Niewsletter October 1995 No.38 2Toocopies
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NIeWSLETTER October 1995 No.38 2Toocopies Editor-in-Chief: Gerhard Chroust c/o Systemtechnik und Automation, Johannes Kepler University Linz,4O4O LinzlAustria, e-mail: [email protected], Tel:+43-732-2468-865, Fax:+43-732-2468-878 www-ho m e pa ge : http://www. sea. u n i -l i nz. ac. aVif s r/ IFSR.STRATEGY Dear fo:a[ers! Executive Committee Meeting, I am fiappy tfiat my p[elgefor more artk[ts fias 1eenfrui{utt Vienna I fiaae nou in ny fiks seaera[ good 'ttQw tren[' articks zafiicfr zuitt appear in duz course. lP[ease furp * - an[ more so On Sept. 22 and 23, 1995, the Executive - tfie realers of our fousktter informel of tfu [atut trenls, Committee (Bela H. Banaty, Michael Jackson conferencu and tfu tik,'Iftis zui[[ enabh me to prouile you and Gerhard Chroust) met in Vienna for their zuitfr anotfur A{,ews[etter in December. So [et's foep tfu yearly meeting. The state and future of IFSR infonnation fbuing anf mafo it a [iaing 6asis was intensively discussed and several important information e4gfiange. decisions made. ln the next Newsletter you will find a detailed summary together with the I uouff [ifo to point out to yoa again, tfint tfu implications on the future of IFSR. is ako auai[a6[e on IfSKs 'h]Wll-pagu. Ifu accus is ttia . The major outcome was to make the fittp : t / ururu. s e a. uni- [ira. a c. at / ift I structure of the IFSR much more dynamic. Qerfiarl Cftroust both Sys temtecfinifrun[ Automation This will' involve the cooperation of member organizations and their members to lofiannts t@p [zr'Uniaersittl Linz, 4040 Liru, Austria a much larger extent. ConanlllrTEEs OF THE IFSR . The new structure will be based on the committee structure( see at the left). The Executive Committee of the IFSR has established the following committees: . The Journal of Systems Research will be Strategic Program Design (Bela H. Banathy) much more integrated into IFSR's life. longlerm perspectives of the IFSR . Member organizations will be encouraged to Research Committee (Michael C. Jackson) cooperate more intensively with the IFSR. research projects Database (to be announced) . The member organizations will be challenged printed and electronic repositories to actively structure the IFSR. To this aim Publication Committee (Gerhard Chroust) there willbe a Strategy Meeting on Saturday, coordination of publications April 13, 1996 (after the EMCSR-Conference) Systems Education (Bela H. Banathy) where we will determine and structure the education, learning, Fuschl meetings future path for the IFSR. Funding development (Gerhard Chroust) contacts to potential sponsors I fsKuants /ou.r mntrifiution! Membership (to be announced) uou[d [ifo to epen[ tfu lQusfetter's as a contacts to potential members 'I,le function infornatbn qcAange, Ifierefore ue asfryou a Outreach (to be announced) for tu sfiort reports on re[eaant conferenus, meetings, relations with other organisations sen[ aflnounc4tflcnts conferencu, as ueff as reaizus Distinguished Advisory Board (Robert Trappl) of nait, e-nai[. strategic advice interatittg 6o0fu. /ou can reacfi w 6y fa4or E-naif suimksbrc are preferrelt 'lile promise a fairty sfiort tum-around time!, NEW TRENDS lruronnaAfloN Baseo Desrcrrr or Socral SysrEMS B. Antal Banathy lnternational Systems lnstitute Saybrook lnstitute 38 Seca Place, Salinas, CA 93908 USA meaningful existence for itself, the system How should go about designing social we reaches-out for informational clues that guide its systems information Let me in the age? replication. stimulate discussion with a metaphor that presents an unusual view of what a design As replication takes place, the components of should be, in informationalterms. A design is an the system organize themselves in such a way informationalcontainer in which life can organize that the functions (in the charter) are provided; itself. Our job as designers therefore is to build given the capabilities of the components, and such informational containers. the conditions present in the environment. So, the (partly) non-referential information in the three These containers are woven from charter is reborn in the referential informational different informational strands. The types of processes of the components. Only the really first must account for the system as it purposes (functions), and not the details of the information-as-action, we exists; this strand is rebirth are specified in the charter. This leaves referential The second will call it information plenty of room for creative dynamics. strand must convey some description of what the system is (or is to become); it takes the Nature's evolutionary pattern seems to be form of information-as-knowledge, we willcall it working in a way that makes both components non-referential information (Csanyi, 1989). and the environment to sources of change. How The third strand can be used to lend stability, do we humans cope with such change? There to impose a-priori conditions (state- is considerable evidence that at the earliest determination) on either or both of the previous stages of human evolution symbolic objects aspects; it is a means of control, we will call it were used to "control and guide" social behavior st ate - ref e re nt i a I i nf o rm ation (Banathy, 1 995). (Csanyi, 1989). Since that time we have been pedecting symbolic control. This is where state- To get an (over-simplified but) intuitive referential information comes into play, information types, understanding of the three culminating in the industrial-machine-age and its non- think of referential as experienced, bureaucracies. referential as observed, and state-referential as pre-planned information. Unfoftunately state-referential information cannot fully account for either non-referential or into play All three types of information come referential informational processes in living process in his during the of evolution. Csanyi, systems. Furthermore, non-referential infor- processes, study of evolutionary has found mation cannot fully account for referential syslems ample evidence suggesting that living informational processes (Rosen, 1991; Kampis, and creative way. evolve in a most dynamic 1991; B. A. Banathy, 1996). The informational Evolution takes place by continuous replication. strands of the container in which life can Replication is shaped by a charter (functional organize itself have very specific "containment" information) that is influenced by non-referential relationships to each other. information in the environment. The functional We should not be surprised by Vickers' (1983) information specifies what the system must do in remark that "Stability, even more than change, viable part "bigger order to remain a of the demands to be explained, aspired to and larger systems in which it scheme of things", the regulated." lf we try to hold living systems in a is contained. So, in order to secure purely state-referential containers, the creative dynamics will spill on the floor and create a (sub)system boundaries. This is the type of complete mess. This is where we are today. transformation that knowledge workers of the future will be expected to do. It seems to me that in social systems, "stability" lies in the creation (restoration) of competence The design community of today has in individual human beings, coupled with a considerable competence in the first area. The relaxation of the "brakes" on natural evolutionary second area draws benefit from both design and processes. The implication is that we should not traditional scientific communities. The third area force a system to become what we want it to be is related to the general human competence, (not even a brand new one). We should allow it with education. to evolve into what it can become. The differ- Banathy, B. A. (1995). The 21st Century Janus: the ence is vast. ln the first instance, our Three Faces of lnformation. System Res., in print. specifications form the upper limits of the system's behavior; this is the way we design Banathy, B. A. (1996). lnformation Based Design of computer based systems. ln the second Social Systems. Behav. Science, in print. instance, our specifications serve as the Banathy, B. H. (1989). The design of Evolutionary foundation upon which the system designs itself Guidance Systems, Sysfems - a privilege of being alive. Research, 6, 289-295. As designers we have three mandates, all Csanyi, V. (1989). Evolutionary Systems and relating to B. H. Banathy's (1989) notion of Society, London, Duke University Press. evolutionary guidance. First, we must ensure Kampis, G. (1991). Self-modifying Systems in that functional information (continually) is Biology and Cognitive Science, Oxford, Pergamon social articulated and accepted as the basis for Press. organization. Second, we must (continually) develop models that serve as guidance Rosen, R. (1991). Life ltself, New York, Columbia (templates) for organization. When appropriate, University Press. we should delegate the processes prescribed by Vickers. G. (1983). Human Systems are Different, these models to computer-based systems. London, Harper & Row Publishers. Finally, and most importantly, we must provide for healthy informational processes within organizations, where "health" hinges on non- referential to referential transformations at all CorupurER BASED LARGE Scale Sysreus (CBLSS) Alexander Tschobokdji lnstitute of System Sciences Kepler University Linz, Austria areas such as project-management, quality of Comparing systems management. former times with actual, modern systems, one The development of such complex systems can see that the new generates new kinds of requirements and generation of systems is implies new methods, process models and getting bigger and more strategies. Problems, neglected so far, suddenly complex, making the show up. development of those Looking at this kind of systems, a definition of systems more and more CBLSS would additionally match two other kinds expensive. This new kind of systems requires a of similar systems: (i) complex systems, whose larger amount of knowledge regarding the number of components is rather low though the different areas involved than was needed for internal connections are very complex and (ii) former systems.