The Decision-Maker has an Important, but Often Neglected, Role in Model Use

Although these proceedings contain many papers on simulation and modelling, and a high proportion appear aimed at decision-makers, these decision-makers are rarely identified or discussed. Why? Given that it is the decision-maker, not the model, that manages the real-world system, do we know enough about decision-makers as users of models to be sure that models are used effectively? Maybe not. Decisionmakers often behave in ways that seem irrational or biased to scientific model developers. But scientific model developers rarely build models that are flexible, easily used and comprehensive, which is discouraging to decision-makers seeking support. These problem appear to stem, in part, from important differences in the ways model developers and model users view models; the model developers seeing models as instruments for representing the world, while model users want instruments for managing or changing the world. Even though a better knowledge of human behaviour and sociology would appear to be useful to technologists, the evidence to date is that they are disinterested. Seriously disinterested. Why?