How Non-linearity will Transform Information Systems

One “problem” with the 21st century world, particularly the economic and business worlds, is the phenomenal and increasing number of interconnections between economic agents (consumers, firms, banks, markets, national economies). This implies that such agents are all interacting and consequently giving raise to enormous degrees of non-linearity, a.k.a. complexity. Complexity often brings with it unexpected phenomena, such as chaos and emerging behaviour, that can become challenges for the survival of economic agents and systems. Developing econophysics approaches are beginning to apply, to the “economic web”, methods and models that have been used in physics and/or systems theory to tackle non-linear domains. The paper gives an account of the research in progress in this field and shows its implications for enteprise information systems, anticipating the emergence of software that will allow to reflect the complexity of the business world, as holistic risk management becomes a mandate for financial institutions and business organizations.