The Swarm Development Group (SDG) is an American non-profit organization to advance the development of

complex adaptive system A complex adaptive system is a system that is ''complex'' in that it is a dynamic network of interactions, but the behavior of the ensemble may not be predictable according to the behavior of the components. It is ''adaptive'' in that the individ ...

-oriented

agent-based model An agent-based model (ABM) is a computational model for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities such as organizations or groups) in order to understand the behavior of a system and wha ...

ing (ABM) tools initiated at the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, includ ...

(SFI) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, US.

History

Swarm Development Group was formed in 1999 by a group of multidisciplinary scientists, researchers, and software developers, led by Chris Langton. Langton was also the founder of the emerging field of research called

artificial life Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry ...

. The initial, primary, role for the SDG was to house continued development of the

Swarm Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...

simulation software after the software become independent of the SFI in 1999. The role of the Swarm Development Group has expanded to include the co-ordination of a long-running conference SwarmFest during May, June, or July each summer – typically hosted by a different research university each year. Developers, users, and researchers gather to present research papers and discuss the state of Swarm and other agent-based modeling platforms like RePast (University of Chicago) and Ascape (Brookings). Typically, a wide range of academic, corporate, and government organizations are represented at SwarmFest. The first SwarmFest was in 1998 while Swarm was still sponsored by the Santa Fe Institute. From SwarmFest 2000 onwards, after the SDG was formed in late 1999, SwarmFests were organized directly by the SDG. Recent SwarmFests have been held at a variety of institutions. SwarmFest 2007 was held at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

's School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems, in Chicago. SwarmFest 2008 was held at Northwestern Memorial Hospital/

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. Swarmfest 2008 had special focus areas on

agent based modeling An agent-based model (ABM) is a computational model for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities such as organizations or groups) in order to understand the behavior of a system and wha ...

Systems Biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...

, and the implementation of

agent based model An agent-based model (ABM) is a computational models, computational model for computer simulation, simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities such as organizations or groups) in order to un ...

s in

high-performance computing High-performance computing (HPC) uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Overview HPC integrates systems administration (including network and security knowledge) and parallel programming into a mult ...

environments. Between 2009 and 2012, SwarmFest was held at the Santa Fe Complex in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Swarmfest 2013 was held at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in Orlando, Florida July 8–9.; SwarmFest 2014 was held at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana from June 29 – July 1, 2014; the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina (in 2015), the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont (in 2016), and Old Dominion University in Suffolk, Virginia (in 2017),SwarmFest2017
/ref> were the selected venues.

References

External links

Swarm Development Group
{{authority control Complex systems theory Systems science institutes Organizations established in 1999 1999 establishments in the United States