Abstract: this paper reviews the general philosophy underlying the transdisciplinary research in the Evolution, Complexity and Cognition (ECCO) group. The ECCO conceptual framework is based on an ontology of action: the fundamental constituents of reality are seen as actions and the agents that produce them. More complex phenomena are conceived as selforganizing networks of interacting agents that evolve to become increasingly complex, adaptive and intelligent systems. The resulting worldview allows us to address the most fundamental issues of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, futurology and praxeology. It in particular tackles the recurrent issues surrounding the matter-mind duality, including the origins of purposefulness and of subjective experience, and the relation between first-person and third-person perspectives. It achieves this by extending the intentional stance down to the simplest agents, elementary particles. This action-based view moreover supports a variety of practical applications, including the design of self-organizing technological systems, of systems that mobilize people to work in a motivated and coordinated manner, and of systems that support the collaborative development and dissemination of knowledge networks. The appendix of the paper, which is structured as a glossary, systematically defines and surveys the fundamental concepts of the ECCO framework.

The role of the quality manager in large public sector organizations: Project proposal

This dissertation analyses two different paradigms used for the development of a software product, Operating Systems. The targets of research are two groups that operate in very different ways, Microsoft Corporation and the Linux Community. Through the observation of the strategies and methodologies used by these actors in their work, and taking into account the constraints to which they are subject, assesses, from a dynamic perspective, the relative strengths and weaknesses of their competing paradigms. In the dissertation I will analyse the efficiency of the development processes that they have adopted for the design, improvement and enhancement of their products. A theoretical model based on Giovanni Dosis "Technological Paradigms" framework, incorporating institutional, industrial, social and cultural aspects, is constructed and specifically adapted to the software industry case. The private management of technology issues considered during the analysis of the development processes inside different organisations are linked to questions having to do with the evolution of high technology, networked, markets. This analysis lends to assessment of some rationales and potential strategies for public intervention in the Operating Systems industry, taking into account some relevant concerns that have been raised about competitive issues and dominant position in this market, one of strategic importance for the future development of the Information Society

professional services firm. While all decisions are a guess about the future, as complexity builds upon complexity decision-makers must increasingly rely on their intuition and judgment. This chapter explores the decision-making process for complex situations in a complex environment (complex adaptive messes) in terms of: laying the groundwork for decisionmaking, understanding and exploring complex situations, discussing human additive factors, preparing for the decision process and mechanisms for influencing complex situations. Laying the groundwork introduces the concepts of emergence, the butterfly effect, the tipping point, feedback loops and power laws. Mechanisms for influencing complex situations include structural adaptation, boundary management, absorption, optimum complexity, simplification, sense and respond, amplification, and seeding. The authors forward that decision-makers may be able to construct a strategy that guides problem resolution through a sequence of decisions and actions leading toward an acceptable solution.

There are probably very few countries and cities in the world facing the same challenges of urbaning 1 as South Africa. Not only did South Africa commence with the reconstruction of its society during the mid-nineties, but it also experienced the larger ‘reworlding ’ 2 process as it re-entered the global arena of which it was isolated for such a long time. In this paper we argue that the current urban planning and management system in South Africa is not yet optimally geared to address the global and local challenges facing urban areas as apparent from the current experience in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria). We narrow our scope to two particular constructs that have emerged in the contemporary era. Firstly, the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) that currently occupies the pride of place of all endeavors of strategic urban planning, and secondly, the reemergence of Spatial Planning that has also assumed a very prominent position in the reconstruction of South African cities. Together these constructs have become the tools of the trade – actually the ‘BIG ’ affair of planners, urban managers, politicians and the previously disregarded. By endeavoring to touch the untouchable, we attempt to expose how these constructs are producing its own iron cages that are keeping our sights and efforts from exploring more innovative and opportune approaches for our time and space. Our primary argument is framed around the premise that we need a new supplementary construct that should

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