Center for Complexity in Business Holds Inaugural Conference

An audience composed of academics and business leaders gathered at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business on Friday, April 24, 2009 for the inaugural Complexity in Business Conference. Organized by Smith's Center for Complexity in Business, the conference endeavors to be the premier meeting for the intersection of business and complex systems. The event was invitation-only and included talks by several prominent business thought leaders, and was co-chaired by Roland Rust, Chris Dellarocas and Bill Rand.

According to Chris Dellarocas, associate professor of information systems and director of the Center for Complexity in Business, the conference was created because linear thinking and established methods of conducting business are increasingly inadequate. In other words, the business world is far too complex anymore to be defined by any one adjective.

One of the highlights of the day came early on when Joshua Epstein, director of the Center on Social and Economic Dynamics at The Brookings Institution, presented on the topic of "Selected Applications of Agent-Based Computational Modeling to the Private Sector." Epstein walked the audience through a powerful new way of modeling complex social dynamics on computers that sparked great interest among attendees.

Associate Professor Chris Dellarocas, Director of the Center for Complexity, walks the audience through the Center for Complexity’s primary goals and objectives.	Joshua Epstein, Director of the Center and Social Economic Dynamics, The Brookings Institution, pauses to listen to an audience member’s question during his remarks on agent-based computational modeling.

In his welcoming remarks, Smith School Dean G. “Anand” Anandalingam said that "research on complexity in business is the wave of the future." As the topic at hand expects to remain at the forefront of business considerations, one thing is clear: namely, the inaugural Complexity in Business Conference was a timely and unqualified success.

For more information about the Center for Complexity in Business, visit the Web site.

Pete Baird, MBA Candidate 2009, Smith Media Group