Home » Uncategorized » 1. In what area(s) do you think ABM is most useful/powerful to address research questions in your domain?
Home » Uncategorized » 1. In what area(s) do you think ABM is most useful/powerful to address research questions in your domain?
ABM is very useful for modelling any kind of human-centric systems. I am working in many domains (e.g. Economics, Urban Dynamics, Politics, Operations Research, Social Simulation, Climate Change, Intelligent Transport, Architecture) and I am always looking for new domains to add to the list. Currently my focus is on developing a formal approach to agent-based modelling, that can be applied to any domain that investigates human-centric systems. Agents can also be used to model “smart object”, which would allow creating hybrid models that represent behavioural agents (people and their behaviours) as well as software agents (the smart devices we use and the smart environment we live in).
My research domain is social ecological systems with a focus on interactions between human behavior and epidemiology. Specific ABM features that are useful include:
– the ability to set rules to describe agent-to-agent and agent-to-environment interactions,
– embedding the agents within an explicit geographic area (GIS tools),
– creating networks to allow exchanges of animals, feed and disease among agents,
– data collection for subsequent analysis (e.g. statistical tools to record time series of variables).