Contrasting Views of Complexity and Their Implications for Critical Infrastructures

Speaker:
Dr. David L. Alderson,
Operations Research Department,
Naval Postgraduate School,
Monterey, CAAbstract:Considerable attention is now being devoted to "new sciences" of "complexity" and "networks" with the intent of discovering and applying universal laws of highly interconnected and evolved systems. In this talk, I will discuss several issues related to the use of these theories in the context of critical infrastructures, particularly those involving networks. Specifically, we revisit the notion of "organized complexity" and suggest that it is fundamental to our ability to understand, operate, and design next-generation infrastructure networks. We comment on the role of engineering in defining an architecture to support networked infrastructures and highlight recent advances in the theory of distributed control driven by network technologies. This talk represents joint work with John Doyle (Caltech).

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes