The impact of boundary organizations on decision-making under uncertainty: a multi-agent simulation

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers take into account possibly conflicting information from distinct domains, such as science and economics. Boundary organizations, institutions that cross the gap between two different domains, are able to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side. The goal is to simulate boundary organizations to assess their impact on the diffusion of experts' opinions. The hypothesis tested is whether the existence of a boundary organization eases the decision-making process by reducing the number of opinions expressed. The methodology relies on a multi-agent system based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics extended over two dimensions. Agents are described by credibility and conviction: the credibility represents how much other agents may be influenced by an agent, and the conviction represents the resistance of an agent to changing its position. Two kinds of agents are left free to interact, modifying their position through one-to-one exchanges. Agents called borgs are introduced: open to trans-disciplinary discussion, they are able to exchange on both dimensions. The results show that the range of expressed opinions is significantly reduced, even at low levels of experts involved in the boundary organization.

BOUNDARY ORGANIZATIONS: AN EFFICIENT STRUCTURE FOR MANAGING KNOWLEDGE IN DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers take into account opinions from experts of different spheres. Boundary organizations are institutions able to cross the gap between different areas of expertise and to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side: by encouraging a flow of useful information, they permit an exchange to take place while maintaining the authority of each side, in order to provide a better knowledge and understanding of a situation characterized by uncertainty. Though never formally proved, this hypothesis is widely accepted based on the observation of existing boundary organizations. Through a multi-agent simulation, it is possible to assess their impact on the diffusion of opinions among experts. This virtual interaction of heterogeneous agents based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics over two dimensions, shows that boundary organizations have a significant quantitative impact on the diversity of opinions expressed and the number of experts agreeing to each emerging position.boundary organization, opinion, knowledge diffusion, multi-agent system, Agribusiness, Labor and Human Capital, Public Economics,

The Tara Pacific expedition—A pan-ecosystemic approach of the “-omics” complexity of coral reef holobionts across the Pacific Ocean

Coral reefs are the most diverse habitats in the marine realm. Their productivity, structural complexity, and biodiversity critically depend on ecosystem services provided by corals that are threatened because of climate change effects—in particular, ocean warming and acidification. The coral holobiont is composed of the coral animal host, endosymbiotic dinoflagellates, associated viruses, bacteria, and other microeukaryotes. In particular, the mandatory photosymbiosis with microalgae of the family Symbiodiniaceae and its consequences on the evolution, physiology, and stress resilience of the coral holobiont have yet to be fully elucidated. The functioning of the holobiont as a whole is largely unknown, although bacteria and viruses are presumed to play roles in metabolic interactions, immunity, and stress tolerance. In the context of climate change and anthropogenic threats on coral reef ecosystems, the Tara Pacific project aims to provide a baseline of the “-omics” complexity of the coral holobiont and its ecosystem across the Pacific Ocean and for various oceanographically distinct defined areas. Inspired by the previous Tara Oceans expeditions, the Tara Pacific expedition (2016–2018) has applied a pan-ecosystemic approach on coral reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean, drawing an east–west transect from Panama to Papua New Guinea and a south–north transect from Australia to Japan, sampling corals throughout 32 island systems with local replicates. Tara Pacific has developed and applied state-of-the-art technologies in very-high-throughput genetic sequencing and molecular analysis to reveal the entire microbial and chemical diversity as well as functional traits associated with coral holobionts, together with various measures on environmental forcing. This ambitious project aims at revealing a massive amount of novel biodiversity, shedding light on the complex links between genomes, transcriptomes, metabolomes, organisms, and ecosystem functions in coral reefs and providing a reference of the biological state of modern coral reefs in the Anthropocene

BOUNDARY ORGANIZATIONS: AN EFFICIENT STRUCTURE FOR MANAGING KNOWLEDGE IN DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers take into account opinions from experts of different spheres. Boundary organizations are institutions able to cross the gap between different areas of expertise and to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side: by encouraging a flow of useful information, they permit an exchange to take place while maintaining the authority of each side, in order to provide a better knowledge and understanding of a situation characterized by uncertainty. Though never formally proved, this hypothesis is widely accepted based on the observation of existing boundary organizations. Through a multi-agent simulation, it is possible to assess their impact on the diffusion of opinions among experts. This virtual interaction of heterogeneous agents based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics over two dimensions, shows that boundary organizations have a significant quantitative impact on the diversity of opinions expressed and the number of experts agreeing to each emerging position

The impact of boundary organizations on decision-making under uncertainty: A multi-agent simulation

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers have the capacity to take into account possibly conflicting information from distinct domains, such as science and economics.As the development of technology increases the temporal and spatial scopes of risks, decision-makers can no longer consider economic and scientific information separately but should encourage experts to work together. Boundary organizations, institutions that cross the gap between two different domains, are able to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side (Guston, 2001). By encouraging a flow of information across the boundaries, they permit an exchange to take place, while maintaining the authority of each domain (Cash et al., 2003; Clark et al., 2002). The goal is to simulate boundary organizations to assess their impact on the diffusion of experts’ opinions. The hypothesis tested is whether the existence of a boundary organization eases the decision-making process by reducing the number of opinions expressed. The methodology relies on a multi-agent system based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics (Deffuant et al., 2001) extended over two dimensions. The world is defined by two parameters: the uncertainty, that reflects the possible zone of discussion between experts, and the exchange, which represents the openness of discussions. Agents are described by credibility and conviction: the credibility represents how much other agents may be influenced by an agent, and the conviction represents the resistance of an agent to changing its position. Two kinds of agents are left free to interact, modifying their position in their domain (dimension) through one-to-one exchanges. Agents called borgs are introduced: open to trans-disciplinary discussion, they are able to exchange on both dimensions. The results show that the range of expressed opinions is significantly reduced, even at low levels of experts involved in the boundary organization

THE IMPACT OF BOUNDARY ORGANIZATIONS ON DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY A MULTI-AGENT SIMULATION

Modern environmental issues imply that decision-makers have the capacity to take into account possibly conflicting information from distinct domains, such as science and economics. As the development of technology increases the temporal and spatial scopes of risks, decision-makers can no longer consider economic and scientific information separately but should encourage experts to work together. Boundary organizations, institutions that cross the gap between two different domains, are able to act beyond the boundaries while remaining accountable to each side (Guston, 2001). By encouraging a flow of information across the boundaries, they permit an exchange to take place, while maintaining the authority of each domain (Cash et al., 2003; Clark et al., 2002). The goal is to simulate boundary organizations to assess their impact on the diffusion of experts’ opinions. The hypothesis tested is whether the existence of a boundary organization eases the decision-making process by reducing the number of opinions expressed. The methodology relies on a multi-agent system based on a model of continuous opinion dynamics (Deffuant et al., 2001) extended over two dimensions. The world is defined by two parameters: the uncertainty, that reflects the possible zone of discussion between experts, and the exchange, which represents the openness of discussions. Agents are described by credibility and conviction: the credibility represents how much other agents may be influenced by an agent, and the conviction represents the resistance of an agent to changing its position. Two kinds of agents are left free to interact, modifying their position in their domain (dimension) through one-to-one exchanges. Agents called borgs are introduced: open to trans-disciplinary discussion, they are able to exchange on both dimensions. The results show that the range of expressed opinions is significantly reduced, even at low levels of experts involved in the boundary organization

Rôle des parties prenantes dans la gouvernance de la filière de gestion des déchets des équipements électriques et électroniques

International audienc

Rôle des parties prenantes dans la gouvernance de la filière de gestion des déchets des équipements électriques et électroniques

International audienc

Rôle des parties prenantes dans la gouvernance de la filière de gestion des déchets des équipements électriques et électroniques

International audienc

Characterization of 25 new microsatellite markers for the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) and cross-species amplification in other cetaceans

International audienc