Addressing System Boundary Issues in Complex Socio-Technical Systems

Systems engineering researchers are familiar with a variety of challenges associated with doing foundational research in complex socio-technical systems. Some foundational issues have been avoided by focusing on applied research questions and ignoring the "socio" of the engineering system under development. Considerations of large-scale engineering systems often present a dilemma of where to draw the line between a system and its environment. How are social, political, economic, and institutional issues addressed? The lack of suitable methodologies for understanding the interface between a technical system and the human and organizational it exists within is a stumbling block. The author suggests a way ahead drawing on the ancestral disciplines of systems science. This approach led to the development of a system safety engineering methodology, System-theoretic Accident Models and Processes (STAMP), which has had signifi cant impact on industry and the practice of safety engineering.

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