The Complex Systems Conference 2018 took place on May 14-16 in the New Forest National Park in the UK, where the meeting has taken place annually since 2015.

It was organized by Professor George Rzevski of the Open University and Professor Carlos A. Brebbia of Wessex Institute.

This conference was a tribute to Professor Carlos Brebbia (1948-2018), whose grasp of complex reality opened many inspiring paths within science and animated multiple connections within scientific community for the benefit of knowledge and understanding of the nature.

Technological Institute – the Conference Organizer

Technological Institute – the Conference Organizer

During the conference, participants from many different regions of the world (USA, Russia, Norway, UK, Spain, Germany, Estonia, Hungary) representing a wide variety of disciplines discussed the new applications required for solution of complex issues which cannot be resolved by conventional mathematical or software models.

Particular area of interest is the use of theory of complex adaptive systems, ontologies and multi-agent technology, which has achieved credible application results.

The Conference Program Committee Dinner

The Conference Program Committee Dinner

The Conference covered a wide range of topics in the following general fields:

  • Complexity in Science
  • Digital Ecosystems
  • Complex Adaptive Business
  • Complex Adaptive Healthcare
  • Complex Networks
  • Complexity in Transportation Systems

The Conference was opened by Professor George Rzevski – Chairman of the Conference who presented his keynote address “Coevolution of technology, business and society” with insight on evolution of developments in society, business and technology. Social changes created during technological paradigm shifts in the past were reviewed for the purpose of establishing patterns that can help in forecasting the social change that are likely to follow the current technological revolution. By understanding such patterns of socio-economic changes, we can reasonably predict the impact of digital technology on business and society in the near future.

Professor George Rzevski Presenting His Report

Professor George Rzevski Presenting His Report

Professor Petr Skobelev made two invited presentations: “Towards the digital platform and smart services for managing space traffic” and “Conceptual design of smart farming solution for precise agriculture”.

The first presentation discussed the increasing complexity of modern space traffic in the near-Earth space and outlined the new approach for solving the problem. Professor Skobelev presented requirements and functionality of digital platform for traffic management, as well as examples of problem solving. The developed approach creates new opportunities for managing space traffic and resources of the mission control centers for a large number of spacecrafts. In his presentation, Professor Skobelev also presented possible approaches to description of spacecraft flights, as well as  methods and tools for optimizing the use of ground control complexes to manage large-scale orbital groups. Creation of the digital platform and eco-system of smart services for space traffic management solves the most important problem of space traffic management to increase the effectiveness of the created satellites groups and to protect the spacecrafts from space waste and debris.

Professor Petr Skobelev Presenting His Report

Professor Petr Skobelev Presenting His Report

The second presentation, “Conceptual design of smart farming solution for precise agriculture”, demonstrated precise agriculture as a complex adaptive system with high level of uncertainty and dynamics, in which knowledge is forming experimentally and in a very enterprise-specific way. Professor Skobelev discussed the concept of Smart Farming as an augmented AI solution for precise agriculture. The described solution was designed as a digital eco-system (system of systems) of smart services, where each service, in its turn, is an autonomous AI system. The presentation also discussed functionality of smart services for precise agriculture and the service-oriented architecture of the solution with p2p interaction of services. Professor Skobelev presented ontology-driven knowledge base and multi-agent technology as the key technologies of the solution. Then, the virtual “round table” for coordinated decision making of smart services was introduced. Finally, the report presented results of the first applications, as well as the future steps and expected results.

Panel Discussion Session

Panel Discussion Session

A number of other presentations were focused on the beauty of architecture, digital twins in factory automation and other domains – in the context of the theory of complex adaptive systems.

The 1000-year-old New Forest

The 1000-year-old New Forest