SiCoSSys

The goal of this project was to provide a well-sound methodological framework for the treatment of complexity by policy makers and social scientists, endowed with an updated theoretical body of knowledge, a set of tools that would enable scenario simulation, and a collection of case studies to guide and demonstrate the applicability of the framework. This framework was based on agent-oriented modeling and simulation methods and tools.

Agent oriented modeling provided a conceptual framework for analysis and simulation of complex social systems. This came from the fact that agent related concepts allowed the representation of organisational and behavioural aspects of individuals in a society and their interactions. This motivated in the last years the development of a wide range of software languages, shells and libraries to simulate agent-based models.

However, all presented two difficulties for being widely accepted by social scientists: the end-user should have certain programming skills, and these software frameworks had been implemented forgetting the social specifications.

INSISOC gathered its wide experience in the application of agent-based simulation tools for the study of complex social systems in order to define the scientific method for the analysis of social phenomena and policy making.