The success of modelling is likely to vary under different social contexts, political climates, and economic conditions. Promoting and enacting responsible modelling should account for complex and interdependent linkages among various factors in a given context.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the essential role of modeling and simulation in informing and advising governments, policy-makers and broader society. This demonstrates the profound influence that modelers can have in times of crisis. Drawing on diverse experiences in multiple techniques and from different methodological traditions, in this project we focus on a broader notion of ‘responsibility’ in the modelling ecosystem.
The responsible and modelling simulation project focuses on latest developments, debates and challenges around responsible modelling practice, including but not limited to: building trust with the public through simulation; embedding transparency in model creation; unpacking the ethics of data integrity and quantification in modelling; identifying contextual factors and alternative perspectives and hypotheses in the modelling process; the role of the modeler in helping the user interpret results, and; methods for making explicit how models are framed including underlying assumptions. It examines the chain of responsibility from the model commissioner, creator, user, and subsequent policy decisions that are made as a result of the simulation capability.
The project’s outcome will improve the existing knowledge about social, ethical, cultural, and economic dimensions of modelling and simulation. By bringing multiple perspectives, modelling approaches and experiences together, the project attempts to unpack the relationship between models and society.
