Engineering management: new advances and three open questions

Abstract

Big data has changed engineering management, which has consequently opened up many current and future scientific and technological challenges. This paper investigates engineering management in large scale infrastructure systems, which are regarded as giant data-driven open complex systems with system complexities that encompass openness, human involvement, society, and the emergence of intelligence. With the assistance of big data technologies and information theories, large scale infrastructure systems can be described as synergetic systems made up of ‘Data Streams–Information Sets–Problem Groups–Model Fields–Algorithmic Clusters’, so a 3 M-based engineering management based on meta-intelligence, meta-synthesis, and meta-technology is proposed as the methodological framework. Adjustability is explained as a precondition for the construction of large scale infrastructure systems, and three open questions on the engineering management of infrastructure systems are proposed based on this precondition. (1) Is there an effective 3 M-based engineering management methodology for all large scale infrastructure systems? (2) How can the morphism between problem groups and model fields in large scale infrastructure systems be proven? (3) How can the morphism between model fields and algorithmic clusters in large scale infrastructure systems be proven?

Keywords:

• Big data
• engineering management
• meta-synthesis
• meta-intelligence
• meta-technology
• infrastructure system

JEL Classification:

• C02
• Y2

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the editors and anonymous referees for their helpful and constructive comments and suggestions, which have helped improve this paper.