Systo - a lightweight approach for browser-based modelling

Systo is a novel approach for supporting dynamic systems modelling in web pages.

Until recently, diagram-based modelling has required you to install software on your computer (like Simile, for example).   Recently, developers have started producing browser-based apps which enable you to draw model diagrams, enter equations and values for the model, and run simulations.     Examples for System Dynamics modelling are InsightMaker and Sysdea.   

In all these cases, the user is constrained by the particular design choices made by the developers - how things are laid out on the screen, and what functionality is provided.    And yet, there is a lot in common - they all need to be able to show the model diagram, to provide a user interface for running simulations and displaying results, and so on.     Wouldn't it be great if these various aspects could be packaged up as individual components ("widgets"), which others could then choose from and assemble in any way they wanted, customised for their own needs and those of their web page visitors?

That's what Systo enables you to do.    Anybody who knows even very rudimentary HTML can put together a web page incorporating their choice of widget and models, for others to use.    Some web pages might be very specific: presenting a single model with a tightly controlled user interface (i.e. set of widgets), while others might give the user a choice of models and/or a choice of widgets to be used in working with the models.   People with some ability in Javascript programming can adapt, or develop from scratch, widgets, which can then be made available to anyone else.    

If you would like to know more, and see Systo in action, please visit the Systo web page, at http://www.systo.org.  Please be aware that, at the time of writing, things are very new, and liable to break or be changed in the coming weeks.