Traditional System Approaches Research Articles

DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE ECOSYSTEM OF UKRAINE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

The article explores the theoretical and methodological aspects of the main idea of the formation of an innovation ecosystem at the national level, which consists in close cooperation and unification of the efforts of the participants in the innovation process on mutually beneficial terms of partnership, resources and competencies in building up the country’s innovative potential. It has been established that the innovation ecosystem at the national level is a synergistic partnership and collaboration of science, education and business as an institutionally coordinated mechanism of relationships from the generation and transfer of knowledge to the commercialization of innovations, that is, the entire innovation cycle of neo-industrial development of the national economy of Ukraine, its restoration in the European integration space. It is substantiated that the innovation ecosystem as a type of ecosystems in the economy allows cooperating efforts to create and promote innovations on the market. The concept of an innovation ecosystem gives a much better idea of the nature of innovation processes taking place in modern realities than the traditional systems approach. The main problems and obstacles to the development and implementation of the innovation ecosystem of Ukraine at the national level are outlined. Speaking about the fact that it is higher scientific institutions (universities) of education that should become generators of progressive structural changes in the economy and take the main place in the innovation ecosystem, the article considers the progressive experience of new types of universities. That is why it is proposed to single out the main instruments of these changes: 1) identification of target markets and segments; 2) building a system of client-centric key performance indicators; 3) optimization of the structure and partnership activities of scientific and higher educational institutions.

Аssessment of stability of ecosystems

The transformation of ecosystem behavior with the change of unstable equilibrium persistent imbalances in the light of nonlinear dynamics. The task of ensuring the sustainability of ecosystems inseparable from the search admissible class of perturbations that it can withstand and not lose with the stability of their condition or movement. Focusing the analysis on the nature of the perturbations corresponds to the classical theory approach, because the essence of the stability concept is in calculation of numerical values of the perturbations for the given deviation estimates rather than in nature of the change of the perturbed movement versus undisturbed. The paper proposes expansion of methodological means of investigation and stability sustaining of the ecosystems through involvement of traditional system approaches. The analysis of ecosystem diversity, accompanied by justification of ordering options that allows us to formulate the principle of sufficiency in ecosystems, enter the parameters of heterogeneity and irregularity of states to classify these ecosystems.

Content analysis to classify and compare Live, Virtual, Constructive simulations and System of Systems

In this paper, we examine to what extent Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) simulations can be used to model and simulate a System of Systems (SoS) by (1) establishing LVC and SoS domain profiles based on concepts discussed in each community and (2) finding overlapping concepts. To do so, we apply content analysis to the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) conference papers to identify the driving concepts and relationships that are most associated with LVC systems. Similarly, we apply content analysis to the IEEE/Systems Man and Cybernetics Conference on System of Systems Engineering (SOSE). We use the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization dataset to train a learner about LVC and automatically discover the LVC concepts and relationships within the SoS literature. Similarly, we use the SoS Engineering dataset to train a learner about SoS and use it to discover the concepts and relationships of SoS in the LVC literature. We show the two domains present some overlap on the technical side. However, LVC does not consider what the SoS literature considers crucial: the human/social component. This omission, or assumption, suggests that (1), although the SoS body of knowledge has some theoretical work, there is not enough work that transitions theory to practice and (2) LVC does not implement full SoS concepts but reflects traditional system approaches.

Affinity-based methods in drug-target discovery.

Target discovery using the molecular approach, as opposed to the more traditional systems approach requires the study of the cellular or biological process underlying a condition or disease. The approaches that are employed by the "bench" scientist may be genetic, genomic or proteomic and each has its rightful place in the drug-target discovery process. Affinity-based proteomic techniques currently used in drug-discovery draw upon several disciplines, synthetic chemistry, cell-biology, biochemistry and mass spectrometry. An important component of such techniques is the probe that is specifically designed to pick out a protein or set of proteins from amongst the varied thousands in a cell lysate. A second component, that is just as important, is liquid-chromatography tandem massspectrometry (LC-MS/MS). LC-MS/MS and the supporting theoretical framework has come of age and is the tool of choice for protein identification and quantification. These proteomic tools are critical to maintaining the drug-candidate supply, in the larger context of drug discovery.

2.1.1 A System of Systems Approach to Warfighter Training

AbstractThis paper explores the traditional Systems Approach to Training (SAT) for the Warfighter, suggesting improvements for complex large‐scale, live, and virtual training systems. Such systems are required to deliver military effectiveness and enable Readiness & Sustainment (R&S). It has long been accepted that the proper way to design training is by adopting a systematic approach to assessing the training gap, the design of the syllabus, and the evaluation of the performance improvement. This Systems Approach to Training (SAT) parallels Instructional Systems Design methodology, the latter also being a model to aid in the design, development, and delivery of a training program. The paper discusses the complexity of such large‐scale military training systems and presents a case for designing them using Systems Engineering (SE) principles. The traditional SAT method applies, but does not cope with the overall requirements capture, architecture design or interoperability; nor was it designed to do so. Complex large‐scale training systems are human centric and consequently should be designed using the most appropriate Systems Engineering (SE) processes, methods and toolsets.

Knowledge Ecologies and Ecosystems? An Empirically Grounded Reflection on Recent Developments in Innovation Systems Theory

Recent academic and policy debate on innovation indicates that there has been some shift from a more traditional systems approach to ecologies and ecosystems. The latter are concepts transferred from the world of biology to the social world in order to explain the evolutionary nature of interrelations between different individuals, their innovative activities, and their environment. We evaluate the concept of knowledge ecology and the theory of innovation ecosystem on two fundamental grounds; firstly, on the grounds of theoretical plausibility and conceptual consistency; secondly, on empirical grounds of the case of public–private interrelations of biotech innovation in Cambridge. The argument is that the concept of knowledge ecology and the theory of innovation ecosystems can lead to problems of reductionism and functionalism. This is due to their development in abstraction from more grounded analysis of historical processes of the social division of labour. Knowledge and innovation need to be looked at in the context of historically founded processes of socioeconomic development.

Designing electronic health records versus total digital health systems: A systemic analysis

AbstractTo date, the digitization of health care typically has focussed simply and solely on electronic records for patients. Most systems are relational databases with a finite number of intra‐enterprise applications and are limited to in‐house use by health care facilities. Very few of these systems have realized fully functional, scalable, distribution capabilities, not to mention interoperability with external systems. This short‐sighted tendency to build large‐scale but restrictive automated systems that ignore the interactive nature of health care has resulted in limited operational success and acceptance. That said, this trend is not irreversible. Given the right circumstances, distributed, interoperable, digital health systems could emerge rapidly, offering both intra‐ and inter‐enterprise benefits. To succeed, the design of these so‐called total digital health systems (TDHSs) must be approached holistically, incorporating such properties of health care delivery systems as softness, openness, complexity, flexibility and generality. Because of the procedural nature of most electronic health record (EHR) applications now in use, traditional system approaches—such as the relational database model to application design—would be adequate for EHRs. This paper discusses the systemic nature of health care information systems and compares and contrasts the traditional EHR with TDHS. A soft systems methodology (SSM) is proposed for TDHS design. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An Alternative of the System Approach to Functional Aspects Analysis of the Maritime Crisis Management System

When answering the question “What kind of Maritime Crisis Management System (MCMS) do we need?” a useful tool is provided by the system approach. The traditional system approach, presented by the sequence “system goal (goals) definition – goal supporting strategy development – system technology and structure elaboration,” is not applicable to the process of MCMS analysis due to many reasons. The paper proposes an alternative method to study the MCMS functional aspects. The proposed approach describes the functioning of MCMS on the background of the Maritime Security Negative Factors (MSNF) evolution. The MSNF evolution is represented as a life cycle that follows the sequence: “emergence of maritime security challenges – evolution to risks – formation of threats.” The MCMS functioning is described by “Observation – Orientation – Decision – Action” (OODA) loops performed by the system in reaction to the negative factors and their evolution.

Training Effective Human Performance in the Management of Stressful Emergencies

Emergency situations in industry occur suddenly and often unexpectedly; operators must make critical decisions under stress, and the consequences of errors can be immediate and catastrophic. Training effective performance under stress becomes an important aspect in the management of emergencies. This article proposes a taxonomy of cognitive strategies that enable operators to regulate their thinking and adapt decisions to changes in the demands of the situation. Cognitive strategies, such as, tolerating uncertainty, managing workload, planning for contingencies, and self-monitoring, provide the content of training emergency response. Stress, however, interferes with the learning of strategies, which presents a challenge to the design of training methods. Exposure to stress during training, degree of task decomposition, guidance, contextual variety and feedback are some of the training methods explored to facilitate the acquisition and transfer of cognitive strategies. Diversions from the traditional systems approach to training are pointed out and areas for further training research are identified.

Signposts to Critical Systems Thinking and Practice

Outlines the emergence of critical systems thinking and practice and the reasons why such a development in the systems approach was necessary. Considers the limitations of traditional systems thinking and the strengths and weaknesses of three alternatives to the traditional systems approach — soft systems thinking, organizational cybernetics and emancipatory systems thinking. Reflection on the relationship between these different strands of the systems approach gave impetus to the birth of critical systems thinking. Details the nature of critical systems thinking, as resting on five commitments, and describes a new methodology (“total systems intervention”) to operationalize this approach.