Fluidity is a research group investigating adaptive information systems – systems that assimilate, accommodate and/or shape their environment through interaction. Our name is based on the premise is that life is fluid – it is likely to change repeatedly and unexpectedly and is only ever in the process of becoming. We therefore adopt an enactive perspective of systems as autonomous (self-producing and governing) networks of interdependent processes that require the ongoing capacity to (a) make sense of the world in which they interact and (b) maintain their viability within that world.
At its simplest, we take an information system to be ‘information technology in use’, the dynamic (and contextual) coupling of people, action, social artefacts and structure and information technology. Coupling is the process by which these different aspects of an information system simultaneously (and constantly) shape each others change. We are interested in this coupling from the perspective of the elements involved and their coordination and see organisation as emerging from congruence in this coupling over time. We are also interested in how that emergent organisation constrains its different aspects in turn (circular causality).
Our contention here is that this congruence is an outcome of us ‘chopping’ discrete moments out of continuity and creating generalised meaning that is subsequently exercised in situated and embodied action. These static pictures when embodied in social artefacts, social structures and information technology can overly constrain ongoing situated and embodied action.
Given the above, our research aims are to improve (a) sense-making and viability in the overall couplings within a system and (b) the ability of information technology to make sense and adapt to context via coupling. Our interrelated research themes are:
From a business perspective, our work has application in relation to service science and business intelligence. Service science is an emerging paradigm that views business organisation as a network (or ecosystem) of services. Value is co-created, emerging from the combined efforts of many parties, and is enacted through a variety of structures, procedures, competencies and technologies. There is a strong synergy here with our view of systems as autonomous networks of interdependent processes.
The need for these processes to make sense of the world in which they interact, and maintain their viability within that world, equates well with emerging views on business intelligence and performance. Historically, business intelligence has concerned itself with the summarisation and reporting of data. In line with work on business performance and real-time understanding, a broader view of processes actively regulating their conditions is more appropriate.
Fluidity is housed within the School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics at Brunel University. Our ethos is interdisciplinary, however, as the principles and mechanisms of adaptation are relevant to and studied across many disciplines. In that regard we aim over time to cross boundaries between natural and social sciences and between philosophy and practical application.
Established in 2009, Fluidity emerged from two prior initiatives. First, the Centre for Living Information Systems Thinking, an historical research centre that was run by Professor Ray Paul (now Emeritus) to examine dynamic approaches to information systems and their development. Second from a £1.5 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) sponsored project addressing both social and technical issues of systems integration. This latter aspect forms the framework for many of our publications to-date.