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Science 24 July 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5939, pp. 425 - 428
DOI: 10.1126/science.1171990
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Perspective

Predicting the Behavior of Techno-Social Systems

Alessandro Vespignani

We live in an increasingly interconnected world of techno-social systems, in which infrastructures composed of different technological layers are interoperating within the social component that drives their use and development. Examples are provided by the Internet, the World Wide Web, WiFi communication technologies, and transportation and mobility infrastructures. The multiscale nature and complexity of these networks are crucial features in understanding and managing the networks. The accessibility of new data and the advances in the theory and modeling of complex networks are providing an integrated framework that brings us closer to achieving true predictive power of the behavior of techno-social systems.

Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, School of Informatics and Computing, and Pervasive Technology Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408, USA; and Institute for Scientific Interchange, Turin, Italy. E-mail: alexv{at}indiana.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)