Intelligent complex adaptive systems (iCAS): An analysis of the education system and three junior colleges in Singapore

Abstract

The entire humanity is gradually drifting into the fourth era – the intelligence era. The transformation is facilitated by the emergence of a better educated and continuous learning and relearning generation that can function comfortably in a knowledge-intensive economy and respond constructively to the fast-changing environment. Therefore, a highly educated population is the main resource that all competitive nations must cultivate. In this respect, the first critical factor necessary for nurturing a highly competitive organization/nation is to optimize the intrinsic intelligence and thinking ability of the individuals, and the second factor is to increase the effectiveness of the interactive dynamics. The primary intelligence sources in such a nation must be connected effectively to elevate the collective intelligence of the systems synergistically.

Apparently, individual intelligence and collective intelligence must be nurtured and utilized to the optimal in order to survive in the stiffer and faster-changing competitions. In particular, collective intelligence and its associated attributes must be better cultivated through a deeper comprehension of complex adaptive systems and intelligent organizations dynamics. Therefore, the strategies to be adopted are those that focus on bio-logic rather than machine-logic. In this study, the strategies utilized by the Singapore's education system as an intelligent human organization are examined and the analysis is further substantiated by a more in-depth investigation of three junior colleges as intelligent complex adaptive systems (iCAS) at the operational level.