HICSS34 CfP: Agent-Based Simulation and System Dynamics

[George Richardson]

HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES

HICSS-34 January 3-6, 2001
Outrigger Wailea Resort Maui

CALL FOR PAPERS

HICSS provides a forum for the interchange of ideas, research results,
development activities and applications among academicians and
practitioners in the information, computer, and system sciences. HICSS-34
will consist of advanced seminars, tutorials, open forums, task forces,
plenary lectures, a distinguished guest lecture, and the presentation of
accepted manuscripts which emphasize research and development activities in
several areas of the system sciences. Papers may be theoretical, conceptual,
tutorial or descriptive in nature. Submissions undergo a peer referee
process and those selected for presentation at the conference will be
published in the Conference Proceedings. Submissions must not have been
previously published.

TRACK
Decision Technologies for Management

Minitrack
Agent-Based Simulation and System Dynamics

At its most basic level, economics addresses the following problem - there
are n agents interacting with each other in markets. We want to find out the
equilibrium set of actions of each of the agents in each of the markets as
well as the associated prices and quantities. As agents and markets increase
in number, the computing power required to solve this problem increases
exponentially, and inversely with the level of precision, that one wishes to
achieve. It is clear that for an even moderately complex economic model
there is very little hope of actually solving them. One solution to this
conundrum is to have agent-based models. Here, the power and intelligence of
real life markets is mimicked in the laboratory populated by agents that act
in markets exactly as they are supposed to do in real life. Rather than
trying to compute the solution to models, we actually let the market
mechanism find one for us. The computing power required now only increases
exponentially in the number of markets. This agent-based economy approach
can be adapted to a very wide range of applications as has been shown in the
work emerging from the Santa Fe Institute. A different approach to the same
problem is provided by the modeling tradition of System Dynamics developed
at MIT. SD modeling rests on the idea of feedback, or circular causality,
inherent in nonlinear systems. The observer/SD modeler attempts to capture
causal relationships between elements of a given system by describing its
feedback structure with a multiplicity of positive and negative feedback
loops. Carefully formulated models are able to simulate the behavior of a
complex real system at an aggregate level. Identifying leverage points and
applying structural changes in such SD models help pre-testing real system
changes and implementing new policies. Agent-based and SD simulation models
have a capacity to deliver overlapping and complementing insights when
applied to the same problems.

This minitrack is a premier presentation forum for the latest ideas and
results in the area of agent-based adaptive simulation and/or SD-based
simulation. We seek research papers, case studies and practitioner reports
relating to agent-based and/or SD-based simulation methods, environments,
and methodologies. Contributions, in which both agent-based and SD modeling
techniques are employed, are highly welcome.

Relevant topics for this minitrack include (but are not limited to):
* Cross-sectional Agent-Based and SD studies
* Business Applications and Case Studies
* Architectures and Environments
* Standards
* Experimental Studies
* Large Scale Simulations
* Web-Based Simulations
* Model Verification, Validation and Calibration
* Solution Comparisons
* Integration With Decision Models
* Constructive and Destructive Agents
* Artificial Organizations, Societies and Economies


IMPORTANT DEADLINES

April 15, 2000
Abstracts submitted to Minitrack Chairs for guidance and indication of
appropriate content. (Optional for some minitracks - Check with chair)

June 1, 2000
Full papers submitted to Minitrack Chairs. Contact the chairs in advance
for specific submission instructions.

August 31, 2000
Notice of accepted papers mailed to Authors.

October 1, 2000
Accepted manuscripts submitted electronically. Authors MUST
register for the conference by this date


INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAPER SUBMISSION
1. Contact the minitrack chair in advance for submission instructions.
Otherwise, submit six (6) copies of the full paper, consisting of 22-26
double-spaced pages, including diagrams, directly to the appropriate
minitrack chair.

2. Do not submit the manuscript to more than one minitrack chair. Papers
should contain original material and not be previously published, or
currently submitted for consideration elsewhere.

3. Each paper must have a title page to include title of the paper, full
name of all authors, and complete addresses including affiliation(s),
Telephone number(s), and e-mail address(es).

4. The first page of the manuscript should include only the title and a
300-word abstract of the paper.

CHECK THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE FOR CURRENT INFORMATION
HTTP://WWW.HICSS.HAWAII.EDU

HICSS Proceedings are published and distributed by the IEEE Computer
Society Press.

2001 CONFERENCE VENUE
Outrigger Wailea Resort
Wailea, Maui, Hawaii

Minitrack Chairs
Alok Chaturvedi, Krannert School of Management Purdue University,West
Lafayette, IN 47907 USA Office: (765) 494-9048 Fax: (765) 494-1526
e-mail: alok@mgmt.purdue.edu

Daniel R. Dolk, Naval Postgraduate School (Code IS/Dk), Monterey, CA 93943
Office: (831) 656-2260 Fax: (831) 656-3407 e-mail: drdolk@nps.navy.mil

Jan Dickieson, Office of Naval Research (Code 342), 800 No. Quincy Street
, Arlington, VA 22217-5660 Phone: 703 696-9660 Fax:703 696-9777 e-mail:
dickiej@onr.navy.mil

Hans J (Jochen) Scholl , Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy
University at Albany / SUNY, Albany, NY 12222 Office: (518) 442-3937 Fax:
(518) 442-3886 email: jscholl@ctg.albany.edu

Hans J. (Jochen) Scholl
Center for Technology
in Government/University at Albany/SUNY
phone (518) 442-3937
fax (518) 442-3886
alternate email: JocScholl@aol.com
ICQ 46430532

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
George P. Richardson G.P.Richardson@Albany.edu
Chair, Dept. of Public Administration and Policy 518-442-5258
Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy 518-442-5298
University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222 http://www.albany.edu/~gpr
-------------------------------------------------------------------------