System
Dynamics
Society
INNSOR NOTES —
33" International Conference of the System Dynamics Society
Cambridge, Massachusetts July 19-23, 2015
August 2015
Volume 10
FE, rom Our Sponsors
We at VENTANA SYSTEMS AND GREENWOOD STRATEGIC ADVISORS greatly
enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones at the conference this year. VENTANA
NTANA Vensim.
While we haven't made a marketing splash of it, this has been a momentous time for
us, with the release of Ventity in a public beta test. Ventity is a new simulation software
package that complements Vensim. This software is an effort to combine the best aspects Gr e enwood
of traditional System Dynamic tools, operational and visual thinking and freedom from Strategic Advisors
programming, with modularity supporting sectors, agents and collaboration. It replaces
arrays with lists of entities, making equations easier to write, and adding the ability to
dynamically create and delete structure and conveniently represent sparse matrices like
project prerequisites and social networks. It has a new, clean look and a flexible development environment. See Ventity.biz for details.
Meanwhile, we're continuing the evolution of Vensim in parallel, with interface refinements, XMILE support and even more speed
in the works. We were gratified to see in the proceedings many fine examples of work developed in Vensim and powered by Vensim
servers.
With our partners, Greenwood Strategic Advisors, we are working on management platforms for a range of dynamic systems, like:
* Metropolitan sustainability — energy, economic, environmental, and societal;
* Disequilibrium economics of the Eurozone debt crisis;
* Large-scale project management and valuation of delay and disruption;
¢ Health care system performance, economics and pharmaceutical marketing; and
¢ Risk and reserves in financial loan portfolios.
Reinventing Life on a Shrinking Earth requires broad understanding of new models, created with new tools. We are proud to be part of
that transformation.
Ventana Systems, Inc. - y com * G d Strategic Advisors AG - g) d-ag.com
continued
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Orther Conference News
We encourage you to complete the brief, online Post-conference Survey and share your thoughts. It is available on the conference website
for a limited time.
The anticipated publication date of the web p dings is the end of September. At that time, an e-mail notice with a link to the web
proceedings will be sent. There will be an option to purchase a print version and a CD-ROM version of the full proceedings.
As soon as possible, we will post photographs from the conference on the website; an e-mail message will be sent when they are available.
If you have photos to share, please send them to us to add to the website collection. (If there is a photograph of you on the web that you
would prefer us to remove, please let us know at conference@systemdynamics.org.)
The Call for Papers is available on the Society website for the 2016 Delft, Netherlands Conference. Please take a look and plan to attend.
Conf e Notes 2015
It was a pleasure to connect with so many of you at this year’s conference. Our special thanks
go out to the Society and all of you who helped prepare for and conduct the event.
For those we did not get to speak with, here is an update on our System Dynamics work. PA
CONSULTING GROUP’S strategy and modeling experts work with major organizations to help
solve some of their most important challenges. We combine world-class analysis expertise with
in-depth industry knowledge to develop practical and enduring solutions. We help clients with
a range of issues such as:
Corporate strategy and market analysis — Analyzing company and market behavior
under different scenarios to identify actions and strategies that deliver superior, sustained
performance.
Government policy, planning and assessment — Addressing complex government challenges
for issues such as regional stability, major program acquisition, smart cost reduction,
healthcare, transportation, and energy policy.
Improving performance on major projects - Understanding strategic risks and finding leverage points to improve performance on
large, complex programs, and project portfolios.
Negotiation support and dispute resolution — Analyzing business dynamics to help quantify and explain issues in dispute, working
with stakeholders to help reach agreement in negotiations, mediations, and legal disputes including serving as expert witnesses.
PA Consulting Group is a leading management, IT, and technology consulting firm, using a wide range of services to help clients
around the globe from our headquarters in London and our offices in Europe, the US, the Gulf, and Asia/Pacific.
Our Strategic Analytics and System Dynamics Work is Growing. We are interested in sharp, well-rounded, analytical people
committed to making a difference by solving complex problems in close cooperation with clients and colleagues. While we are hiring
outstanding people with a range of capability across PA, we have a special interest in candidates with System Dynamics expertise.
Candidates should be passionate about helping clients tackle tough and unstructured challenges and be willing to stretch themselves
on many fronts. To learn more about our team please contact Kathy Tran kathy.tran@paconsulting.com or 1 (617) 225-2700.
We look forward to seeing you in Delft, if not before!
Experience Multimethod Modeling!
ANYLOGIC is the only simulation tool that supports all the most common simulation Se
methodologies in place today: System Dynamics, Process-centric (AKA Discrete Event), and ny OgIC
Agent Based modeling.
The unique flexibility of the modeling language enables the user to capture the complexity
and heterogeneity of business, economic, and social systems to any desired level of detail. AnyLogic’s graphical interface, tools, and
library objects allow you to quickly model diverse areas such as manufacturing and logistics, business processes, human resources,
and consumer and patient behavior.
The object-oriented model design paradigm supported by AnyLogic provides for modular, hierarchical, and incremental construction
of large models. AnyLogic is a simulation software for the entire business lifecycle.
AnyLogic Conference 2015 * November 4th and 5th, Philadelphia, PA, USA. The fourth annual AnyLogic Conference will continue
to prove the power of collaboration, not only with the AnyLogic team, but other experienced model developers. Don’t miss the
opportunity to see how AnyLogic is being applied across multiple industries, experience innovative ideas and expand your vision of
AnyLogic software.
For your convenience, the two day event falls directly after the INFORMS Annual Meeting. INFORMS attendees should plan to stay
Wednesday evening and join us for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning presentations. The Conference will be held in the
Trumbauer Ballroom of Le Meridien Philadelphia Hotel. The hotel is less than a half mile from the INFORMS venue.
In addition to the Conference presentations and multiple networking events, the AnyLogic Conference will offer an optional training
course Wednesday morning prior to Conference registration and presentation proceedings.
Conf e Notes 2015
It was a pleasure to see so many friends and to make new ones at the System Dynamics
Conference in Cambridge. STRATEGY DYNAMICS genuinely appreciates the support,
feedback, and encouragement we received. Strategy e@
dynamics
Sysdea — Online Simulation software - sysdea.com A substantial upgrade has been released
and we had great feedback from visitors to our booth. The software is FREE for all users until
the end of September, 2015, so why not take a look? Individuals holding a faculty post will .. creators of
continue to have access to free accounts after that date, and standard subscriptions revert to
$15/month (+ tax where applicable). Plans for enabling access at the K-12 level are also in sy Ss d ea
progress, as well as a range of additional features. ys¢ software
Agile System Dynamics Workshop Kim Warren's “Agile System Dynamics” was recorded
but a workshop video from the Delft conference provides a better introduction — see sdl.re/
AgileDelftWS. The video is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. A complementary presentation, also
recorded at Delft, “agiles SD: Fast, Effective, Reliable,” is also available at sdl.re/ AgileDelft.
Online B 1 d line.com Our suite of “Microworld” business simulations are now established online at
sdgamesonline.com: “White Label ‘Restaurants” and “People Express” are now available. More are due to go online soon.
For more information on any of our activities or products email us at contact@strategydynamics.com.
WHOLE SYSTEMS PARTNERSHIP (WSP) was pleased to see a thriving community Whole
explore the wide range of contributions that System Dynamics (SD) is making to both
the academic and practical challenges facing us in ‘reinventing life on a shrinking earth’ Systems
at the recent conference in Cambridge MA. Such a challenge is, of course, not simply a Pa rtnersh ip
‘one year’ wonder but a lifelong challenge, as any System Dynamics practitioner used to
working with delays will be only too aware.
Participants at the conference will have their own ‘take aways’. For WSP the themes of sustainability and capability have been useful
reminders as we support policy and strategy work in the health and social care sector in the United Kingdom. We believe that both
these themes require significant contributions from the ‘intangibles’ we seek to capture in our understanding and therefore modelling
of the systems we are part of. WSP is continuing to work in developing the concept of Relational Value as an important component of
sustainable change-early thoughts on this, as well as the wide range of other SD supported work in the UK health sector can be found
at our website thewholesystem.co.uk.
We look forward to seeing you in Delft........
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Join the Wholefood Revolution with EAT NAKD!
Eat Nakd was proud to be a first-time sponsor of this year’s System Dynamics Society
Conference. Natural Balance Foods is a young British company devoted to increasing world
happiness with yummy, healthy snacks, humor, and helpfulness. They are the UK’s best selling
natural snack bar and are available in 28 other countries (and counting). In the US they are
currently available on our website at EatNakd.com or on Amazon. We hope you enjoyed an
assortment of bars during the conference and that you will explore more of our delicious
flavors soon. We will begin major domestic retail distribution sometime later this year.
The modern snack is swiftly evolving—and must. As people move away from hyper-processed, low-nutrient foods and embrace
new wholefood alternatives, Eat Nakd will be here to help provide the peace of mind and wide-ranging health benefits consumers
increasingly expect. People are delighted when they discover Eat Nakd bars are simply fruits and nuts ‘smooshed’ together, and
therefore not only taste good, but are good for you too! Hope you like them as much as we do!
Conf e Notes 2015
LUNDBERG FAMILY FARMS was honored to be asked to support the Systems Dynamics
Society Conference in Cambridge this summer. We provided a conference satchel for all
attendees with the image of Albert Lundberg’s vintage Farmall tractor on one side and the
Society logo on the other.
Lundberg Family Farms is committed to producing the finest quality rice and rice products for
your family. Since 1937, the Lundberg family has been growing healthy, great tasting rice while
respecting and sustaining the earth. Today, the third and fourth generations carry on the family 3
heritage by using eco-positive farming methods that produce wholesome, healthful rice, rice cakes, rice Oey
chips, and risottos while improving and protecting the environment for generations to come.
CRISPY GREEN was happy to be a part of the System Dynamics Society Conference this year in
Cambridge, MA! We heard that our Crispy Fruit snacks were a real winner with the participants, C fat spy Gree. Nn.
so we'd like to extend a special offer to those who have attended! For a downloadable coupon z c
that offers $1.00 OFF two single bags of Crispy Fruit, please go to crispygreen.com/cg-online-
coupon!
¢ Light and flavorful * No additives or preservatives
¢ Retain nearly all the nutrients of fresh fruit © No fat, no cholesterol
¢ Long shelf-life ¢ Less than 55 calories per bag
* Convenient-have natural fruit at your fingertips Seven great flavors: apple, Asian pear, mango,
all the time banana, cantaloupe, pineapple and tangerine
Feed your body and your mind with 100% pure fruit, nothing else! Our healthy and delicious freeze-dried fruit snacks are the perfect
solution for a snack attack anytime, anywhere!
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES would like to thank the System Dynamics Society for the Sandia
opportunity to again sponsor the conference. We believe that our sponsorship expresses the sentiment
of our motto, “Exceptional service in the national interest.” Our staff was able to volunteer to help National i
make the conference the success it was and those of us that attended enjoyed and learned. Thank you Laboratories
to everyone who spoke with us and visited our display. We hope to meet all of you again in Delft in
2016.
It was great for everyone from ISEE SYSTEMS to see so many old friends and new faces at the <
Cambridge conference this year. From the summer school held at WPI before the conference (a «> | S e e
fantastic experience), to the Thursday workshops, the two bookends of teaching were surrounded by wy systems
lots of learning, talking and fun. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
With the release of Stella Professional, 2015 has been a very exciting year for isee systems and we were delighted with the interest the
software generated during the conference. The XMILE standard also passed an important milestone and is under formal review to,
hopefully, be approved as an OASIS standard very soon. There is growing interest and activity around XMILE (xmile.systemdynamics.
org) and we had a great meeting during the conference; the benefits of a standard are already starting to be seen.
Special congratulations go to Therese Bennich, Tom Bongers and David Collste; they are the recipients of the 2015 Barry Richmond
Scholarship award for their work on exploring degrowth pathways. We are excited to see a new generation thinking forward about
what to do next at the community, country, and global level.
We look forward to seeing you next year in Delft, and would be happy to hear from you before then. Visit us at iseesystems.com for
more information.
Conference Sponsor Notes. 2015
The INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE SYSTEMS SCIENCES (ISSS) is committed to the
investigation and implementation of inter- and transdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex
systems, and remains perhaps the most broadly inclusive. Beginning in 1954 at the Stanford Center
for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, it was then formally established as an affiliate of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1956. The initial purpose of the
society was to encourage the development of theoretical systems that are applicable to more than one
of the traditional departments of knowledge. Since then, the ISSS has expanded its scope to include the
practical application of systems methodologies to problem solving. ISSS welcomes interdisciplinary
thinkers interested in all systems, e.g. physical systems, biological systems, social systems, ecological
systems. It brings together scholars and practitioners from across academic, business, government, and
not-for-profit communities to learn together. In 2015, Professor Ray Ison presided at the 59th Annual
Meeting of the ISSS in Berlin August 2-7; the conference theme of “Governing the Anthropocene”. At
the conference, a worldwide community of system people--researchers, consultants, and students--convened for a week of thought-
provoking presentations, informal workshops, and sharing ideas on advances in systems. The 60th meeting of ISSS, July 23-28, 2016,
will be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA; our President is Dr John Kineman. For further information about either
meeting, please consult our website: isss.org/conferences/ or contact the office at enquiryisss@gmail.com.
i
The GEORGIA HEALTH POLICY CENTER (GHPC) at Georgia State University was proud to sponsor Geo re 1a
this year’s System Dynamics Society Conference in Cambridge. What an exciting meeting! We were OY I tea an h Policy
pleased to meet and connect with so many of you. . Center
For those of you not able to stop by our booth or attend our Thursday morning workshop, we
welcome opportunities for you to learn more about the GHPC and our System Dynamics work. We would also value learning about
your techniques for engaging decision-makers on important policy issues using System Dynamics tools.
The Georgia Health Policy Center is a research center within the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University,
working to improve health at the community level. We provide evidence-based research, program development, and policy guidance
locally, statewide, and nationally.
The GHPC has been leading efforts in the U.S. to engage with policymakers on important health policy issues using conversational
systems thinking skills, stock and flow maps, and simple and complex models with the goal of moving policymakers into evidence-
based, more collaborative decision-making. For more information and to watch a video on this unique program, please visit our
website at ghpc.gsu.edu.
In conjunction with our partner, Pontifex Consulting (findinghighleverage.com), we continue to explore ways to engage decision-
makers and improve research translation into policy and practice, using System Dynamics tools. For more information, please contact
Rachel Ferencik at rachel@gsu.edu.
ed
The Brown School’s SOCIAL SYSTEM DESIGN LAB (SSDL) at Washington University in St. Social System Design Lab
Louis was pleased to sponsor this year’s System Dynamics Conference. The event was a great GEORGE WARREN BROWN
opportunity to connect with old friends and colleagues as well as share our work with new SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
conference attendees.
We spoke with many of you at our booth, before and after SSDL student/staff parallel and poster sessions, and during many of the social
events in Cambridge. For those of you that we weren't able to connect with, we welcome opportunities for you to learn more about the
SSDL's work by following us on Twitter @BrownSSDL. We look forward to seeing you in Delft next year, and would be happy to hear
from you before then! For more information, please email brownssdl@wustl.edu.
System Dynamics has made immense business, science and human contributions in many areas,
but one of the great opportunities for impact is from careful application to the function and COOPER HUMAN
malfunction of human biological systems. When the systems of the human body work well, SYSTEMS
they are perhaps the most elegant of all control systems. When these systems malfunction they
yield the most complex, intractable disorders affecting humankind, from autoimmune disorders
such as type 1 diabetes, to the immune deficiency of HIV, to cancers of nearly every form. COOPER HUMAN SYSTEMS is devoted to
employing System Dynamics to understanding and curing systemic diseases and disorders of the human body.
We have developed a model to simulate and design a cure for HIV. More than 30 years since its identification, HIV still afflicts millions
of people and causes 5,000 deaths per day. Conventional therapies have all focused on constraining the virus; they do not cure the
disease. Our System Dynamics model accurately simulates the course of HIV/AIDS in the body; analyses have identified
multi-therapy treatment that eliminates the virus in the simulation. Clinical trials are under way to test that solution.
We believe this is but the first example of systemic human disorders that benefit from System Dynamic modeling. 5
Piers, Sponsors, Exhibitors & Friends
ANYLOGIC NORTH AMERICA
Illinois, USA
anylogic.com
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
Illinois, USA
anl.gov
BOBO’S OAT BARS
Colorado, USA
bobosoatbars.com
ALLEN L. BOORSTEIN
New York, USA.
COOPER HUMAN SYSTEMS
New Hampshire, USA
CRISPY GREEN
New Jersey, USA
crispygreen.com,
CRUNCHMASTER
Illinois, USA
crunchmaster.com
FORIO
California, USA
forio.com
FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF FINANCE
& MANAGEMENT
Germany
frankfurt-school.de
GEORGIA HEALTH POLICY CENTER
Georgia, USA
ghpc.gsuedu
HEALTHWARRIOR
Virginia, USA
healthwarrior.com
HYATT REGENCY CAMBRIDGE
Massachusetts, USA
cambridge hyatt.com
IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY
Idaho, USA
inl.gov
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE
SYSTEMS SCIENCES
York, United Kingdom
isss.org/world
ISEE SYSTEMS
New Hampshire, USA
iseesystems.com
JANTZ MANAGEMENT LLC
Massachusetts, USA.
jantzmgmt.com
LANE PRESS OF ALBANY
New York, USA
lanepressofalbany.com
LUNDBERG FAMILY FARMS
California, USA
lundberg.com
MARY'S GONE CRACKERS
California, USA
marysgonecrackers.com
MITRE CORPORATION
Virginia, USA
mitre.org
NATURAL BALANCE FOODS
California, USA
naturalbalancefoods.com/nakd
NATURE’S BAKERY
Nevada, USA
naturesbakery.com
PA CONSULTING GROUP
US, UK and offices worldwide
paconsulting.com
RAWREV
New York, USA
rawrev.com
SACU
Texas, USA
sacu.com
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES
New Mexico, USA
sandia.gov
SOCIAL SYSTEM DESIGN LAB,
WASHINGTON UNIV.IN ST.LOUIS
Missouri, USA
brownschool.wustl.edu
STRATEGY DYNAMICS LTD
Princes Risborough, United Kingdom
strategydynamics.com/isde
SYSTEM DYNAMICS GROUP, MIT
Massachusetts, USA.
mitsloan.mit.edu/group/system-dynamics
SYSTEM DYNAMICS GROUP,
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
New York, USA
albany.edu/cpr/projects_systems_dynamics.
shtml
SYSTEM DYNAMICS GROUP,
UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN
Bergen, Norway
uib.no/rg/dynamics
SYSTEM DYNAMICS PROGRAM, WPI
Massachusetts, USA
wpi.edu/academics/ssps/gradprograms.html
TRANSENTIS MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING GMBH & CO.KG
Berlin, Germany
transentis.com
UNIVERSITY OF ST GALLEN
St Gallen, Switzerland
unisg.ch/en
VENTANA SYSTEMS AND
GREENWOOD STRATEGIC
ADVISORS AG
Worldwide locations
ventanasystems.com & greenwood-ag.com
VIASIM SOLUTIONS
Texas, USA
viasimsolutions.com
WHOLE SYSTEMS PARTNERSHIP
North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
thewholesystem.co.uk
WILEY
New Jersey, USA
wiley.com
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC
INSTITUTE (WPI)
Massachusetts, USA
bitly/wpi-sds
System
Dynamics
University at Albany Society
Albany, New York 12222 USA
+1 518 442 3865
office @systemdynamics.org
Web: www.systemdynamics.org
