Complexes

International Journal of Public Information Systems Vol. 2008:1 , pp. 1-24 Towards Self-Organizing Bureaucracies Author: Carlos Gershenson Keywords: eGovernment, self-organization, adaptation, communication, hierarchies Abstract The goal of this paper is to contribute to eGovernment efforts, encouraging the use of self-organization as a method to improve the efficiency and adaptability of bureaucracies and similar social systems. Bureaucracies are described as networks of agents, where the main design principle is to reduce local "friction" to increase local and global "satisfaction". Following this principle, solutions are proposed for improving communication within bureaucracies, sensing public satisfaction, dynamic modification of hierarchies, and contextualization of procedures. Each of these reduces friction between agents (internal or external), increasing the efficiency of bureaucracies. Current technologies can be applied for this end. "Random a...

My brother told me a couple of palindromes he recently came up with (in Spanish). This one is a phonetic palindrome, and the middle part is a palindrome itself (could we call this a recursive palindrome?): Adan es "one" ke solo soy rebazo mínimo saber yo sólo sé ke no sé nada And this one is more interesting, as it is two dimensional: ORAR RAZA AZAR RARO

I recently watched Robin Chase's talk on TED.com . She is the founder of Zipcar , Goloco , and Meadow Networks . Great ideas for reducing carbon emissions, traffic, and improving quality of life... I wonder whether Zipcar would work in Mexico City...