Title: Human organisation socio-cognitive vulnerability: the TOGA meta-theory approach to the modelling methodology

Authors: Adam Maria Gadomski

Addresses: ENEA (National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Environment), Via Anguillarese 301, Rome, Italy

Abstract: The paper deals with the methodological approach to the identification of the sources of socio-cognitive vulnerability. The main attention is on large complex organisations whose mission is emergency/high-risk management. The paper gives a preliminary demonstration of how a systemic, unified computational methodological approach enables the redefinition and structuring of a complex problem involving ill-defined human, organisational and cultural factors into the form of computational models. The systemic socio-cognitive paradigms and the framework of the Top-down Object-based Goal-oriented Approach (TOGA) meta-theory have been presented and applied as a meta-ontological platform, basic formalisation and goal-oriented knowledge-ordering tool. In the case of human-caused threats and organisational crises, the methodology can be applied and used for the modelling of ill-defined vulnerabilities of human networks on individual, interorganisational and intraorganisational decision levels. Among others, it rigorously applies such key concepts as information, preferences, knowledge and their recursive Information, Preferences, Knowledge (IPK) architecture. Some top modelling results related to the recent, main natural and technological disasters illustrate the application of this approach.

Keywords: socio-cognitive vulnerability; human-caused threats; human-caused crises; organisational crises; emergency management; high risk management; decision making; methodology; modelling; top-down object-based goal-oriented approach; TOGA metatheory; information; preferences; knowledge; IPK architecture; natural disasters; technological disasters.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2009.022853

International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 2009 Vol.5 No.1/2, pp.120 - 155

Published online: 30 Jan 2009 *

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