Ultimate Systems

There are many Systems in place which help people achieve their objectives. In an Information Technology context, for example, these can aid productivity and efficiency of an organization, but they must be holistic and fit for purpose at every level, i.e. Ecosystem – System of Systems – Sub-System – …

The challenge in a Singularity context is to define and maintain fast-moving expectations for usability and automation, capability, resource management, training, legacy migration, collaboration etc., whilst (for example) mitigating the friction that could occur between Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) systems.

Here is a proposal for the highest level Systems that would need to be created and deployed to meet this challenge:

  1. System of Desire
    A “Social Media” description of every customer Need and Want in the context of desirable Scenarios. The System would consider the User Experience (UE) from the perspective of all Users, and maintain a holistic relationship between the Needs and Wants of that experience expressed in context. Humans are kept in-the-loop by validating UEs that are created for them.

  2. System of Opportunity
    The Solution provider (i.e. developers and agents of the AI Marketplace) generates and evolves Solutions that provide Value to the User from their maturing Solution Space of people, processes, materials and technology as required. Systems Engineering (SE) discipline is used to drive the Idea to Solution, enriching the Solution Space in a virtuous circle during the process.

  3. System of Delivery
    In turn, the User may generate and evolve their own Solutions that provide Value for their Customers from their maturing Solution Space. SE discipline is used to drive the Idea to Solution, enriching the Solution Space in a virtuous circle during the process.

  4. System of Validation
    The incremental delivery of each UE, based on verified Solutions which balance the priority of the Need and maturity of the Solution Space. The UE can be a new idea or inspired by an existing one. Humans are kept In-the-Loop by being responsible for voting and ratifying the concept(s) that offer the best Value Solution for a given UE in context.

These four Systems would interoperate seamlessly and autonomically as required, perhaps with the following initial configuration:

  • 1 inspires the drive to create new Solutions in 2, and monitors the progress
  • 1 prioritizes the UE Ideas in 4, and validates the UEs delivered by 4
  • 2 inspires the human desire of 1, and monitors the demand
  • 3 is triggered by 4, and informs 4 about the progress
  • 4 takes its inspiration and priorities from 1, and delivers the Solution to 4

The “mechanism” suggests that an expert Agent hierarchy might be needed to manage the complexities and opportunities that would unfold. Existing typical Information Systems for transaction processing, automation, decision support, knowledge capture and analysis etc. could perhaps more easily fit into the above framework, each with their own Functions that are deployed in the context.

It is hard to understand the initial configuration and virtuous circle of inspiration in terms of genuinely added-value and beneficial experiences, especially for those “Exponential Technologies” that might add risk in investment decisions due to the rate and nature of their acceleration and convergence. Here is a lighter view on that relationship - also known as the Accelerated Convergence Concept - that itself could be independently maintained, commercialized and scaled:

  1. catalog and maintain the (Exponential+) Technologies according to the nature and extent of their acceleration and converge potential with other technologies. A good list for starters: 20 Exponential Technologies that will drive Innovation – Sherpa.ai Blog
  2. For each tech, express the established and/or emerging Use Cases - for example, for Blockchain: 35 Top Blockchain Applications to Know for 2021 | Built In
  3. For each Use Case, express the interdependencies on other techs and Use Cases for which the maximum Value can be achieved. For example, Gartner’s Hype Cycle ( 3 Trends Surface in the Gartner Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle for 2021 ) identifies the desirable emerging theme of Engineering Trust that relies on the following Success Factors: security, reliability, repeatability, proven track record, scalability and innovation - for which a high level of interagency cooperation is required for real-time data management
  4. Define and prioritize the necessary Accelerated Convergence Concept elements per Use Case per tech, which will allow ranking and prioritization at a granular “R&D” level and provide traceability to the desirable User Experiences gained by an enhancement in Use Case(s) and or new ones. For example, the Gartner article in 3. identifies other relevant Use Cases once the theme of Engineering Trust has reached a certain level of capability: crime reduction, wildfire management, natural disaster (response), special events, pandemic response.