Francesco Caputo

Building upon the Project Cybersyn: CyberSystemic Management for blending Structural Cybernetics and Relational Consonance

In the early 1970s, Chile launched the Project Cybersyn, a revolutionary path led by Stafford Beer. This initiative represented a challenging attempt to regulate the national economy through real-time cybernetic principles with the aim of achieving a balance between macroeconomic coordination and local autonomy. This was done through the liberty machine architecture, as conceptualised by Beer (Beer, 1972; Medina, 2011). Despite the multiple operative and cognitive advantages provided by the Cybersyn experience and the advent of digital platforms and the capacity for substantial real-time monitoring afforded by Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models and Big Data, the modus operandi of modern governance in socio-economic systems seems to be trapped in a technocratic, reductionist, algorithmic-optimisation paradigm. Recent statements by the World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics (WOSC) have drawn attention to the tendency of contemporary digital ecosystems to perceive human beings as data points rather than active participants in the decision-making process. This has resulted in complex systems that, while characterised by a wealth of data, are structurally fragile, socially fragmented, and ecologically disconnected (Espejo & Perko, 2021; WOSC, 2024). In addressing these systemic vulnerabilities, a fundamental research question emerges: how can structural cybernetics and relational management paradigms be integrated to create a cyber-systemic governance model that achieves a balance between algorithmic efficiency and the importance of human agency, active citizenship, and the health of our ecosystems? To explore this, a theoretical synthesis is proposed that connects Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) with the Viable Systems Approach (VSA) (Barile, 2009; Barile & Saviano, 2011; Caputo et al., 2019). The purpose of this approach is to operationalise the principles of CyberSystemic Management within the broader context of socio-economic systems. The proposed framework is distinguished by its switch from a rigid approach to socio-economic governance, which emphasises structural mechanics such as variety, recursion, and feedback loops, to a more dynamic model centred on relational viability. The integration of the VSA principles into the VSM framework demonstrates the necessity for structural and cultural harmony (consonance) and dynamic value co-creation (resonance) among entities at various (territorial and cognitive) levels for ensuring long-term viability of systems (Barile & Saviano, 2011). Furthermore, this study provides a novel perspective on Beer’s algedonic signals (Beer, 1979). Rather than merely functioning as emergency alerts for industrial performance, they are considered multi-layered indicators that can identify socio-ecological dissonance, trust issues, and declines in human capability. This discussion ultimately promotes a blended cyber-systemic management approach that revitalises the liberating spirit of Beer’s original ideas. By ensuring that higher-level policy and governance functions are rooted in human-AI collaboration rather than being left to autonomous algorithms (Caputo et al., 2019), the proposed framework provides system designers and policymakers with a new roadmap for creating socio-economic ecosystems where technology enhances active citizenship, fosters positive stakeholder relationships, and ensures long-term sustainability over mere short-term efficiency. The reflections presented herein suggest that CyberSystemic Management offers an effective response to the challenges of the World in Torment by advancing a governance paradigm in which artificial and human intelligence not only coexist and are interconnected but interact dynamically to sustain the viability of complex systems.