Open systems science: A challenge to open systems problems

Author

Tokoro, Mario

Abstract

Most of the urgent problems that need to be addressed in the twenty-first century involve open systems. Typical examples are problems related to earth sustainability, life and health, natural disasters, the security and dependability of huge man-made systems, policy making, and so forth. These problems cannot be solved by using conventional scientific approach. In this paper, I propose a new scientific methodology called Open Systems Science. Open Systems Science addresses a problem in an open system by iteratively identifying the most appropriate boundary of the embedding system in order to obtain a satisfactory result. That is to say, in Open Systems Science, we put more emphasis on relationships with surrounding systems. This methodology has been successfully applied in the creation of new research areas that address open system problems in field such as biology, healthcare, food, agriculture, and software/systems engineering.