Computational Experiments for Complex Social Systems: Integrated Design of Experiment System

Abstract

Powered by advanced information industry and intelligent technology, more and more complex systems are exhibiting characteristics of the cyber-physical-social systems (CPSS). And human factors have become crucial in the operations of complex social systems. Traditional mechanical analysis and social simulations alone are powerless for analyzing complex social systems. Against this backdrop, computational experiments have emerged as a new method for quantitative analysis of complex social systems by combining social simulation (e.g., ABM), complexity science, and domain knowledge. However, in the process of applying computational experiments, the construction of experiment system not only considers a large number of artificial society models, but also involves a large amount of data and knowledge. As a result, how to integrate various data, model and knowledge to achieve a running experiment system has become a key challenge. This paper proposes an integrated design framework of computational experiment system, which is composed of four parts: generation of digital subject, generation of digital object, design of operation engine, and construction of experiment system. Finally, this paper outlines a typical case study of coal mine emergency management to verify the validity of the proposed framework.