APPLICO is a scientific hub for people working on the applications of Complexity Science, mostly in the fields of Engineering and Social Sciences.
In recent years there has been an intense collaboration among the component of our groups on the issue of the resilience of urban and infrastructural systems towards natural and anthropic risks. Our lines of research are mainly focused on a coherent set of topics that represent some of the key factors and drivers in the development of our society:
- The increase in service demand related to urban growth that is occurring in the world, especially in emerging countries, is a trend that is putting under stress all strategic infrastructures.
- The need to create new development models that allow market operators to perform the necessary infrastructural upgrades towards smart grids and digital cities.
- The need to consider the impact of climate change in progress: the extreme weather perturbations experienced in the last years are putting under strain infrastructural networks even in technologically advanced countries.
- The growing need to evaluate and mitigate the risk of urban systems against natural events (such as landslides, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions), accidental events (such as explosions, impacts, fires) and anthropic events (such as terrorist attacks and errors) human) requires infrastructures that are not only robust, but also resilient, i.e. able to recover quickly.
- The need to measure, evaluate and predict via models, use of “big data” and scenario analysis the social and media impact of the introduction of policies and new technologies.
To ensure sustainable and high quality services for all (both in developed and emerging nations) it is crucial to address these challenges taking into account the complexity of such systems. Complexity Science thanks to its interdisciplinary approach is the natural framework to pursue such a goal.