In 2009 the think tank of the Royal Society of Flemish Engineers (KVIV) came to the conclusion that, in the today society, there exists a growing need to better understand the nature of complex systems, seen the rising importance of complex problems and challenges that face the world.
First realization has been the successful seminar "Complexity: Friend or Foe", December 16, 2009, Brussels, with Geoffrey West from Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico, as keynote speaker.
Erik Van den broecke opened the seminar, pointing out the importance of understanding complexity. Geoffrey West explained the complexity paradigm and shared insights resulting from his research. During the tracks on "complexity and mechatronics" and "complexity and wikinomics", the relevance of complexity for solving real world problems was demonstrated and discussed. Speakers in these tracks were a.o. prof Hendrik Van Brussel, professor Francis Heylighen and professor Paul Valckenaers.
In response to the DAVOS request "do you have something to say", seminar conclusions were packaged as a pitch to the world and delivered to the DAVOS debates of January 2010.
In 2010 a Complexity Business Lab will be launched. The lab will, in cooperation with 4 to 6 companies, investigate complexity aspects of business strategy, business organization, processes and systems. The lab is planned to run from September to December 2010.
In April 2011, Lab results will be presented during the second "Complexity, Friend or Foe" conference.