DOCSLIB.ORG

Edited by Allenna Leonard EFLECTIONS on the FESTIVAL

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Edited by Allenna Leonard EFLECTIONS on the FESTIVAL AM ERICAN SO CIETY FOR CYBERNETICS Number 3 NEWSLETTER Edited by Allenna Leonard August 1980 EFLECTIONS ON THE FESTIVAL By Shelly Clemson AFTERTHOUGHTS - EDITORIAL COMMENT By Roger Conant Participants in the First Annual Cybernetics estival at Sunset, Maine basked in sunshine, We will not convince the world tha t we have omaraderie, and participative labor for two anything worthwhi le to offer as a group/disci­ ovely days. Roger and Shirley Conant, hosts pline, if we cannot apply our understandings tc f the "happening", survived the brief trans­ ourselves. Do we understand self-organization! ormation of their summer homestead into a Then we should be able to bootstrap and self­ onference center. ASC folk from Washington, D.C. organize into a li:vely society. Do we under­ aryland, Virginia, Orono, ME., Chicago (Conant's stand circular causality? Then we should be Lnter home), New Hampshire (Larry Heilprin's able to apply positive feedback to our own op­ nmner home), Boston and Jakarta, Indonesia erations. Do we understand control and commun­ ~arry Clemson's parents) gave the meeting a ications? Then we need to modify the design of Lobal perspective. our own existing channels of communications anc Despite the overall mood of casual raillery, develop new ones to enhance both our internal ~ighty issues were the order of the day. Basic interactions and those wh;ich we have with the ;sumptions, such as the proper role of profess­ external environment. Tf we fail we shall not >nal societies, the unique mission of ASC, and only be an organizational flop, we shall as te desirability and rate of membership expansion practitioners have given a'l!lple evidence that !re on the agenda. Strategy sessions concent~ cybernetic insight is just an airy notion. tted on implementation of a fall membership Could that be? I like to think not and offer :ive, short and long range conference partic­ a few thoughts on the society's communications. >ation for 198ü-82 and beyond, the role of the We are a loosely coupled system, widely >urnal and the Forum, and exchange activities scattered, lacking in critical mass of members .th other organizations. One popular proposal except in a few places such the D.C. area where LS the increased use of the News Letter as .a tight personal bonds are _possible . through reg­ >rum for ideas; a kind of medium for cybernetic ular informal meetings. To succeed as a societ .alogue. Roger Conant suggested the inclusion communication through printed media is crucial. : 'fundamental questions 1 as a thought-provoking To meet this need our present formal publicat­ :arting point. Another intriguing Suggestion ions are only peripher ally useful and for a ts an idealproblern exchange with Soviet number of reasons. They are only published in­ rberneticians. frequently, they have long lead times, they ad­ Cybernetics, when not explicitly discussed, mit only of well reasoned polished final drafts :ill simmered noisily beneath the surface. The and thus do not foster spontaneaus discussion, Lestion of whether or not we were organizing and last but not least they are prohibitively trselves cybernetically (i.e. practicing what expensive. I believe that this· newsletter offe· ! profess) was raised frequently, and the the best vehicle for dynamic printed communic­ >ncepts of self-organization, autopoiesis, ations. I predict that ASC will succeed or fai !edback, and requisite variety provided the according to the success of. the newsletter. >gnitive breakthroughs that moved the group For the newsletter to succeed it must >ward consensus at several points during the a) have very rapid turnaraund and it must be !ekend. published frequently·, b) be both interesting People who had attended the April Planning and informal so that all or most members will >nference in Washington were eagerly looking both read and contribute to it and c) it must >rward to the implementation of more of the not impose such an overwhelming task that no on >nference's recommendations. Frank Leonard will be willing to serve as editor and take on ; planning a follow-up meeting in Toronto this the responsibility of getting i .t out. tnuary. At that time, some of us hope to Another vehicle for communications that we tve additional opportunities to get tagether in have is conferences. Too often our meetings and 1all, stimulating discussion groups that conferences have centered on organizational >ncentrate on cybernetics theory and ideas. housekeeping matters and/or on the eternal que­ ~tails of organizational logistics will be stion What is cybernetics? Too seldom do we get 1nned from these sessions!! It's amazing how to address the sum and subs·tance of cybernetics 1ch details tend to expand and devour all CONANT (cont'd) railable time and space. Only strict vigilance Lll check their growth! CLEMSON (cont 'd) ~- ~ AMERICAN SOCI ETY FOR CYBERNETICS Nurober 3 NEWSLETTER Edited by Allenna Leonard August 1980 REFLECTIONS ON THE FESTIVAL By Shelly Clemson AFTERTHOUGHTS - EDITORIAL COMMENT By Roger Conant Participants in the First Annual Cybernetics Festival at Sunset, Maine basked in sunshine, We will not convi.nce the world that we have comaraderie, and participative labor for two anything worthwhile to offer as a group/disci­ ovely days. Roger and Shirley Conant, hosts pline, if we cannot apply our understandings tc of the "happening", survived the brief trans­ ourselves. Do we understand self-organization! f ormation of their summer homestead into a Then we should be able to bootstrap and self­ bonference center. ASC folk from Washington, D.C. organize into a li:vely society. Do we under­ ryland, Virginia, Orono, ME., Chicago (Conant's stand circular causality? Then we should be inter home), New Hampshire (Larry Heilprin's able to apply positive feedback to our own op­ home), Boston and Jakarta, Indonesia erations. Do we understand control and commun­ Clemson's parents) gave the meeting a ications? Then we need to modify the design of 1lobal perspective. our own existing channels of communications anc Despite the overall mood of casual raillery, develop new ones to enhance both our internal eighty issues were the order of the day. Basic interactions and those which we have with the ~ sumptions, such as the proper role of profess­ external environment. If we fail we shall not anal societies, the unique mission of ASC, and only be an organizational flop, we shall as he desirability and rate of membership expansion practitioners have given ample evidence that ere on the agenda. Strategy sessions concent~ cybernetic insight is just an airy notion. ated on implementation of a fall membership Could that be? I like to think not and offer rive, short and long range conference partic­ a few thoughts on the society's communications. pation for 1980-82 and beyond, the role of the We are a loosely coupled system, widely Jurnal and the Forum, and exchange activities scattered, lacking in critical mass of members Lth other organizations. One popular proposal except in a few places such the D.C. area where 3.S the increased use of the News Letter as .a tight personal bonds are _possible through reg­ Jrum for ideas; a kind of medium for cybernetic ular informal meetings. To succeed as a societ Lalogue. Roger Conant suggested the inclusion communication through printed media is crucial. E 'fundamental questions 1 as a thought-provoking To meet this need our present formal publicat­ tarting point. Another intriguing Suggestion ions are only peripher ally useful and for a 3.S an idea/problem exchange with Soviet number of reasons. Th.ey are only published in­ rberneticians. frequently, they have lang lead times, they ad­ Cybernetics, when not explicitly discussed, mit only of well reasoned polished final drafts till simmered noisily beneath the surface. The and thus do not foster spontaneaus discussion, ~estion of whether or not we were organizing and last but not least they are prohibitively ~rselves cybernetically (i.e. practicing what expensive. I believe that this· newsletter offe· : profess) was raised frequently, and the the best vehicle for dynamic printed communic­ Jncepts of self-organization, autopoiesis, ations. I predict that ASC will succeed or fai :edback, and requisite variety provided the accor.ding to the success of. the newsletter. Jgnitive breakthroughs that moved the group For the newsletter to succeed it must Jward consensus at several points during the a) have very rapid turnaraund and it must be :ekend. published frequently·, b) be both interesting People who had attended the April Planning and informal so that all or most members will Jnference in Washington were eagerly looking both read and contribute to it and c) it must Jrward to the implementation of more of the not impose such an overwhelming task that no on Jnference's recommendations. Frank Leonard will be willing to serye as editor and take on s planning a follow-up meeting in Toronto this the responsibility of getting it out. 3.nuary. At that time, some of us hope to Another vehicle for communications that we 3.Ve additional opportunities to get tagether in have is conferences. Too often our meetings and nall, stimulating discussion groups that conferences have centered on organizational oncentrate on cybernetics theory and ideas. housekeeping matters and/or on the eternal que­ etails of organizational logistics will be stion What is cybernetics? Too seldom do we get anned from these sessions!! It's amazing how to address the sum and subs·tance of cybernetics uch details tend to expand and devour all CONANT (cont'd) vailable time and space. Only strict vigilance ill check their growth! CLEMSON (cont 'd) AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CYBERNETICS Nurober 3 NEWSLETTER Edited by Allenna Leonard August 1980 REFLECTIONS ON THE FESTIVAL By Shelly Clemson AFTERTHOUGHTS - EDITORIAL COMMENT By Roger Cona,nt Participants in the First Annual Cybernetics Festival at Sunset, Maine basked in sunshine, We will not convince the world tha,t we have comaraderie, and participative labor for two anything worthwhile to offer as a group/disci­ lovely days.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer's Cybernetic Informatics
    The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer’s Cybernetic Informatics Andrew Pickering University of Illinois Department of Sociology Urbana, IL 61801 [email protected] Cybernetics and New Ontologies: An interview session with Andrew Pickering Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen [email protected] The Steno Institute University of Aarhus Working Papers from Centre for STS Studies Department of Information & Media Studies University of Aarhus Published by The Centre for STS Studies, Aarhus 2006. Editorial board: Peter Lauritsen, Simon Kiilerich Madsen, Finn Olesen. Andrew Pickering: The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer’s Cybernetic Informatics Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen: Cybernetics and New Ontologies: An interview session with Andrew Pickering © The authors, 2006. Printed at Fællestrykkeriet for Sundhedsvidenskab, University of Aarhus. Cover design: Annette Bjerre Design. ISBN 9788791386121 (print) ISBN 9788791386138 (web) The Centre for STS Studies Department of Information & Media Studies Helsingforsgade 14 DK-8200 Aarhus N Tel: +45 8942 9200 Fax: +45 8942 5950 [email protected] http://imv.au.dk/sts The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer’s Cybernetic Informatics Andrew Pickering University of Illinois Department of Sociology [email protected] This essay derives from a larger project exploring the history of cybernetics in Britain in and after World War II.1 The project focusses on the work of four British cyberneticians—Grey Walter, Ross Ashby, Stafford Beer and Gordon Pask; here I focus on Stafford Beer, the founder of the field he called management cybernetics, and his work in informatics.2 Anthony Stafford Beer was born in London in 1926. He joined the British Army in 1944 after just one year as an undergraduate in London, and served in India and Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • EMERGY SYNTHESIS 5: Theory and Applications of the Emergy Methodology
    EMERGY SYNTHESIS 5: Theory and Applications of the Emergy Methodology Proceedings from the Fifth Biennial Emergy Conference, Gainesville, Florida Edited by Mark T. Brown University of Florida Gainesville, Florida Managing Editor Sharlynn Sweeney University of Florida Gainesville, Florida Associate Editors Daniel E. Campbell US EPA Narragansett, Rhode Island Shu-Li Huang National Taipei University Taipei, Taiwan Enrique Ortega State University of Campinas Campinas, Brazil Torbjorn Rydberg Centre for Sustainable Agriculture Uppsala, Sweden David Tilley University of Maryland College Park, Maryland Sergio Ulgiati Parthenope University of Napoli Napoli, Italy December 2009 The Center for Environmental Policy Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences University of Florida Gainesville, FL ii 39 A Call to Empower Gaia William Perk and Cornelius Crane ABSTRACT Nature doesn’t use dollars; we need a cosmic accounting system… R. Buckminster Fuller Since the seminal “emergy methodology” of the late H. T. Odum and colleagues essentially meets what Bucky Fuller was insisting is needed, the current issue we intend to address is, “how do we get humanity to accept this “cosmic accounting?” Obviously, participants in this event are prime candidates to help bring this about. We suggest putting the parlous state of our planet, Gaia, at the top of the list of urgent reasons for such a transformed accounting system. Then we propose to use Bucky’s insistence on “new forming, not reforming” to focus on the recapture of the “commons”—by creating appropriate “Trusts” for that purpose—which will utilize emergy and emdollars throughout its activities in behalf of the “commons”. And guiding the activities of such Trusts will be the Fuller Challenge: “To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” Finally, effective organization of such Trusts will be ensured by the seminal cybernetic management strategies and praxis of the late great Stafford Beer.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cybernetic Brain
    THE CYBERNETIC BRAIN THE CYBERNETIC BRAIN SKETCHES OF ANOTHER FUTURE Andrew Pickering THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO AND LONDON ANDREW PICKERING IS PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER. HIS BOOKS INCLUDE CONSTRUCTING QUARKS: A SO- CIOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PARTICLE PHYSICS, THE MANGLE OF PRACTICE: TIME, AGENCY, AND SCIENCE, AND SCIENCE AS PRACTICE AND CULTURE, A L L PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, AND THE MANGLE IN PRAC- TICE: SCIENCE, SOCIETY, AND BECOMING (COEDITED WITH KEITH GUZIK). THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 60637 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, LTD., LONDON © 2010 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED 2010 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-66789-8 (CLOTH) ISBN-10: 0-226-66789-8 (CLOTH) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pickering, Andrew. The cybernetic brain : sketches of another future / Andrew Pickering. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-66789-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-66789-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Cybernetics. 2. Cybernetics—History. 3. Brain. 4. Self-organizing systems. I. Title. Q310.P53 2010 003’.5—dc22 2009023367 a THE PAPER USED IN THIS PUBLICATION MEETS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF THE AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARD FOR INFORMATION SCIENCES—PERMA- NENCE OF PAPER FOR PRINTED LIBRARY MATERIALS, ANSI Z39.48-1992. DEDICATION For Jane F. CONTENTS Acknowledgments / ix 1. The Adaptive Brain / 1 2. Ontological Theater / 17 PART 1: PSYCHIATRY TO CYBERNETICS 3.
    [Show full text]
  • The Coherent Architecture of Team Syntegrity ® : From
    THE COHERENT ARCHITECTURE OF TEAM SYNTEGRITY®: FROM SMALL TO MEGA FORMS Truss, J., Cullen, C. and Leonard, A. Team Syntegrity Inc. (TSI), 150 Yonge Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5M 3H4 E-mail: [email protected] Professor Stafford Beer’s book Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity, (Wiley 1994) describes the invention of a group methodology for dealing with complex issues. Beer applied principles of managerial cybernetics to work out how to achieve high levels of ‘syzygy’ (cooperation and commitment) in groups that are large enough to satisfy issues of requisite variety, and small enough to accomplish something. The result is Syntegration®, a collaborative group process for thirty people that takes five days. In 1992, Team Syntegrity Inc. (TSI) was founded to find viable markets for Syntegration, and to continue the development of the methodology together with Beer. Delving deeply into the underlying geometry of the icosahedron, Joe Truss led the development of a suite of applications of the TS method that remove the constraints of thirty people and five days. Truss showed how the TS method could be used for groups of virtually any size, in sessions lasting from one to many days, without compromising the mathematical integrity of the technique. This paper describes the development of the TS protocols since Beer invented Syntegration and explains how the application of TS architecture and protocols can support viable, connected, self-organizing and truly empowered groups and learning communities. Keywords Syntegration, Management, Cybernetics, Community, Collaboration INTRODUCING TEAM SYNTEGRITY Since 1992, TSI and its growing international network of licensees and practitioners have delivered well over 100 Syntegration® events in many contexts, countries and languages, building on the early experiments and theoretical bases reported by Beer in Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity (Beer, 1994).
    [Show full text]
  • Stafford Beer's Cybernetic Informatics
    The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer’s Cybernetic Informatics I 29 The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer’s Cybernetic Informatics Andrew Pickering I Abstract tive on information science and information systems, This essay explores the history of Stafford Beer’s work in man- intended to bring out the singularity of the cybernetic agement cybernetics, from his early conception and simulation approach. of an adaptive automatic factory and associated experimenta- From the 1950s on Beer was a remorseless critic of tion in biological computing up to his development of the the ways in which computers were being deployed in Viable System Model of complex organizations and its imple- mentation in Chile. The essay also briefly pursues Beer into the industry, essentially to replace existing paper systems. arenas of politics and spirituality. The aim throughout is to show He felt that this did nothing to change existing organi- that all Beer’s projects can be understood as specific instantiations zational forms and that something more imaginative was and workings out of a cybernetic ontology of unknowability and required. His argument was that the postwar world was becoming: a stance that recognizes that the world can always a new kind of world. Specifically the pace of change had surprise us and that we can never dominate it through knowl- increased markedly since the war, and the important edge. The thrust of Beer’s work was thus to construct informa- tion systems that can adapt performatively
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts of Plenaries WOSC 2014
    Our self-organising world: from disruption to reparation Systems and cybernetics applied to technology, design, governance and power Keynote Abstracts and Congress Schedule Dear All, WOSC 2014 will offer both strong foci on systemic thinking and on structures for effective policy processes. It is more than 40 years since Fernando Flores invited Stafford Beer to work with the Chilean Government in the implementation of a democratic socialist economy. Beer created Project Cybersyn in the context of Allende’s Chile. In addition to introducing his work to a young generation of local scientists and professionals he made of Norbert Weiner and Ross Ashby familiar names. In parallel to Beer’s work Humberto Maturana was working from the Universidad de Chile, in collaboration with Francisco Varela, the theory of autopoiesis. Heinz von Foerster, father of second order cybernetics, joined them during part of this period. These are all names shaping the contributions to WOSC 2014. Beer’s vision of the early 1970s, particularly his vision of an economy in real-time, has grown in maturity, not only through the extraordinary technological developments of the past four decades but also through the increasing relevance of cybernetics as an applied epistemology to governance. Together with the extraordinary potentials of digital technology in real-time, the epistemologies of systemic embodiment, ecological networks, organisational closure, self-organisation offer new insights and avenues to deal with the driving topic of this Congress: “Our Self- organising World: from disruption to reparation”. This narrative is offered by the following contributions of our keynote speakers. Abstracts for Plenaries 1. Fernando Flores An Encounter with Cybernetics in the Chile of the 1970's: A personal story In the Chile of the early 1970's I had the opportunity to work with Stafford Beer in the Cybersyn project.
    [Show full text]
  • The Science of Service Systems
    Janie Chroust, 2010 International Federation For Systems Research “Systems for Education, Engineering, Service and Sustainability” Proceedings of the Fifteenth IFSR Conversation G. Chroust, G. Metcalf (eds.) April 10 - April 15, 2010 Kloster Pernegg (Austria) SEA-Publications: SEA-SR-28 Institute for Systems Engineering and Automation Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria [email protected] August 2010 ISBN 3-902457-28-8 2 Impressum Schriftenreihe: SEA-Publications of the Institute for Systems Engineering and Automation J. Kepler University Linz Systems for Education, Engineering, Service and Sustainability - Proceedings of the Fifteenth Fuschl Conversation G. Chroust, G. Metcalf (editors) April 10 - April 15, 2010 Kloster Pernegg (Austria) Printing sponsored by the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR) © 2010 International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR) (except where stated differently) Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Printed: WLK Druck, A-2340 Mödling, Austria ISBN 3-902457-28-8 Institute for Systems Engineering and Automation www.sea.uni-linz.ac.at 3 Welcome to the IFSR Conversation 2010! .............................................................. 5 Looking back at Pernegg 2010 ...............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Building a Decentralized Global Political Economy
    A SYSTEM THAT WORKS: BUILDING A DECENTRALIZED GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY USING THE VIABLE SYSTEM MODEL Jon Li Institute for Public Science & Art 1075 Olive Drive #4, Davis CA USA, 530-753-0352, [email protected] ABSTRACT A political economy that enhances personal freedom requires effective but limited regulation. The Viable System Model by Stafford Beer offers a way to analyze an organization’s communication problems, maximize resource use, minimize waste, and adapt to a changing environment by clarifying what to regulate. Jon Walker’s “VSM Quick Guide” and Allenna Leonard’s “Personal VSM” ground the reader. VSM is applied to a community of 65,000 people in Davis, California, USA, in a way that could be used in other places around the world, to help identify strategies to better meet human needs, enhance the local economy, reduce environmental damage, and encourage natural healing processes. Given the recursive nature of the VSM, this method could be used at every level from person to family/neighborhood/village/community/ district/ region/ state/nation/continent/planet, emphasizing the system in focus. “National Government: disseminated regulation in real time, or ‘How to run a country’” by Stafford Beer describes how to construct “quantified flow charts” to identify which statistics to measure daily as regulation at a particular level of recursion. REDEFINING THE SOCIAL CONTRACT When someone says “bureaucracy,” you probably think – delay, confusion, even obstruction. What if we could eliminate MOST of the organizational confusion – just disappear it – along with half the bureaucracy itself? THAT is the claim of this paper: A 1950s British scientific discovery that precipitates a complete revolution in social science as we know it.
    [Show full text]
  • For Heinz Von Foerster)
    Designing Our World: Cybernetics as Conversation for Action Heinz von Foerster Lecture ’17 University of Vienna 20 June 2017 Paul Pangaro, Ph.D. Chair and Associate Professor MFA Interaction Design Program College for Creative Studies, Detroit [email protected] RSD5Heinz / vonToronto, Foerster Canada ’17 / Vienna/ Paul PangaroJune 2017 / Designing / Paul Pangaro Conversations for Socially-Conscious Design 1 MFA Transportation Design MFA Color & Materials Design MFA Integrated Design MFA Interaction Design College for Creative Studies, Detroit [email protected] RSD5Heinz / vonToronto, Foerster Canada ’17 / Vienna/ Paul PangaroJune 2017 / Designing / Paul Pangaro Conversations for Socially-Conscious Design 2 Paul Pangaro, Ph.D. Chair and Associate Professor MFA Interaction Design Program College for Creative Studies, Detroit RSD5Heinz / vonToronto, Foerster Canada ’17 / Vienna/ Paul PangaroJune 2017 / Designing / Paul Pangaro Conversations for Socially-Conscious Design 3 MFA Interaction Design RSD5Heinz / vonToronto, Foerster Canada ’17 / Vienna/ Paul PangaroJune 2017 / Designing / Paul Pangaro Conversations for Socially-Conscious Design 4 MFA Interaction Design HeinzRSD5 von / Toronto, Foerster Canada ’17 / Vienna / Paul June Pangaro 2017 // DesigningPaul Pangaro Conversations for Socially-Conscious Design 5 Heinz von Foerster ’17 / Vienna June 2017 / Paul Pangaro 6 Knowledge – Organisation – Society Heinz von Foerster and the Biological Computer Laboratory International Heinz von Foerster-Congress 2003 at the Wittgenstein-House Thursday, November 13 Friday, November 14 Saturday, November 15 Conference Openings Alfred Inselberg Robert Martin 9:00 a.m. Pille Bunnell BCL and the Visualization of Inventing the World One – 11:00 a.m. Ilse König Multidimensional Geometry Conversation at a Time: the Once and Allenna Leonard Lars Löfgren Future Invitation of Heinz von Foerster Andreas von Foerster From Wittgenstein’s Language- Paul Pangaro Thomas von Foerster World Thesis to Holistic Language The Past-Future of Cybernetics: Moderator: Karl H.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenges for the Future in an ICT Context
    Challenges for the future in an ICT context Editor: Viveca Asproth Department of Information technology and media Mid Sweden University Copyright© The authors The Department of Information Technology and Media, Mid Sweden University, 2011 ISBN: 978‐91‐86694‐90‐6 The cover is designed by Hanna Olsson, Mid Sweden University Printed by Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden, 2011 For Stig Stig, this anthology is our gift to you in celebration of your more than 30 years work not only at Mid Sweden University, but also on the international research scene. You have so often shared your thoughts and visions with us, now it is our turn to give you something in return. As editor and on behalf of all the contributors to this book, I would like to express our warmest thanks to you. i CONTENTS Introduction 1 Viveca Asproth Fear for Sustainability? A Simulation Study 2 Markus Schwaninger Organisational Personality 20 Maurice Yolles and Gerhard Fink Context‐dependent modelling and anticipation the other coin of 61 the system approach Miroljub Kljajić, Mirjana Kljajić Borštnar Systemic Information Logistics: A Direction for the Development 76 of an Emerging Field of Studies and Practice Darek M. Haftor IT and the new society ‐ from XML to Habermas 103 Per Flensburg Loop or branch 122 Per S Agrell Issues of emotion and usability of interactive artefacts in HCI 127 Karl W Sandberg On journey with system thinkers ‐ Systems thinking in 138 education and research, today and tomorrow Christina Amcoff Nyström Applying Synergy‐4 in Informatics Research – Some Reflections 151 Erik Borglund, Thomas Persson, Lena‐Maria Öberg The Emergence of Service Oriented Architecture from a 166 Business Perspective Karin Ahlin Proposing Learner E‐dentity to social presence in digital spaces for learning 177 Hanna Olsson Critical information and its implications 187 Viveca Asproth ii INTRODUCTION In 1977 the first informatics education program (Systemvetenskapliga programmet) started at Östersund University College, a predecessor to Mid Sweden University.
    [Show full text]
  • A Tool for Creating Effective and Adaptive Regulatory Agencies
    NRRI 02-07 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: A TOOL FOR CREATING EFFECTIVE AND ADAPTIVE REGULATORY AGENCIES A VISUAL PRIMER AND APPLICATION GUIDE DAVE WIRICK TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM DIRECTOR THE NATIONAL REGULATORY RESEARCH INSTITUTE MARCH 2002 The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the NRRI, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), or its member states. Introduction and Explanation This primer and application guide presents an introduction to knowledge management, a tool for enhancing the learning potential of organizations, and argues that knowledge management is a technique that holds great promise for regulatory agencies. One premise of the argument for knowledge management for regulatory agencies is that the analytic infrastructure of regulatory agencies (i.e., their ability to bring analytic power to bear on issues of great public importance) is being constrained and eroded by a number of factors. Whether that argument holds at your commission or not, preservation and enhancement of the intellectual capital of regulatory agencies is critical. In sequence, the figures within this document lay out the reasons behind the erosion of the analytic infrastructure of the regulatory process; describe knowledge management as it is currently practiced; identify why it is appropriate for regulatory agencies; compare it and other organizational change techniques; lay out a progression of benefits and strategies; develop a knowledge management program for regulatory agencies and identify where to start such a program; identify leadership characteristics necessary for learning organizations; describe “communities of practice,” a concept critical to innovation and organizational learning; compare Western and Japanese knowledge management, identify impediments and facilitators to knowledge transfer, acquisition, and creativity; create a sample balance sheet for intellectual capital; and outline a learning organization training program that I have presented to state commissions.
    [Show full text]
  • A Viable System Model: Consideration of Knowledge Management
    Page 1 sur 19 Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, August 1999 A Viable System Model: Consideration of Knowledge Management Allenna Leonard, PhD, The Complementary Set ABSTRACT: Contends that individual and organizational knowledge is difficult to value and therefore difficult to manage. Looks at the management of knowledge from the perspective of the individual, the network and the organization using Stafford Beer's Viable System Model, a powerful descriptive and diagnostic tool to map management capacities and promote viability. Introduction Individuals who are knowledge workers in a knowledge economy may find themselves, at different times and sometimes simultaneously, self-employed, working in an ad hoc network, or earning a salary with an organization. To be successful, they need to have a sense of how different aspects of knowledge management fit together as they guide their own career paths and find ways to add value to ad hoc and formal organizations. In Western countries, an increasing proportion of the workforce is employed for their knowledge. That knowledge is for the most part up to individuals to acquire and maintain, and it is largely portable. It may be of content or process, tacit or explicit, general or particular, linear or relational, timeless or up to the minute. It is utilized by individuals working alone and in small groups or large organizations. Especially in the private sector, many knowledge workers are self-employed or members of ad hoc virtual or network organizations rather than permanent salaried employees. The knowledge marketplace is not always a comfortable place for the individuals involved. They may suffer the disadvantages of insecurity and cost absorption which have traditionally been associated with the secondary labor market.
    [Show full text]