Description
Technology is changing the world at a rapid pace and we are entering the 4th Industrial Revolution which is characterized by a new range of technologies like biotech and infotech which connects our physical, digital and biological worlds. The first Industrial Revolution was responsible for instigating new innovations and technologies that have improved quality of life and increased life expectancy. So much so, that the human population is heading towards 9.8 billion by 2050. It was also responsible for implementing the linear production systems that we still see today in manufacturing industries. A take, make and waste system that relies heavily on our natural resources for materials, water and energy. These systems are not sustainable, especially if the population is going to continue to grow at its projected speed. Industrial Symbiosis provides a framework for helping to reduce the impact of manufacturing industries. In an effort to assess what could be done to make this framework more mainstream, a SWOT analysis was done of the IS model to evaluate areas to focus on for this research. A further evaluation against Life’s Principles narrowed down the area of focus. An opportunity to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration was identified as the optimal choice for this project. Using a biomimetic approach, swarm intelligence in Nature was discovered to be the most interesting concept to explore further. This research project examines the idea that an online game could be used to leverage the Collective Intelligence of players around the world to build virtual IS hubs that could potentially be applied to the real world.