UK Chapter of the System Dynamics Society Annual Conference 2018 THEME: System Dynamics, Service Design and Innovation

VENUE: Cardiff University

DATE: Thursday 12th April and Friday 13th April This year had a theme of System Dynamics, Service Design and Innovation; and comprised of four talks on Thursday afternoon, covering diverse applications of system dynamics to address both societal and business issues. On Friday morning we learnt about how system dynamics has been used to generate insights into complex healthcare problems as well as seeing where the viable system model framework can be used to work alongside system dynamics modelling. In the afternoon we had a poster session and student presentations covering a wide set of issues and demonstrating the good work going on training the next generation of system dynamics practitioners and academics.

Delegates participating in one of the workshops

Thursday 12 April (am): Optional Session - Getting Started Building Models Led by Kim Warren, this session gave attendees a chance to get started in modelling. The workshop was as per usual was well attended.

Thursday 12 April (pm): Plenary 1 The opening session consisted of plenary addresses covering important subjects of interest to a wide audience.

System Dynamic Modelling to Keep More Children Safely at Home and Reduce Unnecessary Children being taken into Care

Dr Tim Hobbs, Vicky Baker, Shreya Sonthalia, Daniel Ellis (Dartington Service Design Lab)

Left to Right: Shreya Sonthalia, Vicky Baker, Daniel Ellis and Tim Hobbs

The Perfect Crime: Why Every Student Who Sat 8 or More GCSEs in summer 2016 has a Certificate with Two Wrong Grades.

Dennis Sherwood (Silver Bullet)

Thursday 12 April (pm): Plenary 2

Use of ST and SD at Lloyds Bank to Improve Customer Journeys

Justin Watts, Phil Smith and Mark Smyth (Lloyds Banking Group)

Phil Smith (left) and Mark Smyth (right)

Stories from the Northern Ireland Public Sector Innovation Lab

Sarah Megan Wylie (The Innovation Lab, Northern Ireland Department of Finance)

Thursday 12 April (pm): Awards

John Morecroft (left) and Brian Dangerfield (right) received medals to recognise their significant contribution to the UK system dynamics community

Chapter President: Concluding remarks

Jonathan Moizer (President of the UK Chapter of the System Dynamics Society)

Friday 13 April: Workshop 1 This day was interactive, and considered System Dynamics & Systems Thinking practice and application in more depth.

Getting a Grip on Dynamic Systems at the Front Line of Healthcare - Using SD and Associated Improvement Approaches to Improve the Quality of Healthcare Delivery

Dr Tricia Woodhead (Health Foundation)

The Viable System Model: A Systemic Approach to Understanding and Designing Organisations

Patrick Hoverstadt (Director at Fractal Consulting, Chair of SCiO)

Using SD to Support Healthcare Systems at the Macro-, Meso-, and Micro-Level

Doris Behrens and John Boulton. (ABCi, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board)

Doris Behrens (left) and John Boulton (right)

Friday 13 April: Chapter AGM This short session reported on the status and activities of the UK Chapter, and provided an opportunity to nominate new representatives to the Policy Council.

Delegates participating in the AGM

Friday 13 April: London 2020 International System Dynamics Conference Bid Update Dr Daniel Arthur (International Policy Dynamics Ltd)

A bid has been submitted for the International System Dynamics Society to hold its annual conference in July 2020 in London and use the ExCeL conference centre in London Docklands.

The conference would be very policy and practitioner oriented and be innovative by focusing on around 7 plenary sessions concerning themes broadly aligned to the Special Interest Groups. A main poster session is proposed as well.

The UK Chapter is supporting this bid and a final decision will be made at the Reykjavik 2018 Conference.

Friday 13 April: Plenary 3 The final plenary comprised of one speaker.

Modelling the Network of Social Forces that have the future of Homo sapiens and the Planet in their Grip and Designing a Dynamic Public Management System

John Raven (EyeOnSociety)

Posters & Poster Award A number of posters were presented over lunch. Delegates were able to vote for the best poster.

Identifying the causes of the bullwhip effect by exploiting control block diagram manipulation with analogical reasoning

Mohamed M. Naim, Virginia L. Spiegler, Joakim Wikner, Denis R. Towill

(Cardiff University, University of Kent, Linköping University, Jönköping University)

Resilient Remanufacturing Networks: Forecasting, Informatics and Holons

Aris Syntetos, Mohamed M. Naim, Ying, Liu, Shixuan Wang, Borja Ponte (Cardiff University)

Aris and co-researchers were awarded the best poster prize by delegate vote.

Dynamic analysis and design of a semiconductor supply chain: a control engineering approach

Junyi Lin (Cardiff University)

Assessing the future workforce supply for the UK Nuclear sector

Siôn Cave (Decision Analysis Services Ltd), Steve Bennett (Cogent Skills), Rebecca Pleasant (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority), Emma Woodham (Decision Analysis Services Ltd)

Student Presentations & Student Prize Award A range of student presentations were made & the student prize was awarded.

A Systems Model for Evaluating Energy Usage in Automotive Supply Chain Logistics

Thomas Baker (University of Hertfordshire)

Sustainable Supply Chain Management - A Literature Review & Conceptual Model for the Case of Sustainable Mobility

Samuel D. Allen (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

Dynamic Analysis and Design of a Semiconductor Supply Chain: A Control Engineering Approach

Junyi Lin (Cardiff University) - Prize Nominated

Direct Action or Social Nudge: where are the effective policy levers for helping families locate suitable schools?

David Carter (Plymouth University) - Prize Nominated

The Journey toward the Patient-Centred Medical Home: A Grounded, Dynamic Theory of Primary Care Transformation

Andrada Tomoaia-Cotisel (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) - Student Prize winner

Close

Thanks were offered to all those that assisted with organising and delivering the conference; in particular the Cardiff University event management and catering teams, Siôn Cave for organising the speakers, and not least Jenny Morgan for managing the conference.