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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Faculty

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

7. External Funding ($M)

8. Woodward Hall

9. Introduction

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

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

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

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

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

17. Power Law

18. Summary

19. 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

20. Questions?