The network paradigm is used to gain insight into the structural root causes
of the resilience of consensus in dynamic collective behaviors, and to analyze
the controllability of the swarm dynamics. Here we devise the dynamic signaling
network which is the information transfer channel underpinning the swarm
dynamics of the directed interagent connectivity based on a topological
neighborhood of interactions. The study of the connectedness of the swarm
signaling network reveals the profound relationship between group size and
number of interacting neighbors, which is found to be in good agreement with
field observations on flock of starlings [Ballerini et al. (2008) Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. USA, 105: 1232]. Using a dynamical model, we generate dynamic
collective behaviors enabling us to uncover that the swarm signaling network is
a homogeneous clustered small-world network, thus facilitating emergent
outcomes if connectedness is maintained. Resilience of the emergent consensus
is tested by introducing exogenous environmental noise, which ultimately
stresses how deeply intertwined are the swarm dynamics in the physical and
network spaces. The availability of the signaling network allows us to
analytically establish for the first time the number of driver agents necessary
to fully control the swarm dynamics
