It'd be great if someday you could broadcast talks by internet. Not necessary in real time.
Kind regards Alfredo On Tuesday 31 October 2006 11:32, McNamara, Laura A wrote: > Actually, we're beyond OUO! Which means all topics can be discussed > completely openly - that was a leftover from our LANL version of the > same talk. > > Burritos? Wow. We got water at LANL... :) > > Cheers, > > Laura > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Stephen Guerin > Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 5:05 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [FRIAM] Lecture Nov 1 12p: Laura McNamara and Timothy Trucano > > *** special time: 12p *** > > SPEAKERs: Laura A. McNamara and Timothy G. Trucano > Sandia National Laboratories > > TITLE: Epistemological Issues in Computational Modeling and Simulation > and High Consequence Decision-Making > > TIME: Wed Nov 1, 2006 12:00p ** note special time > LOCATION: 624 Agua Fria Conference Room > > We will have breakfast burrittos with the speakers at Dominics at > 10:30a. > Everyone invited. > No lunch will be provided. > > ABSTRACT: > Since the end of the Cold war, the US intelligence community has faced > criticism for repeatedly failing to predict major international events: > the end of the Cold war, India and Pakistan's nuclear tests, terrorist > activities within and outside the United States. In response, > institutions in the IC have been looking for methodologies and > technologies to improve performance in the collection and analysis of > intelligence information. In particular, the IC's analytical community > is looking to modeling and simulation tools to revolutionize > intelligence analysis, enabling the collective to bridge information > gaps and promote knowledge discovery across (or perhaps despite) > intellectual, political, and organizational boundaries. > > This situation is not dissimilar to the crisis that the nuclear weapons > laboratories faced in the early 1990s, when the Hatfield Amendment > killed the testing program and the DOE introduced Science Based > Stockpile Stewardship as the new paradigm for assessing and certifying > the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear stockpile. In > particular, both the nuclear weapons and intelligence communities have > invested in modeling and simulation technologies for their capacity to > synthesize large amounts of information in relatively short periods of > time, and for their predictive promise. However, as the nuclear weapons > laboratories have discovered, predictive capability is a hard thing to > attain, and modeling and simulation tools often raise more questions > than they answer. > > In this talk, we argue that the intelligence community and the nuclear > weapons laboratories are facing remarkably similar challenges in > developing, assessing, and integrating modeling and simulation tools > into their mission activities. In particular, epistemological issues > that tend to remain latent in academic research environments get thrown > into high relief when information generated by modeling and simulation > tools contributes to high consequence decisions. We illustrate this > point by reviewing research on modeling and simulation, knowledge > production, and prediction in economics, weather forecasting, climate > modeling. We then present case studies from the nuclear weapons > programs and > the intelligence community, both of which reveal the close coupling > between technology and organizational dynamics that characterizes > modeling and simulation in high-consequence decision making. > > This talk is the outcome of two years' worth of discussion and > collaboration between Trucano, a mathematician who has spent his career > in computational physics at Sandia National Laboratories; and McNamara, > a cultural anthropologist who has studied knowledge production in both > the nuclear weapons and the intelligence communities. All topics will be > discussed at the OUO level. > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > editors note: I had to look up "OUO" > > If you enjoy the Oxford University Orchestra, this talk may be perfect > for you. > > Or perhaps you're a fan of OUO, an ex Zimbabwe-Legit Hip Hop band that > recently dropped some heat on Hollywood Basic a year ago. Founded by > Akim the Funk Buddha, Dumi Right and their cousin Pep. > http://www.africasgateway.com/article-print-295.html > > Or it's "Of Unknown Origin" though we assume Laura and Tim created the > talk... > > okay, it's quite probably "Official Use Only": identifying certain > unclassified but sensitive Department of Energy information that may be > exempt from public release under the Freedom of Information Act > > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, > unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org -- Hasta pronto Alfredo Covaleda Vélez --------------------------------------------- Compre sus libros en http://www.loslibrosusados.com http://www.bibliotienda.com --------------------------------------------- ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
