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683 Abstracts 1-2-3683 Abstracts 1-2-3

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Characterization of Open Systems

Background: Open systems appear to offer many benefits: Maybe of most “commercial” interest is the ability to provide customers with functioning products in a very reduced timeframe compared to more traditional approaches. But how can an open system approach be instantiated and sustained within a “company” environment in such a way the CFO can still sleep at night?

Project Basis: This work is a starting point of broader study (my PhD research) to consider how to overcome some of the challenges an enterprise would face in utilizing an open system approach as the basis for it’s organizational structure. To be able to do this I need an understanding of the frameworks and (maybe perceived) benefits of a set of potentially applicable open system constructs.

Problem: Although there are many examples of open systems that have been studied I have not found a common lexicon to describe or classify, nor a description of their related benefits that is directly applicable in my research.

Project: Describe and classify open systems frameworks that may be applicable to the structure of a commercial organization and describe their differences, relating them to the perceived (or otherwise) benefits of each.

Expected outcome: A description of the (+/-) 5 key characteristics of the open system approaches that could be applicable for adoption within a commercial enterprise to provide the basis for a glossary and potentially metrics used in my research.

JC080414

3

Mapping the Human Terrain

Problem Statement: Cultural awareness, attitude and perspective towards select subjects are largely unknown in certain denied populations. Anticipation of future behaviors in target group would greatly facilitate relations. Indications of attitude toward select subjects would provide needed feedback to specified strategies.

Method: Engage international preteen and teens in game, virtual world environment or interactive book that require choice and selection on the part of the gamer. Behaviors in environment documented and analyzed.

Questions: Can target group be attracted? Can cultural awareness be extracted from on line behavior? Can perspective on select subject matter be ascertained from virtual interaction?

MF080414

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Protein Synthesis System Simulation with Implications for Data Modeling

Biological systems store significant information in DNA and use RNA and proteins to transmit information. This project proposes the construction of a simulation of the protein synthesis system found in biological systems. The application of the principles involved in this system will be explored as a foundation for an information system.

Hypothesis: Principles used in the protein synthesis system can be applied to information systems.

Experimental approach: Construct, in a virtual world, a simulation of the protein synthesis system. Correlate the various resources used by the system to information systems including information modeling, transmission and storage. Construct, in a virtual world, a simulation of a protein-synthesis-based information system.

Expected results: Movies providing better understanding of the biological system and how its principles can be applied to information systems.

Three questions to be answered: What are the correlations between the protein synthesis system and an

information system? Is the protein synthesis system a reasonable model for an information system? Is there an obvious advantage to using this model in an information system?

Significance of the work: Foundational support for dissertation work.

KL080414

5

Democracy as a system- its evolution, nature and future

Problem statement: To investigate the nature of democracy as a political system Explore its history and understand how it has evolved into its current forms Assess the health of democracy as a system today Look forward and ask how well these systems will age in a highly competitive

environment

Methodology: Literature search Catalogue democratic systems Model democratic aging/evolution in the context of a changing enemy

Key questions to be answered:1. How did democratic systems become what they are today?2. How well is democracy likely to age in the near to middle future?3. What can be done to improve the future outlook?

GT080414

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Review of Self-Organizing Patterns

Purpose: Identify additional system architecture patterns that directly support or enable self-organization.

Method: Define a set of self-organizing characteristics from the course material. Find and review sources of published system patterns and select patterns

based on these characteristics. Present the patterns, selection rationale and examples if possible.

Questions: Q1: Are there architecture patterns in addition to those discussed in class

that support self-organization? Q2: How do these patterns promote self-organization? Q3: Can they be further categorized? Q4: Can they be used to better illustrate the course concepts?

GP080414

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TM

PROJECT: Synopsize Linked with an integration of the 683 course principles.

Purpose Synopsize Barabasi’s concepts of how links and nodes demonstrate the propogation

of interconnectivity and organization Use social, historical, technology, and biological examples to demonstrate the

Product A comprehensive paper which is best suited as an accompaniment to the text Can also be used as an overview of the text for those less-intimately familiar with the

subject area

(Some of the main) Objectives What are the fundamentals of the connectivity Barabasi describes? What causes

these relationships? In complex networks, what factors sustain, catalyze, or paralyze growth? How to complex networks mitigate paralyzing factors that may cause selective

destruction, or destroy entire nodes? Barabasi presents a variety of examples through time and across multiple disciplines.

Are there fields to which these concepts are not applicable?

NA080111

Nisha Agrawal

LINKing the Elements

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Terron Distant Early Warning & Protective System

State system requirements

Propose high-level design to maximize use of self-organization and swarming

characteristics

Establish system design principles from multiple sources to evaluate design

◦ (e.g. Coupling, Autocatalysis, Functions, Stigmergy, etc.)

Summarize with findings about system behavior, patterns, emergence, and

possible directions for future research

CA080111

Clark Ansel

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Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW)

What is it? There are several ideas, some conflicting, as to what 5GW is; therefore, my

goal is to get a good working definition of it. Example: “…super-empowered individuals or small groups bound together

by love for a cause rather than a nation. Employing emerging technology, they are able to generate destructive power that used to require the resources of a nation-state.” (Hammes, 2007)

Are the key/common elements of 5GW? If so, what are they?

How many types of 5GW are there?

To which fields can you apply 5GW?

Possible examples of 5GW: Suicide bombers Small and large scale bioterror attacks 2001 anthrax attacks ■ DNA hacking Hostage takers ■ Dr. Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski (zenpundit.com)

Hammes, Colonel T. X. USMC, Retired. 2007. Fourth Generation Warfare Evolves, Fifth Emerges Military Review.

NB080111

Niki Borkowski

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TM

How do random people in a group react and evolve when a catalyst (situation or events can range from work projects to disaster response) happens.

What recurring patterns are seen after the event.

How can this information be utilized in order to shorten the amount of time from chaos to organized response for future events?

JC080111

James Chu

Group Dynamics

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DHS adopting self-organization & networking concepts for problem solving

Background: Around certain areas of interest, the concept of wiki-type forums has become popular as a method for “semi-”open information exchange and problem solving between federal agencies and its state/local partners. Example communities include First and Emergency Responders, Bomb Technicians, and Law Enforcement

Proposed Project: Examine several examples of these as case studies to answer:

Are their common principles that contribute to the success / failure of the forum?

Are there self-organizing system concepts that can be extracted?

Each case study would be examined for: How it works—how do members contribute/communicate? Who is allowed access? Who moderates and/or maintains the information? Is there any verification of information posted? How does the forum contribute to the community of interest? What has the forum affected (e.g., policy, procedures, information sharing, operation

effectiveness)?

MC080111

Melanie Cummings

Potential Case Studies• Responder Knowledge Base (RKB) – (FEMA)• System Assessment and Validation for

Emergency Responders (SAVER) – (FEMA) • SAFECOM – (OIC)• Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS)• TripWire – (FBI)• Bomb Arson Tracking System (BATS) – (ATF)• Homeland Security Information Network

(HSIN)

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TM

This research will continue the exploration of governance of open systems, particularly open organizations. The research will investigate the following questions (or some set of the thereof!):

What are the characteristics and principles of open system governance? What is aging in open systems and what are the related correction/policing activities? What is an appropriate open system governance conceptual model? Are there patterns there or interest? How can open systems be modeled – assess current state-of-the-art (systems dynamics, agent based, etc.)

Goal: Make a preliminary model environment selection and implement simplified proof of concept

RE080111

Robert Edson

Modeling the Governance of Open Systems

Plug and Play Rules

Members LeadersTechnologistsRoles/

ResponsibilitiesTechnology

Tools Online Spaces

Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3 Iteration n

Drag and Drop Modules

Infrastructure evolution

System assembly

Module maintenanceModule inventory

Trust Internet

Policies and Procedures Decision Rights

Committees/Workgroups

Goals and Objectives

Active

Passive

Infrastructure

Controllers

Integrity Management

Figure 4. Open organization governance framework based on the agile system

principles. The system is comprised of modules, infrastructure and those responsible for integrity management.

The Open Presidential Campaign Extended Enterprise Landscape View (Edson, 2008)

Agile Governance in the Open Organization (Edson, 2008)

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al-Qaeda

Is al-Qaeda a “starfish” or a “spider”?Can al-Qaeda be defeated with today’s US military tactics?Is al-Qaeda a SO-SoS?

In my SDOE 683 term paper, I will attempt to answer these questions from the knowledge gained during the course.

RF080111

Richard Fekecs

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TM

This idea came from a class discussion on how decentralized systems change as they grow

Examples that came to my mind were: American revolutionaries, (they acted as small militias in a very loosely centralized

architecture). As America and its military have grown, the centralized nature has increased. This centralization makes us unable to fight the same guerrilla battles that we once engaged in with ease – why?

Hard Drive Industry. In the book “Inventor’s Dilemma” successful hard drive companies couldn’t compete against new technologies that in habit the same space they came from – I haven’t tied this to decentralization, but am hoping to find something there.

Class discussion revolved around the change in Wikipedia and Diggs. My thought is to explore what is driving the changes

What is the effect of aging on a decentralized system

What threat does aging pose to a decentralized system?

How does growth affect a decentralized system? Are highly effective and efficient (and thereby highly popular) decentralized systems

doomed for centrality as they grow?

Which decentralized systems (if any) already demonstrate this aging effect?

JF080111

Jamie Frittman

Aging Decentralized Systems

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Social Networks in Disaster ResponseHurricane Victims and Spontaneous Volunteers

What social ties are created or broken during or in response to a hurricane ? (btw victims and/or volunteers)

Do these interactions lead victims to respond actively/become spontaneous volunteers?

How do these findings describe the system? (i.e. are they generating functions?)

HG080111

Holly Giles

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At Home in the Universe• Figures 3.3 and 3.4

• Can response be anticipated using the Button and Thread analogy?

• What might cause a phase transition between proactive and passive response?

The Starfish and the Spider• How might decentralized victims be included in a centralized

response?• Is there a “sweet spot”?

TM

BH080111

Brenda Harris

Explore the Relationship of Victims to Disaster Response

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Previous studies of self-organizing system of systems in nature (such as the study of ants) have identified many applications:

Programming “teams” of robots to work togetherPredicting traffic flows as a result of bridge closings, etc.Forecasting troop movement

This study explores another application: simulating the effects of disaster preparedness education on group behavior during a disaster

What applicable business rules can be gleaned from other studies?What is the minimum percent of educated individuals needed to have

a decisive impact on the behavior of the group?

TM

LJ080111

Linda Jameson

Using Agent-Based Modeling to explore the effects of education on

group behavior

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TM

GJ080111

Georganne John

What is the value of leadership in transformation of self-organizing systems (open organizations)?

Open organizations are defined by their process structures & identity

Leadership shapes the organization--organization and the environment shape each other

Organizational stability--partnership with environment--self-organizing dynamics dominate externally induced changes to a point . . .

Environment

Organization

Leadership

Self-organizing capabilities

Information Disturbances

“When a self-organizing system experiences any amplification process, change is at hand. If the amplifications increase to the level where they destabilize the system, the system can no longer remain as it is. At this moment, the system is at a crossroads, standing poised between death and transformation.”

(Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 2006)

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Project: Develop a lexicon with terms that describe the patterns seen throughout SOSoS class

Objectives Define key common patterns (e.g. emergent behavior) Provide examples where these patterns occur within

SOSoS Define key terms unique to specific SOSoS types (e.g.

autocatalysis) Develop bibliography to provide references for lexicon

entries Coordinate with other students developing similar

projects to reduce duplication of effort

NL080111

Nicole Long

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Are Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) such as World of Warcraft and Second life examples of self-organizing

system-of-systems?

What is their evolution – what characteristics are critical to become successful and how will they age?

Do MMOG’s need to have SO characteristics in order to be successful over time?

SM080111

Scott Mathias

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Achieving interoperability:a comparison of patterns in public

safety communications and responses to incidents of

national significance.

The paper will examine the offerings of Cyren Call to build a public safety network in the U.S., compared with those of O2 Airwave to replace the legacy communications system used by the fire and rescue service in the U.K.

The paper will also examine the issue of community interoperability in responses to incidents of national significance to determine if there is commonality between different types of interoperability and how that might be applied to improve effectiveness.

AM080111

Alex McLellan

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Autocatalysis is a well known phenomenon that occurs when the product of a reaction serves as a catalyst for the reaction. Beginning slowly, the rate of the reaction rapidly increases and through voluntary collaboration a regenerative system is born.

How do you get a system to regenerate without someone instructing it to do so?

What causes autocatalysis to occur in an open system?Can you sustain it and if so, how?

In this paper, I will attempt to provide insight to each of these questions by examining an open system (TBD) and attempting to expand upon previous research, specifically, autocatalysis as one of the three enablers for swarming systems and flow versus transition, boost and bound and agent diversity as design principles for autocatalysis.

TM

AP080111

Annette Pacella

What is the value of leadership in transformation of self-organizing systems (open organizations)?

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Project:Develop a “Reader’s Digest” condensed version of Çambel’s bookFocus on correlations to and implications for open systems and the edge of chaos

Answer the following: How can chaos theory

contribute to understanding: Self-adaptive

systems Open systems Operations at the

edge of chaos

PP080111

Paul Peterson

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Seeking to understand the self-organizing characteristics of al-Qaeda members in order to spread their ideology and how certain individuals play key roles in recruiting others to their cause.

What recurring patterns are used within al-Qaeda to recruit members and/or create empathy within different populations?

Given these techniques, what are the roles of individuals within and outside of the organization in recruiting?

In what ways do these roles emerge and display characteristics of self-organization?

How does all of this support al-Qaeda’s agility in the face of the Global War on Terrorism?

TM

TP080111

Trina Powell

al-Qaeda Recruitment

and Self-Recruitment

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Background: World is changing dramatically and at an increased rate due to technology,

cultural development – Can Human Activity Systems keep up? Systems need to be able to balance changes in the ecosystem with function

of the system in order to be successful or to evolve. Positive/Negative feedback mechanisms affect this balance. Positive/Negative feedback mechanisms directly influence cascading failures

and the development of positive/negative SO SoS.Goal:

Investigate and define Positive/Negative feedback mechanisms in two domains: Intra-system and ecosystem

Select case study that may help illuminate principles of positive/negative feedback mechanisms with an aim at how one could architect control mechanisms into a Human Activity SoS that may incentivize balanced SO SoS formation and/or prevent cascading failures.

TM

TS080111

Tavis Steenbeck

Positive and Negative Feedback

in Human Activity SoS

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Open Systems

Define: Open Systems Closed Systems Parities/Disparities

Can we: Categorize Open Systems

What are its characteristics Categorize Closed Systems

What are its characteristics

Does this lead to “types” of Open Systems

SW080111

Scott Wolf

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Contrast O2 Airwave with Verizon’s and Cyren Call’s national public safety networks – using RRS and RA Analysis tools.

Why has this taken so long to implement?

Have decentralized networks within the United States provided this capability?

TM

BY080111

Benjamin Yarish

Collective Action Problem

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Self Organizing Proactive Security(the nature of opportunities)

JW071015

Generating Functions(what are they in general)

PG071015

Subsumption Architecture & Rodney Brooks(produce a film)

BM071015

A Synopsis of: Amity and Enmity V1by Rudolph Starkerman

KS071015

Projects done by the for-credit students in the very first class… before project abstracts were part of the ritual