The challenges of the management of the emergence of user centric e-systems according to the Theory of Complexity of large network organization
Michel THEYS, Emeritus Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Michel THEYS holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineer (ULB 1956) and a Bachelor in Economical Science (ULB 1957). He got a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. He started his career in the nuclear sector: at the Atomic Energy Commission (USA), at EURATOM and as scientific advisor of the Belgian High Commissioner for Atomic Energy. In 1963, he joined SOBEMAP (Société Belge dEconomie et de Mathématiques Appliquées) company, the Benelux subsidiary of SEMA Plc, specialized in Consulting, Software Engineering, Marketing and Urban Planning. M. Theys occupied several positions in the company: general Manager from 1981 until 1993, at the same time CEO of the German subsidiary of SEMA, President of the Technical Committee of the SEMA Group, Member of the Strategic Committee and Advisor of the International Consulting Committee. He was also President of SEMA Group Benelux from 94 to 2002. He is honorary Professor of the ULB where he taught Computer Science and Management in the SOLVAY Business School and in the Engineering School of the Université de Bruxelles, from July 1969 to November 2000. He is the author of numerous publications in Nuclear Science, Operational Research, Software Engineering and Complexity Theory. Since 1996, he developed the applications of the Theory of Complexity of the Santa Fe Institute, to enterprise problems. With the help of simulation tools, it showed the contribution of this new approach in understanding dynamic behaviours, change management, co-operation and conflicts in organizations, installation of information processing systems. It carried out several tens speeches on the question, and collaborates with a group of colleagues sharing his interest for this new vision of the mechanisms of the human systems.

mtheys@swing.be

Abstract

The automation of any business system raises always 2 interdependent challenges: to adapt the working practices of the business system in order to benefit from the possibilities of the new technology, and to build an efficient and flexible computer support system given the requirements expected from it. In doing this, the reasons of complexity are numerous both at the behavioural and technical levels. However the most puzzling complexity source is the frequency of interactions between computer and human agents, with recursive transformations effects on their behaviours. Not only the development of a computer support system must be incremental in order to dynamically discover from experience the efficient requirements that escape a priori analysis, but it has also to cope with a moving target due to the fact that working with a version of a computer support system changes the expectations of its contribution. Certainly the OOA (Object Oriented Approach) allows to build computer support systems that are at the same time, reliable and efficient for the low level frequent functions, and flexible at the higher numerous procedural functions. Nevertheless new phenomenons emerging from the high degree of interactions between the system agents have to be understood. Happily since 25 years the study of networks behaviour in different fields (food web in ecology, protein networks, brain activity, Internet web, social networks) has deliver generic results such as the conditions for the emergence of multi-stable systems, of sudden bifurcation between stable states, of chaotic or oscillating status, of adaptation of agents to the environment and even of spontaneous clustering of a network agents in "Small Worlds". This communication will adopt the position that the "Design of e-Business Support Software" is in fact a problem of "Recursive Agent Network Development". The case will be illustrated with the development of e-Government Systems.