Epilogue
Why did I write this book and how did it come about? My research activities, on
which this book is based, had three essential triggers. While I studied statistical
physics in Göttingen, Germany, I specialized in modeling complex systems and
became increasingly interested in addressing real-life problems, such as the conflicts
between neo-Nazis and left-wing students that were happening at that time.
Later, when I was Managing Director of the Institute of Transport & Economics
at Dresden University of Technology, I was shocked by September 11, 2001. Just a
year later, the beautiful city of Dresden was terribly flooded. This led me to study
disasters and how to respond to them.
Finally, when I worked as a professor of sociology at ETH Zurich in Switzerland,
the financial crisis in 2008 clearly revealed that we needed entirely new ways of
thinking about socio-economic systems. As a result of ongoing cascading effects,
the emerging economic crisis would eventually result in political extremism and
increasing levels of societal conflict—a scenario that had to be avoided.
To address these concerns, I launched the FuturICT initiative back in 2010.
1 This
was a response to a European call for proposals for two e1 billion “flagship” projects
to boost innovation in the information and technology sector—so we are talking about
the perspective of significant funding, here. The FuturICT project aimed to develop
new scientific and technological systems to manage our future in an increasingly
complex world. In particular, FuturICT wanted to develop a “Living Earth Simulator”
that would allow us to explore and understand the opportunities and risks implied
by possible decisions we might take. This simulator was intended to be an open and
participatory platform, committed to the protection of personal privacy.
2
FuturICT was (and—in various aspects—still is) recognized as a highly innovative project, bringing the best researchers in the social, natural, and engineering
sciences together. Eventually, we established a global network of interdisciplinary
1 See http://www.futurict.eu.
2 Helbing et al. [1], http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01686-y#page-1, http://
arxiv.org/abs/1211.2313.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Helbing, Next Civilization,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62330-2
315
Why did I write this book and how did it come about? My research activities, on
which this book is based, had three essential triggers. While I studied statistical
physics in Göttingen, Germany, I specialized in modeling complex systems and
became increasingly interested in addressing real-life problems, such as the conflicts
between neo-Nazis and left-wing students that were happening at that time.
Later, when I was Managing Director of the Institute of Transport & Economics
at Dresden University of Technology, I was shocked by September 11, 2001. Just a
year later, the beautiful city of Dresden was terribly flooded. This led me to study
disasters and how to respond to them.
Finally, when I worked as a professor of sociology at ETH Zurich in Switzerland,
the financial crisis in 2008 clearly revealed that we needed entirely new ways of
thinking about socio-economic systems. As a result of ongoing cascading effects,
the emerging economic crisis would eventually result in political extremism and
increasing levels of societal conflict—a scenario that had to be avoided.
To address these concerns, I launched the FuturICT initiative back in 2010.
1 This
was a response to a European call for proposals for two e1 billion “flagship” projects
to boost innovation in the information and technology sector—so we are talking about
the perspective of significant funding, here. The FuturICT project aimed to develop
new scientific and technological systems to manage our future in an increasingly
complex world. In particular, FuturICT wanted to develop a “Living Earth Simulator”
that would allow us to explore and understand the opportunities and risks implied
by possible decisions we might take. This simulator was intended to be an open and
participatory platform, committed to the protection of personal privacy.
2
FuturICT was (and—in various aspects—still is) recognized as a highly innovative project, bringing the best researchers in the social, natural, and engineering
sciences together. Eventually, we established a global network of interdisciplinary
1 See http://www.futurict.eu.
2 Helbing et al. [1], http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01686-y#page-1, http://
arxiv.org/abs/1211.2313.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Helbing, Next Civilization,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62330-2
315