everyone is invited to our eighth annual daily reflection RoundTable at ISSS 2008 in Madison, Wisconsin. We will meet every morning at 8:00am Monday through Friday, July 14-18 in the Capitol View Room, 4th Floor of Memorial Union. You can pick up coffee or breakfast on the first floor and bring it to the room. Join us every day, or whenever you like.

Our RoundTable purposes are to open a space for daily reflection on our ideals, what we want to learn and create; to increase time for each of us to talk f