Systems analysis in an international setting: Recent progress and future prospects

✍ Scribed by Roger E. Levien

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1980
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 391 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 8756-6079
• DOI: 10.1002/bs.3830250502

✦ Synopsis

After discussing the current reporting on two mature IIASA research activities, those on global energy and interregional migration, this introduction describes the four main themes foreseen as motivating USA's future work: global transition, national interdependence, regional integration, and the craft of systems analysis. After mentioning the backgrounds of the papers in this issue, some items of general interest are listed.

N 1979 THE International Institute for I Applied Systems Analysis and the editors of this journal collaborated in preparing the special May 1979 issue of Behavioral Science devoted to IIASA'S work. My introduction (Levien, 1979) described the history of the Institute and the status of its work at that time. The intervening 16 months have seen a continuing evolution of the work of this eight-year-old Institute; several lines of research have come to completion, some new ones have been opened up, and others have made significant progress toward their goals. The six papers in this special issue sample some of this progress; this introduction mentions some recent highlights and sketches a brief perspective of future work.

NOTABLERECENTREPORTS The Energy Program

The Energy Program, IIASA'S most ambitious research activity so far, has completed a major report on its geographically comprehensive, long-term examination of the global energy system, which was described briefly in the earlier special issue of Behavioral Science (Hafele & Sassin, 1979).