ABSTRACT
Since the early 1950s, engineers and scientists have slowly started to participate in policy issues, often focusing on applying scientific methodologies and ideas to policy problems (e.g. modelling socio-technical systems). The term ‘socio-technical system’ was first coined in the 1950s with the aim of assigning equal importance to social elements and technical artefacts in the design process (Mumford 2006; Leonardi 2012). The Phillips Machine is an early example when in 1949, Phillips, an engineer turned economist, invented the MONIAC (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) otherwise known as the Phillips Hydraulic Computer (a.k.a. the Phillips Machine), which is an analogue machine that used fluids to model the British economy (Phillips 1950). The aim of the machine was to illustrate the complex interaction between fiscal and monetary policy and highlight the effects resulting from the control of tax and spending versus the control of interest rates on the economy, and the difficulty with their synchronisation. In the late 1950s, Forrester (1957, 1958) in the US focused the use of computer technology and engineering ideas and approaches to the study of industrial production. Later, his research was directed towards society to test, improve and gain insights into the performance and robustness of government policies.
