Sociotechnical systems
Description
In our modern society, technology is becoming increasingly intertwined. Many problems arise at system level or in the coordination between system elements and need to be addressed at system level. An increasing part of engineers' work focuses on this. Many such systems are sociotechnical systems: they consist not only of designed and manufactured technical components but also of people. Typical (and maximum) examples are service-providing infrastructures such as energy infrastructure, road, water and air transport systems and telecommunications systems. The reason why these systems are problematic and often function sub-optimally is usually cited as their complexity: their multiplicity and large number of components. Instead, Maarten Franssen emphasises the hybridity of these systems as an eminently characteristic feature: the fact that they consist partly of technical and partly of human components. The way we describe, access and control human behaviour is radically different from the way we do with technical components. Human 'system operators' cannot be designed and manufactured according to design requirements; only the roles people perform within systems can be 'designed', in the form of instructions. People can be trained to fulfil these roles, but unlike technical components, they never coincide with their roles and, moreover, are usually bound to several roles at once. On the one hand, this poses problems for the technical design of such systems, which is done from an engineering perspective in which the notion of control is central. On the other hand, it is also exploited by using the human operator as a safety valve against technical system failure. Using examples, the speaker illustrates the tensions created by the hybridity of sociotechnical systems. Finally, he addresses how this hybridity can be formally modelled
Speaker(s)
Maarten Franssen studied physics and history and worked for several years as a philosopher of science at the University of Amsterdam. There he obtained his PhD in 1997 with a dissertation on the foundations of the social sciences. From 1996, he joined the Philosophy Department of Delft University of Technology. There he teaches philosophy and methodology of science, engineering science and technical design, argumentation theory and decision theory. He publishes on rationality and design, the relationship between philosophy of science and philosophy of engineering, metaphysical and normative aspects of technical artefacts, and the nature of technical systems
Location
Utrecht
Organiser
Philosophy & Technology
Name and contact details for information
Further information from drs.ing. Henk Uijttenhout (vz), tel: 070 - 3875293 / 06 - 26715554 or via the e-mail address below.