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Intelligent Socio-Cognitive Systems  (ISCS) is a new sub-field of interest of  Socio-Cognitive Engineering (SCE)  especially focused on the intelligence as the most advanced computational property of socio-cognitive systems. Socio-cognitive engineering has started, as every new human technological and engineering activity,  bottom-up from the design of human-computer interfaces, cognitive ergonomy and available software engineering tools/technologies, but today, from new systemic and unified interdisciplinary perspective, it should be re-conceptualized and may be seen as an internal interactions' engineering between cognitive components and their structures into the highly complex large aggregates of intelligence-based systems embedded in the real-world environment.

Essential property of socio-cognitive engineering is its new subjective perspective based on the explicitly involved distinguished positions of the intelligent problem observers/solvers. They are a part of the problem with all  their goal-oriented  cognitive properties, motivations, competences. and social constrains. In such sense, an information system designer, an emergency manager and decision-making organization are intrinsic component of their problems.

Taking under consideration complexity, large and mobile scale, heterogeneity, and always not sufficient knowledge, in order to cope with the problems of understanding and design together: human organizations, computer networks and human-technology culture, all seen as intelligence-based systems, it is necessary to follow together the paradigms of:
 

 For more details see: Integrated paradigms,  http://erg4146.casaccia.enea.it/toga-parad.htm

 The above roughly specified perspective and meta-requirements are included in the axioms/assumptions of

the TOGA meta-theory (Top-down Object-based Goal-oriented Approach), 1993.

 The key research domains of the ISCS engineering are related to the computational modeling and simulation of:

                          1. Socio-cognitive and cybernetic knowledge on business/governmental/social organizations
                          2. Motivations, preferences and risk-benefits based distributed cognitive reasoning
                          3. Individual and collective cognitive decisions
                          4. Human reasoning errors, meta-reasoning, stress, emotions
                          5. Personality in social/organization context
                          6. Intelligence kernel: Cognitive abstract intelligent agents
                          7. Human and Computer role sharing in human-computer systems (tasks analysis)
                          8. Survivability of intelligent entities in hostile environments
                          9. Human components in a Virtual Business Enterprise

                         10. Vulnerability of human organizations and organizational decision-making
                         10. Socio-cognitive usability (an evaluation of organization - technology interaction)
                         11. Sustainable organizations and socio-cognitive sustainability (criteria, indicators and measurement)
.                        12. Socio-cognitive grids which integrate human and technological factors and organization behaviors.

A top short definition of Intelligent Socio-Cognitive Systems Engineering:
 

In the case of SCE its interest also covers every cognition-based systems, and therefore it includes the properties of artificial and natural animal cognition.

ISCS engineering is focused on the research and applications regarding identification, modeling, simulation and the design of decision-support, in the field of the management of SHOTE (i.e. Society-Human-Organization-Technology and the Environment). ISCS is based on integrated cognitive, systemic (top-down) and engineering (goal-oriented) paradigms.
 

In other words, the enabling of an efficient socio-cognitive management is one of  meta-goals of socio-cognitive engineering.

Using its own over-disciplinary systemics ontology and methodology,  SCE is based on experiences and knowledge from psychology, sociology, as well as,  employs conceptualization tools of mathematics, artificial intelligence and other computational ( "hard") sciences and technologies.

 Remarks
- From the above presented perspectives, socio-cognitive engineering is not only a methodology for the design of human-centred computer systems/technologies  as is has been initially suggested, for instance, in the interesting  paper [Mike Sharples, N. Jeffery, J.B.H du Boulay, D. Teather, B. Teather, G. H. du Boulay, HCP'99, 1999] or  on the Web. I argue that socio-cognitive engineering is not a new name of  human-centered software design and a branch of software engineering but a field of modern system engineering related to the cognitive and socially conditioned  intelligence-based systems and computer systems together, see for example: BIS'2002 Conference.and SCEF-2003.

 ENEA's  Research and Applications :

• SCEF-2003: First International Workshop on  Socio-Cognitive Engineering Foundations, 30 Sept. 03 and pages on the meta-theory TOGA (Top-down Object-based Goal-oriented Approach)

• A.M.Gadomski; Socio-Cognitive Engineering Foundations and Applications: From Humans to Nations. 2003.

• Modeling and Vulnerability of  Human Organization (2006), A.M.Gadomski,  CNIP2006 International Workshop

• New ENEA's sub-Project  CRESCO SOC-COG (website, 2006) : ppt presentation.