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STO Breakout Session 1: Wrangling Complexity (DARPA "Wait, What?")

1,367 views · Published 15 September 2015 · 1:18:10 · Indexed 4 November 2026

Channel: DARPAtv · 2015 · Science & Technology

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"Wrangling Complexity: Designing Systems that Work" was a breakout session at DARPA's "Wait, What?" forum. It was hosted by DARPA's Strategic Technology Office and moderated by Nan Mattai, senior vice president of engineering and technology at Rockwell Collins. Participants included John G. Clark, Kathleen Fisher, Evan Fortunato and Richard Murray. 

Today's complex and sophisticated technologies are built from components that assemble into mid-level systems that, in turn, integrate into systems of systems. 
Automobiles…civilian and military aircraft…the Internet…the Global Positioning System…the power grid…communications satellites…. All are systems of systems, embodying this architecture's disadvantages (including intense complexity and a need for unprecedented coordination) and advantages (including the potential for synergistic effects and smaller odds of catastrophic failure if one of several components fails or is lost). 

As we as individuals and a nation come to rely increasingly on these systems of systems, we need to develop new design principles and methods that help us maximize their potential benefits and minimize their risks. Participants discussed the technical, design, logistical, operational and other challenges associated with systems of systems in both civilian and military contexts.

https://www.darpa.mil/events/rewinds/wait-what

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