Abstract
AbstractThis paper updates observations made 25 years ago on more than 33 impediments, possibilities, and developments relative to the development of systems awareness. It briefly describes three new ‘generations’ of systems awareness that were only partly anticipated at that time, but spontaneously appeared since the original article. These three new ‘movements’ include “complex systems” research and tools from the hard sciences, systems science approaches in the descriptive sciences of geology and biology, and the computer simulation or systems engineering approaches of the new ‘system of systems’ (SOS) movement. Some trends in developments in systems education are cited. The article emphasizes the continuing need for stronger coupling of systems theories and systems applications as well as faster transfer from science to application. It ends with one sentence updates on each of the original 33 needs including information on how 4 have been substantially answered while 14 have shown only very limited progress, and 15 no progress at all. The paper also cites appearance of a significant new obstacle, namely incompatibility of systems modeling tools for hybrid system of systems problems. Overall, the conclusion is that this field devoted to synthesis and integration is actually becoming more fragmented and unintegrated while the information and tools for its eventual synthesis multiply in a healthy manner. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published Version
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