Engineering Complex Systems

Using the current instantiation of the Air and Space Operations Center (AOC), and the desired evolution of it, the AOC is shown to be best thought of as a complex system. Complex Systems are alive and constantly changing. They respond and interact with their environments – each causing impact on (and inspiring change in) the other. We make the case that a traditional systems engineering (TSE) approach does not scale to the AOC; consequently, we don’t believe TSE scales to the “enterprise.”