Forio's Forum

You might have seen Forio’s name pop up in the press in the past month or two. On August 9, IBM issued a press release making public a project we’ve been helping them with for over a year — a system dynamics modelling project in support of IBM’s Smarter Cities initiative. The model explores the “relationships that exist among the city’s core systems, including the economy, housing, education, public safety, transportation, healthcare/wellness, government services and utilities.” Forio was a major contributor to the model, which was built in Vensim and is hosted on the Forio Simulate platform. The press release generated significant ‘buzz’ for several weeks, and discussion of the Smarter Cities initiative and the model appeared in sources ranging from PCWorld to the Green (Low Carbon) Data Center Blog.

For more information about Forio’s consulting and modeling services in the Public Policy sector, contact:

Matt Adams
MAdams@forio.com
(415) 440-7500 x86

Vensim is ideally suited for creating sophisticated system dynamics simulations. But how can modelers make the results of these models easily accessible to users unfamiliar with the Vensim desktop application?

Forio Simulate is a web hosting application that makes it easy for modelers to integrate Vensim models into end-user web applications. It allows modelers working in Vensim to publish VMF files to a server-based installation of Vensim hosted by Forio. Interface developers can then employ use the user interface design tool to create a web interface using a drag-and-drop application. No programming is necessary.

In a recent webinar, Tom Fiddeman and Billy Schoenberg show how Vensim modelers can combine interactive Web applications with Vensim. The webinar covers:

1. Importing your Vensim model into Forio Simulate for use on the web.
2. Exploring your model with the Forio Simulate Model Explorer
3. Creating a web based user interface without writing code
4. Expanding past the drag and drop UI designer using Forio Simulate’s RESTful APIs

Watch the webinar now by clicking HERE

A recent edition of the Sloan Management Review tackled some questions that we at Forio think about quite a bit, and which you might be interested in, too.

What do managers want most in their data?

This is great news for Forio and our users, since at least 3 of the top 5 (Integration, Consistency/Standardization, and Timeliness) are promoted by online simulation and analysis tools, such as Simulate.  A reasonable argument can be made that  model transparency (which Simulate promotes) improves Trustworthiness and encourages Simplification.  So, using Simulate to develop and share your models gives managers what they are looking for!

Where are Data-Driven Managers Headed?

Once again, great news for us — the  Simulate community!  Data-driven managers are moving right into our sweet spot!  We’ve always been able to support Today’s top two: historic trend analysis and forecasting, and standardized reporting.  But Simulate’s strength, especially when you consider the flexibility that comes with the UI designer, is in the top 3 “In 24 Months”: data visualization, simulations and scenario development, and analytics applied within business processes.  So be in front of the curve –  develop your Simulate skills now!

If you have comments, post them here.  If you’re working on a simulation and have questions about how to make the most of it, post a question on the support board.

In this 40-minute live web seminar, Jeremy Merritt (ISee Systems) and our own Michael Bean demonstrate how easy it is to create web-based simulations and learning environments. Learn first-hand how to use isee NetSim and Forio Simulate to publish, share and access iThink and STELLA models online.

Click HERE to access.