D9. Examples of a System

examples of systems a country’s food system Food is an object, which lives in a productservice system, within a life cycle system, in certain geographical contexts, driven by many organizations along the way. Investigating a food system in all these dimensions is fasci­ nating and useful to learn, find areas of optimi­ zation, and new ways to deal with our food. An object life cycle All objects have a life cycle, be it a product, building, or service. Looking at the entire life cycle, from the primary source of energy used, from inception via production, use, and to end-of-life is a helpful way of looking at a system of an object. This is usually combined with another way of looking at the system. a decision-making system As an example of a more abstract system, when looking at governance, it can be useful to look at the process of decision-making as a system. For example, within a given society, what is the system of decision-making that affect certain societal impacts? An organization or company A group of people working together to achieve a certain goal or purpose, that have an organi­ zational boundary. An organization as a system doesn’t have a geographical boundary, but more of a contextual, organizational one. A neighborhood, City or region Any group of people living together in a geographically defined space is a typical example of a useful ‘system’ subject. a product-service system A product-service system is the ‘ecosystem’ in which a certain product or service that provides certain value to a user lives. For example, a ride-sharing service, a capsule coffee machine, or a the system of returnable drink bottles.

From the SiD Book

A system in SiD is a set of objects and relations between individual components (agents) that operate together, exchanging things such as information, energy, materials, value, and other resources. Systems are a mental and analytical model to understand the world in a more comprehensive way. They are not real, but they form a framework for understanding. A system may take many forms. A city can be seen as a system. The pond in your neighbor’s back yard, our entire civilization, a company, or a government may all be seen as systems. Systems are defined and separated by their system boundary. Systems are thus a collection of agents, and their relations (the network), that operate in time, space and in context, defined by their boundary. A system, in SiD’s definition, consists of three levels...