In an interconnected and complex economy corporations form networks, or ecosystems as well as supply chains (or supply networks as they should be called). In the case of banks, telcos or insurance companies these ecosystems can be huge as they may contain millions of clients. Moreover, such ecosystems are changing constantly as companies compete, cooperate…
Using annual data from the World Bank, spanning the last 5 decades, we have computed the complexity of the World seen as a system of interacting systems (countries). There are currently 196 countries (the US recognises only 195), each of which is monitored via a series of over 1250 indicators, covering the economy, energy, transportation,…
According to the Millennium Project, the biggest global challenges facing humanity are those illustrated in the image above. The image conveys a holistic message which some of us already appreciate: everything is connected with everything else. The economy isn’t indicated explicitly in the above image but, evidently, it’s there, just as the industry, commerce, finance,…
The World Economic Forum 2013 report (available here) discusses a wide variety of global risks, their likelihood and potential impact. Risk, however, is a problematic concept. It is not related to any physical quantity and does not follow any laws of physics. It is a highly subjective entity based on another, even more slippery idea,…
