FIELD OF EXPERTISE: System Thinking & Design

In close cooperation with the Expert Group on Strategy, Cyber & Smart Economy, the System Thinking & Design group focuses on systemic design and systemic innovation for future-oriented life concepts and technologies for a sustainable humanity. We work at the interface of science – humanities and social sciences – engineering and design.

An in-depth understanding of systems theory is the source for developing the ability to translate system thinking into systemic decision and design skills. These design competences will be required in the future on a personal, group, organizational, regional, national and international level and are already in increasing demand today.

Systemic design combines system thinking and human-centered design to tackle complex design projects due to the increasing challenges of e.g. digitalization, globalization, migration and sustainability.

Systemic innovation intends to change the fundamental nature of society in order to achieve important transitions in terms of environmental, social and economic sustainability. We understand innovation systems as emergent nested systems, as parts of economies that are part of social systems, and these exist in a single planetary ecosystem. Collaboration is therefore required across organizational and national boundaries to change the social laws and norms that govern economic systems and, in mutual interaction, socio-technical and ecological systems. As a result, the expert group not only addresses organizational-, process-, service- or product-level design competences, but also at a societal level, policy and governance, which enhance or minimize risks but also opportunities to create a supportive environment for synergistic, multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral and multi-organizational innovations.

Our purpose:

• to develop methods to tackle complex challenges for the Next Economy
• to co-create an ongoing dialogue between international representatives and influential decision-makers from business and politics with experts from science and research

Possible topics to be covered (some terms / keywords):

• Business Model Innovation and Social Innovation
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Design of supply networks in public services (e.g. energy, water, traffic and public transport, information technologies and telecommunications, health care, and education infrastructures) and value networks in business services
• Urban Challenge and Urban Design (e.g. sustainable urbanism, smart cognitive cities)
• Circular Economy and Urban Mining
• Next Economy (Digital AND Sustainable Economy & the next generations of Business Eco-Systems)
• Innovation Eco-Systems
• Innovation Policies and Governance
• Modeling & Simulation