Complex Systems and Systems of Systems Engineering

Conclusion

Following on from the publication of works concerning the concepts, methods, tools and domains of application of systems engineering and system-of-systems engineering and a work on modeling and simulation, the present work goes into greater depth regarding these notions. It the specifies the dimensions of complexity that characterize large-scale systems and shows the application of these notions through two case studies, while highlighting the fact that certain challenges and issues remain.

So, can we take an optimistic view of the current situation?

We should remember that systems engineering, which emerged in the 1950s, benefits from a corpus of material based around advances in cybernetics, information theory and systems theory in more general terms. It is therefore built on unshakeable scientific and mathematical foundations, and on paradigm breaking: from Cartesian principles to principles of cybernetics, teleology, holism, opening, etc. Systems engineering has been progressively enriched by technological and methodological developments throughout its 60 years of existence.

These considerable and sometimes “forgotten” acquisitions and the evolutions of our world mean we are confronted with a number of challenges and issues in terms of mastering complex systems (evolution in the way engineering is taught, organizational developments and the growing place of information processing and management activities mean that an Office suite and an email account are now indispensable ...