Computational Experiments for Complex Social Systems: Integrated Design of Experiment System

Powered by advanced information industry and intelligent technology, more and more complex systems are exhibiting characteristics of the cyber-physical-social systems (CPSS). And human factors have become crucial in the operations of complex social systems. Traditional mechanical analysis and social simulations alone are powerless for analyzing complex social systems. Against this backdrop, computational experiments have emerged as a new method for quantitative analysis of complex social systems by combining social simulation (e.g., ABM), complexity science, and domain knowledge. However, in the process of applying computational experiments, the construction of experiment system not only considers a large number of artificial society models, but also involves a large amount of data and knowledge. As a result, how to integrate various data, model and knowledge to achieve a running experiment system has become a key challenge. This paper proposes an integrated design framework of computational experiment system, which is composed of four parts: generation of digital subject, generation of digital object, design of operation engine, and construction of experiment system. Finally, this paper outlines a typical case study of coal mine emergency management to verify the validity of the proposed framework.

I. Introduction

With the popularization of the Internet, the penetration of the Internet of Things (IoT), the advent of big data and the rise of social media, a growing number of complex systems show the characteristics of social, physical, and information fusion, which are called as cyber-physical-social systems (CPSS) [1], [2]. The “data + hash rate + AI algorithm = smart service” is forming new social infrastructure. The entire social landscape is being redefined by the service logic and is gradually evolving into an ecosystem that can be jointly created and operated by all members of the society, including people, enterprises or institutions, intelligent robots, and so on [3]. The whole system constantly evolves iteratively, grows by itself, and shows the cycle feedback between cyber space, social space and physical space. Due to the involvement of human and social factors, the design, analysis, management, control, and integration of CPSS present unprecedented challenges.