Keynote Talk on Supernetworks in Shenzhen, China

The PAKDD 2011 Conference begins today in Shenzhen, China.

My keynote talk, prepared for this conference, is: Supernetworks: Opportunities and Challenges for Decision-Making in the 21st Century.

In the presentation, I emphasize the importance of capturing the complex behavior of decision-makers on networks today, in an era of congestion and nonlinearities, from multimodal transportation and multitiered supply chains to electric power generation and distribution networks to financial networks and the Internet. The lecture discusses the reality of networks today from their large-scale nature, to network interactions. I illustrate the Braess paradox, both in static and time-varying forms, as well as the wisdom of crowds phenomenon. I also highlight how we capture network efficiency / performance and identify which nodes and links really matter in that their destruction has the biggest impact. The lecture addresses issues of network design, through appropriate link addition/deletion, the integration of networks as in mergers and acquisitions, the evolution of social networks with supply chains and financial networks, as well as the challenges faced in humanitarian operations in disasters and the potential of identifying synergies through cooperation/collaboration.

The audio/video of my keynote can be downloaded here.

A rich media version was also generated.

The pdf of the presentation slides only can be accessed here.

This keynote will be delivered virtually.

Investing in the Nation's Infrastructure but Doing it Right

In an interesting Op-Ed piece in The New York Times, Dr. Laura Tyson of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and a member of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, is calling for a new stimulus package to invest in the nation's infrastructure.

My colleagues and I at the Supernetworks Center have been writing a lot on how to identify not only the costs of infrastructure degradation from our roads and bridges and even the Internet, from an economic and performance standpoint, but also on how to identify the effects of enhancement and investments by taking into consideration the behavior of those who will ultimately be using the infrastructure. In addition, it is imperative that the investments are made with cognizance of climate change and how best to adapt our infrastructure investments accordingly from transportation networks to supply chains and electric power generation and distribution networks.

Our paper, which contains highlights from our research and major findings, but in a more condensed fashion than found in our Fragile Networks book is entitled: "Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain Age,"and it is in press in the journal International Transactions in Operational Research.

I just hope that if a new stimulus does get passed and even an Infrastructure Bank established, that economists, engineers, operations researchers and management scientists, and even environmental scientists, all work together so that what gets built, renovated, expanded, enhanced, and where, can have the greatest positive impact economically not only in the short-term but also in the long-term.