Ilau, Marius-Constantin;
(2025)
Co-Designing Heterogeneous Models: A Distributed Systems Perspective.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Conceptual modelling has existed since the early days of human cognition. However, given the technological and social advancements of today, the object of modelling has increased in complexity. Such objects are no longer singular entities, but heterogeneous socio-technical systems interlinked to form large-scale ecosystems. Furthermore, the underlying components of a system might be based on very different epistemic assumptions and methodologies for construction, interpretation and use. Naturally, consistent, rigorous reasoning about such systems is hard. This thesis aims at constructing a pragmatic modelling methodology tailored for heterogeneous systems based on four elements: an inferentialist interpretation of what a model is, supported by a model characterization focused on means of construction, a distributed systems metaphor to structure that interpretation, and a co-design cycle to describe the practical design and construction steps of the modelling process. The underlying idea is that an open world interpretation, supported by a formal, yet generic abstraction facilitating knowledge translation and providing properties for structured reasoning and, used in practice according to the co-design cycle could lead to a better understanding of heterogeneous models, and subsequently, to models that are more likely to achieve their pre-stated goals. Additionally, conceptualizing, interpreting and constructing models using this approach is inherently multidisciplinary, allowing for integration of models from different research traditions. We explore the suitability of this method in the context of four case studies: a mixed-methods, descriptive case study on the nature of information security models, and three methodological case studies detailing the application of our approach in three different settings: a physical data loss model, an organisational recovery under ransomware model, and an emergency capacity trauma unit model.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Co-Designing Heterogeneous Models: A Distributed Systems Perspective |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | Modelling Methodology, Philosophy of Science, Distributed Systems Modelling, Information Security |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10214524 |
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