FuturICT - New Science and Technology to Manage Our Complex, Strongly Connected World

Abstract

We have built particle accelerators to understand the forces that make up our physical world. But we still don't understand the principles underlying our strongly connected, techno-socio-economic systems. To fill the knowledge gaps and keep up with the fast pace at which our world is changing, a Knowledge Accelerator must urgently be created. An interdisciplinary integration of natural, social, and engineering sciences, as it will be performed by the FuturICT flagship project, can produce the synergy effects required to address many of our 21st century challenges. One can expect that, after the age of physical, biological and technological innovations, Europe can lead the next era - a wave of social and socio-inspired innovations.