This document discusses socio-technical systems engineering and analysis. It describes creating interconnected communities of autonomous local actors enabled by technology that allow for global coordination. Proper design and testing of economic systems requires interdisciplinary skills and understanding how to synthesize systems through engineering design and analyze them through empirical testing. Blockchains can serve as sensors and smart contracts as actuators, allowing decentralized coordination similar to multi-agent robotics. Engineering systems raises responsibility to consider fairness, ethics, safety, and how individuals and societies experience risk differently.

1. SocioTechnical Systems
Engineering & Analysis
Berlin, Oct 25, 2018
Michael Zargham
@mZargham
Founder & CEO
BlockScience

2. Create interconnected
Communities
of autonomous local actors
within which
global coordination
is
enabled by technology

3. Stateful Economic Systems are Complex
Temporal Dynamics & Closure under Behavioral Adaptation
Tools, Skills, and Domains of knowledge are required for design and
analysis come from a diverse set of fields

4. Thinking in Systems & Networks
Semiconductor
Motor Controller
Motor System
Airplane
Air Travel
Air Traffic Network
Microchip

5. Enables

6. Interconnectedness of Technology and Behavior
Interaction Patterns &
Local Behavior of Agents
Software Enforcing low level
immutable “information provenance”
Peer to Peer communication and
computation network
Enables
Requires
Emergent
Global Properties
Design and Emergence

7. Engineering
(Synthesis)
(Science)
Analysis
&

8. Systems Engineering & Data Science
•Knowledge of System Synthesis “Engineering Design”
and Systems Analysis “Empirical Testing”
•Blockchains serve as high grade sensors and smart
contracts as high precision actuators
•Thus making proper economic system design and
testing mathematically consistent with decentralized
coordination in multi-agent robotics
•As in robotics it is nearly impossible to be expert in
Synthesis or Analysis without complementary expertise
Analysis
Synthesis

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10. Closing the Gap: Generalized Differential Equations
Formalization of design space allows explicit consideration of
both Objectives and Constraints under temporal dynamics and uncertainty
Designed System
(states and mechanism)
Unknown User Strategies
(behavioral models)
ActionsLogic is Known
Prior State Posterior State
System Goals met?
trajectories attracted to
objectives?
system safety: bounded
worst case scenarios?
edge cases ?

11. Modeling & Testing Systems with Agents in the Loop
Design Input
Assumption Input

12. Dev
&
Deploy
Theory
Empiricism Simulation
Scientific Validation and Iteration of Systems

13. From Theory to Simulation Simple Example

14. Visual Syntax for Ecosystem Mapping
Example is a small Piece of this system
Corresponds to differential equations
As is the case in circuit design

15. Mechanisms: Eth and Soul

16. Withdrawal and Invariant Properties
https://github.com/simondlr/artonomous/issues/4

17. Switched Systems and Mechanism Instability
https://github.com/simondlr/artonomous/issues/4
Two otherwise stable
mechanism may become unstable
When you switch between them

18. Tensor Fields: Linear Grids of Nonlinear functions

19. Working through the Grids
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20. Setting up and Testing Configurations in Spyder
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21. Running Experiments and Analyzing Results in Jupiter
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23. Greater than the Sum of its parts
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+ ≠

24. Engineering =
{
Capability
Responsibility

25. Responsibility to Be Intentional in our contributions
Decentralized Systems
-Cannot be un-deployed
-Can change the world for better or worse

27. Mindful of “Subjective” Choice of “Objective” Measures
Systems
Choice of Measure is inseparable
from the system itself and its outcomes
?

28. Evaluate Fairness of Algorithms ~ Not Outcomes
Abstraction allows design from behind the “Veil of Ignorance”

29. Individuals and Societies Experience Risk Differently
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N.N. Taleb: https://medium.com/incerto/the-logic-of-risk-taking-107bf41029d3

30. Ethics is Baked into the Engineering Profession
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: "We, the
members of the IEEE, … do hereby commit ourselves to the
highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:
to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with
the safety, health and welfare of the public,
and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or
the environment;"[24]

31. Designing for The Unmeasurable and the Unpredictable
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33. Protocol Governance as Adaptive Maintenance
Changing Environment Changing ProtocolsChanging Needs
Changing Behavior Changing Norms

34. Thank you
Web page: https://block.science/
Twitter: @mZargham