Santa Fe Institute Short Course: Exploring Complexity in Innovation and Invention

Whether it's the first red feather on a black wing or the emergence of a market economy, all "newness" has its start somewhere. Innovation is, in fact, a defining feature of complex systems. But what are the factors, the processes that come together to create innovations? Where does novelty come from?

September 21-23 in Austin, TX, an intensive SFI short course will bring participants to the forefront of innovation research. Participants will engage with prominent SFI faculty to explore how innovation affects industry evolution and social behaviors, with an emphasis on social engineering and prediction. Untangle the effects of digital technology on human social networks, learn how patent codes are used to measure the novelty and economic impact of inventions, and travel to the forefront of bionanotechnology, where insights from 3.6 billion years of evolution are being applied to create living systems from scratch.  

This course is specifically designed for professionals, faculty, students, and others who are curious to explore and apply insights from complexity and innovation research in their own work. Exploring Complexity in Innovation and Invention has no prerequisites and requires no specific math or science background. Examples of people who might particularly benefit from this course are professionals; managers and policy-makers in business, government, and nonprofit organizations; industrial research and development staff; social work and education professionals; journalists; and university faculty and students.

Jordan Brandt - Cofounder and CEO, Inpher, Inc.; Consulting Associate Professor, Stanford University; former Technology Futurist for Autodesk

Jessica Flack - Santa Fe Institute Faculty

Eric Henderson - Iowa State University, Professor of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology

José Lobo - Santa Fe Institute External Faculty and Senior Sustainability Scientist, Arizona State University

Steen Rasmussen - Santa Fe Institute External Professor; Professor, Research Director and Center Leader, University of Southern Denmark, Self Organizing Systems