Modeling and Simulation of
Techno-Social Systems

The Modeling and Simulation of Socio-Technical Systems (MoST) unit at Fondazione Bruno Kessler investigates AI- and data-driven methods to model and simulate complex socio-technical systems in support of public decision-making and civic participation.

The group is part of the Digital Society Center.

As societies face rapid transformations and increasing interdependence between technical and social systems, we envision a future in which digital technologies become essential for society to make sense of complex environmental, social, and technological challenges and transformation processes.

This requires not only more effective and efficient analysis and decision-making tools, but also new approaches to democratize the access to these tools. To this end, we champion a vision in which data-driven systems are open, interpretable, co-designed with the relevant institutions, organizations, and communities.

We research models, analysis and simulation of complex socio-technical systems and blend them with methods and tools to support collaborative design, participatory planning, and accountable public decision-making.

We develop digital tools aligned with our research agenda to help institutions, large organizations, and communities understand complex transformation processes, explore what-if scenarios, and make data-informed decisions in high-stakes, real-world contexts.

Our applications are in key domains such as cities (mobility, urban planning, tourism, studentification, etc.), rural areas (tourism, climate neutrality, etc.), and large organizations (in particular, Public Administration).