Related papers: Scenario Planning and Nanotechnological Futures
We describe algorithms for creating probabilistic scenarios for the situation when the underlying forecast methodology is modeled as being more (or less) accurate than it has been historically. Such scenarios can be used in studies that…
As an introduction to the special issue on "emerging nanotechnologies", this paper puts in perspective contemporary debates and challenges about nanotechnology. It presents an overview of diverse analyses and expectations about this…
The news coverage of events often contains not one but multiple incompatible accounts of what happened. We develop a query-based system that extracts compatible sets of events (scenarios) from such data, formulated as one-class clustering.…
Making conjectures about future consequences of a technology is an exercise in trying to reduce various forms of uncertainty. Both to produce and reason about these conjectures requires understanding their potential limitations. In other…
In most of today's emergency scenarios information plays a crucial role. Therefore, information has to be constantly collected and shared among all rescue team members and this requires new innovative technologies. In this paper a…
With the climate change context, many prospective studies, generally encompassing all areas of society, imagine possible futures to expand the range of options. The role of digital technologies within these possible futures is rarely…
In order to demonstrate the limitations of assistive robotic capabilities in noisy real-world environments, we propose a Decision-Making Scenario analysis approach that examines the challenges due to user and environmental uncertainty, and…
Complex news events, such as natural disasters and socio-political conflicts, require swift responses from the government and society. Relying on historical events to project the future is insufficient as such events are sparse and do not…
Solving cybersecurity issues requires a holistic understanding of components, factors, structures and their interactions in cyberspace, but conventional modeling approaches view the field of cybersecurity by their boundaries so that we are…
Over the past half-century, technology has evolved beyond our wildest dreams. However, while the benefits of technological growth are undeniable, the nascent Internet did not anticipate the online threats we routinely encounter and the…
After a primer on nanotechnology and a review of current educational practices in secondary schools, the concept of just-in-time education is proposed to integrate technosciences and humanities so that both future technoscientists and…
Scenarios elicit possibilities that may be ignored otherwise, as well as causal relations between them. Even when too little information is available to assess reliable probabilities, the structure of linkages between evoked alternatives…
[Spreadsheet] Models are invaluable tools for strategic planning. Models help key decision makers develop a shared conceptual understanding of complex decisions, identify sensitivity factors and test management scenarios. Different…
Forecasting has always been at the forefront of decision making and planning. The uncertainty that surrounds the future is both exciting and challenging, with individuals and organisations seeking to minimise risks and maximise utilities.…
Autonomous systems, such as self-driving vehicles, quadrupeds, and robot manipulators, are largely enabled by the rapid development of artificial intelligence. However, such systems involve several trustworthy challenges such as safety,…
Excellent computer simulations are done for a purpose. The most valid purposes are to explore uncharted territory, to resolve a well-posed scientific or technical question, or to make a design choice. Stand-alone modeling can serve the…
Scientific knowledge and advances are a cornerstone of modern society. They improve our understanding of the world we live in and help us navigate global challenges including emerging infectious diseases, climate change and the biodiversity…
The small world of matter is getting smaller and smaller. Nano sciences in recent years had huge developments allowing nanotechnologies to take enormous steps in the development of materials and processes. Numerous applications in a wide…
With the surge in modern research focus towards Pervasive Computing, lot of techniques and challenges needs to be addressed so as to effectively create smart spaces and achieve miniaturization. In the process of scaling down to compact…
Prospection, the act of predicting the consequences of many possible futures, is intrinsic to human planning and action, and may even be at the root of consciousness. Surprisingly, this idea has been explored comparatively little in…