Chapter 13 discussed managing complex systems and chapter 15 introduced the advantages of visual decision support. Discuss how you would combine the two concepts to create visualizations for an ABM-Ba

ITS 832 CHAPTER 15 VISUAL DECISION SUPPORT FOR POLICY MAKING: ADVANCING POLICY ANAL YSIS WITH VISUALIZATION INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY DR. JORDON SHAW INTRODUCTION • Background • Approach • Case Studies • Optimization • Social Simulation • Urban Planning • Conclusion BACKGROUND • Assessing policy options for societal problems is difficult • Decision making methods • Data driven • Model driven • Visual decision supports helps in evaluating model output • Information visualization and visual analytics • Makes complex results accessible to many • Policy analysis • Part of process aimed at solving societal problems DATA VISUALIZATION POLICY CYCLE APPROACH • Characterization of stakeholders • Policy makers • Policy analysts • Modeling experts • Domain experts • Public stakeholders • Bridging knowledge gaps • With information visualization (IV) • Cohesive view of model representation VISUAL SUPPORT FOR POLICY ANALYSIS APPROACH, CONT’D.

• Synergy effects of applying IV to policy analysis • Communication - facilitated • Complexity - reduced • Subjectivity - reduced • Validation - improved • Transparency and reproducibility of results - increased CASE STUDIES • Optimization • Optimization of regional energy plans considering impacts • Environmental • Economical • Social • Social Simulation • Simulation of the impact of different policy instruments on the adoption of photovoltaic (PV) panels by homeowners • Urban planning • Integration of heterogenous data sources in planning activities SUMMARY OF CASE STUDIES CONCLUSION • Current model output is often difficult to understand • Not accessible for non -specialists • Information visualization (IV) • Makes model output more accessible • This paper applies IV to policy analysis • Contributions • Defined collaborations • Identified hurdles • Defined interface methodology