Today s world is increasingly action-oriented. Yet problems are not solved by taking measurements alone, no matter how reassuring it may be to imagine this conspicuous activity will somehow substitute for reflection, contemplation, and formal, quantitative interpretation of what has been observed.
Infrastructures have an operational phase in their life cycle, and it is remarkably long.
Nothing but nothing is invariant with time. Steady state is not the norm. All systems, including environmental systems and the infrastructure for protection thereof, exhibit behavior that is dynamic. Control is about coping with those dynamics and turning them, as appropriate, to our advantage including even maintaining a system in some steady, equilibrium state. A new and vigorous fundamental science and engineering research agenda that highlights the promise and priorities emerging from the intersection of systems and complexity theory, quantitative modeling, and environmentally benign technology development would be a smart investment.