Using evolutionary theory in studying the development of system of systems

The paper describes a systems approach to study the evolution and development of a System of systems, particularly in military context. In this article, the System of systems is a socio-technical structure, where Information and Communication Technology is intertwined with human and other structural parts. Due to the interaction with the environment and between intertwined parts, System of systems is complex and dynamic in nature. Most of the system engineering or design methods tend to over-reduce the situation or over-emphasise some parts. When developing models describing the possible future states, Enterprise Architects struggle to analyse what future is practical to achieve. To overcome these challenges, a research method based on systems thinking is introduced. The foundation for the method was presented in Darwinian (1859) Theory of evolution. It is applied to technical systems by Mokyr (1998). Since the system in the Mokyr’s model was found too monolithic, Andriani’s and Carigani’s (2012) approach is applied to introduce modular design and innovation. Mokyr defines knowledge as underlying structure needed to design systems. Creating knowledge is extended using features of Choo’s (1998) model for Knowing Organisation. The extended model is tested with basic features presented in Bertalanffy’s (1968) general system theory. The model for the evolution of the socio-technical system of systems is corroborated with the use case in the military evolution of mechanised forces and manoeuvre tactics (Vego, 2007). The research model has been this far used in studying the capabilities of military command, control, communications, computing, and information. The business level studies have addressed the development of military knowledge management and the evolution of military training. The information level study has dealt with evolving military information management. All three studies provided tools for Enterprise Architects to do business level analyses both for the current and help in defining possible end states for strategies.