It’s nice to learn new things every once in a while. I’m not a mathematician but I am definitely intrigued by the way some things work and how they can be studied. Recently I have been investigating lately about agent-based modeling.

Agent-based modeling is a relatively new science that is being used to analyse systems that are composed of many elements. In the Cassiopeia project, these elements are the airplanes, airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, and the passengers.

The nice thing about the agent-based models (ABMs) is that we can assign some decision making attributes to each element and see what happens when we run the program. Another important aspect of ABMs is that we can design the strategy of some elements, since sometimes what’s best for a single element is not the best for the team.

To put this in context, we can look at Russell Crowe’s character ¨John Nash¨ in the movie “A Beautiful Mind.¨ In one scene, his character explains that a group strategy does not necessarily require each member to achieve best possible outcome individually (which was in their case, for no one to approach the blonde woman). Often times when studying aircraft, we need to approach problems in a similar way- figuring out the group strategy that suits everyone in a collective sense. An example of this would be the distribution of delay amongst all the aircraft rather than having a few aircraft support the entire delay. This becomes a bit challenging as it would be much more easier and convenient to have solutions be based on key individual factors (one man approaches the woman; few aircraft bear the burden of delay), however we learn and demonstrate in the Casseiopeia project that agent-based modeling is actually the best way to resolve situations. In the end more is benefited from a involving multiple elements rather than just a few.

IBM first created ¨SmartCamp¨ as a worldwide competition for entrepreneurs in which they select the best technology- based on the proposed solution to help build a smarter world. The Startups technology must be aligned with the main IBM Smarter Planet main objectives and startegy. This is the first time that Spain will be hosting an IBM SmartCamp competition.

IBM SmartCamp is ¨is an exclusive global program bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and experienced mentors who want to build a Smarter Planet. SmartCamp provides access to world-class advisors plus a direct route to seed and venture capital.¨ The aim of SmartCamp is to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs to exploit opportunities in growth sections such as energy, healthcare, telecommunications, consumer goods and public administration.

The president of The Innaxis Foundation and Research Institute is also one of the founders of SkyBus. The event will take place in Barcelona, Spain on June 14th and will include mentoring sessions and networking opportunities with investors, marketing professionals and tech experts. Registration and the complete event programme can be viewed here.

To view the video pitch for SkyBus along with the pitches of the other finalists, please visit this page.

FET11 aims to provide a unique forum dedicated to future and emerging information technologies. It proves to be successful in bringing together scientists, policy makers, industrialists, and other stakeholders to discuss the latest breakthroughs and challenges within the industry.

The parallel session organised by Innaxis explored the ways in which Complex Systems science has had a role in the modelling, control, simulation, and governance of the future Energy System. Within the session a foundation was laid for a new research community to be able to formulate innovative approaches to help pave the way for future European-scale initiatives.

Other speakers included:

Pablo Viejo, European Institute for Energy Research,

Nikos Hatziargyrio, National Technical University of Athens, and

Daniele Miorandi, The ComplexEnergy Project

An insightful discussion was held throughout the session as a wide variety of professionals were brought together including some from Salzburg Research, Innova, and Smartlab-University of Genova.

Copies of the ComplexEnergy White Paper were also distributed to the attendees.

The presentation given by Carlos Alvarez introducing and kicking off the parallel session can be found here:

www.innaxis.org/docs/2011.05.05 ComplexEnergy Session.pdf

Any questions or comments can be sent directly to info@innaxis.org.

ComplexWorld will held the first Annual Conference in Seville on July 6-8, 2011 and it will be hosted by the School of Engineering of the University of Seville.

The ComplexWorld Annual Conference is intended as a forum for Air Traffic Management scientists and PhD students, Complexity Science researchers and the ComplexWorld Network community, including Members, Participants, and SESAR WP-E investigators.

The aim of the Conference is to bring together researchers from academia, research establishments, and industry that share common interests and expertise in the field of ATM Complexity Management that lies at the intersection of Complexity Science and ATM.

On the 21rst of October, Madri+d posted an announcement of the official launch of ComplexWorld in their online weekly newsletter.

Madri+d is a network that brings together public and private research institutions and industry with de aim of improving regional competitiveness by transfer of knowledge. As one of the few resources that compiles all Spanish R&D news, it is a widely renowned as the go-to place for the latest articles from the government, industry, and academia.

The article stresses the aim of the network as bringing together researchers from universities, research establishments, and companies that share common interests and expertise in the study of Air Traffic Management from the Complexity Science perspective. The ComplexWorld network is led by Innaxis. More information can be found here.

The article, written in spanish, reaches out to a large Spanish community and motivates them to become involved with the network and with European initiatives in general.

The Network is moving at a fast pace and the news concerning it has been widely disseminated. Please refer to the past blog post concerning the Network´s first draft of the White Paper as well as the SESAR WP-E Network Call for PhDs. Any questions can be sent to info@complexworld.eu.

The ComplexWorld Network will soon be opening a private space within Innaxis´s collaborative wiki-like site so as to share with all Network Participants additional, useful information (e.g. pointers to the White Paper references). More news regarding this will be published next week.

In addition to the first draft of the White Paper, the Network has officially opened the Call for PhDs. The Call is open to anyone who is aiming to start a PhD in a theme related to the ComplexWorld Network. The Call will be closing on December 1st, 2010.

If you have not done so already, please remember to join the Network´s  LinkedIn Group. It is a great way to engage in discussions and network with other Participants.

Finally, if you are not a Participant and you are interested in receiving the White Paper and the Call for PhDs, please contact us about formally registering your entity. The Network is opened to all types of entities that would like to join in this collaborative initiative. Questions or comments can be sent to: info@complexworld.eu.

The ComplexWorld Network, funded by the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Programme within Work-Package E, will be holding its first Annual Workshop on the 6th-8th of July, 2011, in Seville (Spain).

This Workshop will be pivotal since the Network´s development for the entire first year will be discussed. Findings from the White Paper will be presented, as well as progress from the WP-E Complexity projects and the ComplexWorld PhD Programme. Also, the Workshop will include selected presentations on Complexity Science and ATM by Network Members, Participants and external scientists.

All Participants and interested entities are invited to attend the Workshop. We will be informing all of the Participants and interested entities as the details are developed. If you would like to become a Participant and be included in our distribution list please send us an email at info@complexworld.eu.

For more information regarding the ComplexWorld network and the research topics explored, please check out the network´s website at: www.complexworld.eu .

www.complexenergy.eu.

ComplexEnergy is an initiative led by The Innaxis Foundation and Research Institute and Create-Net with the purpose of bridging the ICT, Energy, and Complex Systems research communities. ComplexEnergy aims to find out challenging and innovative research threads which improve the understanding and modelling of energy systems from a comprehensive perspective, conceiving them as Complex Systems.

The White Paper discusses why the Energy System can be understood as a Complex System and how Complexity Science can contribute in improving its understanding and predictability. The White Paper is the result of a coordinated effort between researchers of the three fields who have contributed interesting ideas and fruitful comments to the document.

Innaxis believes in promoting this innovative idea and looking at challenges from a different perspective. The White Paper is a significant accomplishment for the ComplexEnergy initiative and we hope to continue to move forward in this direction. To read the White Paper please click here, we hope the document will catalyze new ideas and further development on this frontier. All comments and questions are welcomed at: info@innaxis.org.

ComplexEnergy is supported by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme within the ICT theme of the Seventh Framework Programme.

This permits Innaxis to participate in certain events and activities of the UNFCCC. There are over 1,297 observer organisations around the world with only 16 from Spain.

This is a great accomplishment for Innaxis and the environmental research treads that Innaxis is promoting; we look forward to collaborating with other observer organisations and talking to influential individuals about the key topics of today.

After many revisions and discussions, a first draft of the ComplexEnergy White Paper has become available. Members of the Expert Panel also contributed to the advancement of the White Paper and will continue to do so until the paper becomes finalised.

The White Paper is one of the deliverables for the ComplexEnergy initiative. The project, funded by the European Commission´s 7th Framework Programme, focusses on Complex Systems for an ICT-enabled Energy System. The activities of the project can be described as the following:

• Bridge the gap between Complex Systems, ICT and Energy research communities.
• Identify the potential of ICT-enabled energy modelling, control, and management solutions built on the results of Complex Systems Science.
• Propose future FET initiatives at the junction of ICT, Energy and Complex Systems.
• Magnification of the level of awareness, at European scale, of the potential impact of advanced ICT techniques implementing concepts and tools from Complex Systems research for the design and governance of the energy system.

The draft version of the White Paper can be found on the ComplexEnergy website here .  The draft is intended to stimulate discussion and comments from the public. Considering that the ComplexEnergy initiative is a crossover between the ICT, Energy, and Complex Systems disciplines, many professionals are sure to find the paper interesting.

Any type of feedback and comments are welcomed and can be sent to: innovation@innaxis.org .

On the 19th of July, Innaxis along with the other Network Members: University of Seville, DLR, NLR, University of Palermo, and the University of Westminster joined up with members of Eurocontrol and the SJU to discuss the future of the Network.

This 1.6M€ network that will span over four years is expected to provide a structured way to build research knowledge, competence and capability that should serve the industry in the long term. Currently the network titled ComplexWorld, has over 40 interested Participants.

The Network has laid out the Work Programme and Research Trends along with other useful information on their website: www.complexworld.eu .

Interested individuals and entities may contact the Network members for more information through their website and also by email: info@complexworld.eu .

SESAR has also launched WP-E Projects. Documentation for the call can be found here . The closing date is the 26th of October.

To register for the event please: 1. Register in the UIMP system: here and then continue on to register for the event.

The Innaxis Foundation & Research Institute will be sponsoring a conference at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo from the 28-30 of June. Along with the conference, Innaxis is also promoting the opportunity to be given a scholarship for a summer course. Information and registration can be found here.

The conference is titled, ¨The Triangle of Knowledge¨ and follows a very innovative structure. The topics of the presentations and discussions follow a circle of thought-provoking issues that are important this day in age. This circle of themes are the following:

- Society and Science

- Science and Government

- Science and Business

- Government and Business

- Business and Society

ending with a concluding theme of  Innovation and Financing.

The conference will be sure to cover an interesting array of perspectives as the Director of the conference will be José Manuel Silva Rodríguez, the Director General of Research for the European Commission.

Invited speakers include:

Cristina Garmendia, the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain;

Profesor Andreu Mas Colell, Secretary General of the European Research Council;

Juan Mulet, General Director of COTEC;

Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines, Member of the European Parliament;

Profesor Carlos Romeo Casabona, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of the Basque Country and member of the European Research Area Board;

Carmen Becerril, President of Acciona Energía;

Dr. Martin Schuurmans, President of the European Institute of Technology (EIT);

Francisco Jariego, Strategic Director of Telefónica I+D;

Carmen Vela, General Director of INGENASA;

Juan Tomás Hernani, Secretary General of Innovation at the Ministry of Science and Innovation-Spain;

Carlos da Silva Costa, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank;

Antonio Álvarez Pinilla, Managing Director of the European Centre for Soft Computing; and

Antonio Giralt, President of Mercado Alternativo Bursátil (MAB).

For those that would like to attend the conference, please visit this page and then click on the link on the top right titled ´Matrícula / Beca / Pago on-line ´ . If you are not a registered user of the UIMP, registration is fast and easy and furthermore open to all.

Scholarship information can be found here.

On May 8th, the European Reflection group published the 46 page report that examined the European Union´s present state and examined problems and challenges that will need to be overcome in order to maintain a strong presence within the world. May 8th, or Europe Day, and the 60th anniversary of the Schumann Declaration, this date proved to be fitting for the publication of the influential report.

Written in a straight-forward tone, and taking into account many aspects, the report provides a clear view of what the European Union needs to do. The group of 12 experts were contracted to do just that; assist the European Union more effectively anticipate and meet challenges in the longer term horizon of 2020 to 2030.

The Reflection Group write about a global economic crisis, states coming to the rescue of banks, climate change, downward pressure on wages, energy dependence and terrorism. Although it may scare the average European citizen, perhaps a report so truthful is what is needed to stimulate change.

The report states that the European Union must introduce measures, modify behaviour and correct dynamics if it wants to allow its institutions to really make life easier for its citizens, as well as restoring their enthusiasm for, and confidence in, a project which is going through one of its most difficult periods, recommended the ex-Spanish president Felipe González on behalf of the group.

The overall main message of the report is that the top priority must remain in creating jobs and growth. The full report can be found on the European Reflection´s Group website here.

The Innaxis Foundation & Research Institute is proud to have helped the European Reflection Group construct their report. We provided a secure, collaborative intranet that allowed each member as well as any persons involved in the initiative to document all meetings and progress in one organised database. We are also very grateful that they have thanked us publicly in their report.

The proposal has much interest- about 43 entities have registered to be participants of the network, with 25 of them being universities.

The proposal was submitted to the offices of Eurocontrol on the 8th of April, 2010. Any news received hereafter will be communicated to all members and participants.

If you´d like to get in touch with Innaxis concerning the WP-E proposal, you may email info@complexworld.eu . The website, http://www.ComplexWorld.eu will be continuously updated this week.

INX Researcher Massimiliano Zanin was invited to be a professor at the Winter School of Dynamics of Complex Systems that went from the 3rd of November to the 4th of December. This was the second time he was invited to give lectures at this Winter School.

The Winter School is organised by the Centro Universitario de Los Lagos of the Universidad de Guadalajara . The other invited professors included:

Dr. Steffano Boccaletti from the Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi ,
Dr. Javier Martín Buldú from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos,
Dr. Nikolai Rulkov from the University of California, San Diego specifically the Institute for Nonlinear Science, and
Dr. R. Stoop from the Swiss Material Science Institute (EMPA) renamed the Swiss Federal Labortories for Materials Testing and Research .

The entire Winter School was focussed on Complex Networks and Complexity Science and its various applications. Massimiliano Zanin gave presentations concerning the ´The complex world of the Aeronautical Transportation System´ .  The Winter School was a success as afterwords, some of the invited professors including Massimiliano, were invited to interview on the university´s official radio station.

Below please find a few photos of Massimiliano giving his lecture at the Winter School. There is also a sound clip from his interview with the radio station. Although it is in spanish, the 4 minute clip clearly explains his experience as an invited professor and the applications of complexity science to the air transportation network.

Click to hear Massimiliano´s Interview

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://blog.innaxis.org/2010/02/12/inx-researcher-massimiliano-zannin-spreads-c-s-knowledge-in-mexico/feed/ 0 innaxis Massimiliano giving lecture at Winter School Massimiliano along with the Winter School professors and organisers Massimiliano´s Radio Interview