Keynote Lectures
Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: Recent Progress and Remaining Challenges
Adel Ben Youssef, University Cote d'Azur, France
Is SimDec Truly a Revelatory Approach for Global Sensitivity Analysis or is it Turtles All the Way Down?
Julian Scott Yeomans, York University, Canada
Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: Recent Progress and Remaining Challenges
Adel Ben Youssef
University Cote d'Azur
France
![]()
Brief Bio
Adel BEN YOUSSEF is Professor of Economics at the Côte d'Azur University and member of the CNRS research laboratory (GREDEG - CNR UMR 7321). He is also an associate researcher at the Economic Research Forum (Cairo) and the Global Labor Organization (Bonn). Adel Ben Youssef is an international expert on ecological and digital transitions for many international institutions. He is a founding member of the African Association of Artificial Intelligence and Industry 4.0 (AISMA). In addition, he was a negotiator for Tunisia at COP 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 (2017-2024) in the field of climate finance. He has participated in the facilitation of around a hundred workshops (100+) over the last 20 years. He has been the liaison person for more than 25 major international events and has published more than 100 academic articles in renowned international journals. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Platforms Journal (MDPI), Associate Editor of the journals Development and Sustainability in Economics and Finance (Springer) and Green and Low-Carbon Economy (GLCE). He is ranked among the top 1% economists by scholar GPS.
Is SimDec Truly a Revelatory Approach for Global Sensitivity Analysis or is it Turtles All the Way Down?
Julian Scott Yeomans
York University
Canada
![]()
Brief Bio
Julian is a Professor of Operations Management & Information Systems and the Program Director for both the Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence and the Master of Business Analytics at the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto. In collaboration with Mariia Kozlova (LUT University), Julian has created SimDec, which has been used as a technique for global sensitivity analysis. SimDec combines visual uncertainty analytics with an innovative computational method for identifying and quantifying the influence of factor impacts. Recent application studies have examined small modular nuclear reactors, 3D printing in construction, agricultural food-water-energy systems, aviation electrification, healthcare, and superconducting magnets at CERN. To promote the widest adoption and penetration of SimDec as possible, a downloadable free-of-charge electronic book, together with open-source computer code in Python, Julia, R, and Matlab and a “no-code-required” web dashboard, have been made freely available. For a “low-tech” overview of SimDec you can read Julian’s recent interview in the Schulich Research Newsletter.
Abstract
SimDec (“simulation decomposition”) is a recently developed analytical approach that enables a visualizable analysis of impacts and interactions within data. Such visualizations can be easily understood and interpreted by all users regardless of technical background. While straightforward and elegant, SimDec enhances explanatory capabilities by visually “teasing out” inherent cause-and-effect relationships, while also uncovering counter-intuitive behaviours. Recent studies have indicated that SimDec might be considered the pre-eminent technique for conducting applied, “real world” global sensitivity analysis. Could such research revelations truly herald the second coming or is SimDec simply esoteric rot – nothing but turtles all the way down? You be the judge.