Event Details

May 14, 2026

Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 959 8542 3892
Passcode: 218011

Abstract
The globally networked economy is the cause of and possible solution to many of the 21st century’s problems. 20th-century political boundaries along with academic disciplines and their specialized tools are siloed in ways that discourage science and policy solutions to these globally networked complex systems problems. Fortunately, the last ten years have provided the computing and data science capabilities we need to observe this complex networked and pandisciplinary system at relevant scales for the first time. The FEWSION project is pioneering one such 21st century research infrastructure, a “top-down” digital “macroscope” that maps and monitors the world’s society, economy, and environment in realtime by reducing it through the lens of third-generation network theory. Thus reduced, the system presents as a large dynamic network of producers, resources, supply chains, and critical infrastructures. Like the James Webb Telescope, this observatory is expensive to build and operate, requires novel technology development and expertise to field, and provides powerful experimental capabilities beyond what an individual research team could achieve on their own. This seminar introduces the FEWSION research infrastructure along with a selection of impactful science and policy results that were made possible by this new research capability. Collaborators are solicited to engage with the FEWSION research team to develop novel experiments, applications, educational programs, and policy studies.

Host: Craig Knoblock
Admin: Karen Rawlins + Justina Gilleland

Speaker Bio

Ben Ruddell is a Professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS) at Northern Arizona University, and Directed that school from 2019-2022. His 2008 PhD is in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the founder and director of the FEWSION initiative.