Be inspired by the social simulation fest speakers of 2021

Jason Thompson

Be careful what you wish for – The highs and lows of modeling controversial public policy

Alison Heppenstall & Nicolas Malleson

Quantifying the uncertainty in agent-based models
(aka what the *$&^% is going on in my model and why?)

Agent-based modelling is maturing as a method for capturing and simulating individual behaviour and activity. Whilst there are a dazzling array of applications appearing in the literature, there is less work that focusses on important methodological issues such as the handling of uncertainty in these models. We discuss (and demonstrate) how approaches from the field of Uncertainty Quantification can be adapted for use in agent-based models so that models can become robust enough to be used in important policy decisions.

Marco Almada

Ethics, Law, and Simulation: Thinking about social simulation in the world

Simulations can provide new ways to study the ethical and legal dimensions of social phenomena. However, their use might itself have ethical or legal consequences, as the outputs of simulations influence decision- and policy-making processes. This activity invites participants to discuss how the simulation design process can become sensitive to ethics and the law: what are the factors that must be examined? What can simulation designers do about ethical and legal demands? Are current design practices well equipped for that purpose? By debating these and other questions, we conclude the Fest with an examination of the broader implications of social simulation.