Complex Adaptive Systems Mirsad Hadzikadic Dean, College of Information Technology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Agenda CoIT Introduction Properties Examples Not a CAS Demos Power Law Summary

College of IT Academic Units Centers Laboratories Department of Computer Science Department of Software & Information Systems Programs BS/BA Computer Science BA Software and Information Systems MS CS & IT PH.D IT Certificates, minor Centers National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education eBusiness Technology Institute Center for Computer Security and Assurance Regional Center for Visualization and Analytics Center for Bioinformatics Laboratories Information Integration, Security, and Privacy Information Environments Mobile and Multimedia Communications Software Solutions Computer Forensics Virtual Reality Visualization Robotics Knowledge and Data Discovery Computer Engineering Parallel Processing Imaging, Visualization, and Vision Home Security

Undergraduate Certificate 2004 Enrollment Program CSCI S&IS BA, BS 400 100 Undergraduate Certificate 10 N/A Graduate Certificate 5 30 MS 130 70 Ph.D. IT

Faculty

Research Focus Areas Computer / Information Security Bioinformatics Visualization Networking & Information Environments Intelligent Systems Synergy

External Funding ($M)

Woodward Hall

Introduction

Properties Not-so-intelligent agents, both homogeneous and heterogeneous Local, frequent interactions Non-linear phenomena - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts Adaptation Fitness function (agent and system) Self-organization

Self-organization is a process where the organization of a system spontaneously increases over time, thus enabling the system to cope with the unexpected, and increasingly complex, behavior of the environment it exists in Emergent properties/behavior

Wise Crowds U.S. Submarine Scorpion, 1968 Jelly-beans-in-the-jar Maze The Space Shuttle Challenger Prediction Super Bowl, World Series Iowa Electronics Market Project, Hollywood Stock Exchange Stock Market Corporate Decision Making

The Four Conditions That Characterize Wise Crowds Diversity of Opinion Independence Decentralization Aggregation

Examples Brain Immune System Economy Water Internet, Google Ant Colonies, Slime Mold, Swarms Flocks (boids) Environment Voting, Stock Market

Not a CAS An example of a non-complex system In equilibrium economic models all consumers are identical - no change in preferences or characteristics

Demos NKS LifeLab NetLogo Student Projects Encryption Piracy Pricing Traffic Rebates Pricing Feature Relevance Ants Financial markets

Power Law

Summary

Simple agents, complex interactions Self-organization Non-linearity Improvement over time/feedback Macro emergent behavior “There is plenty of room at the bottom” - Richard Feynman Molecular biology / DNA (biology, chemistry) Quantum mechanics (physics) Nanotechnology (optics) Strings Theory

Questions?