In nature, systems self-regulate and self-stabilise through non-centralised bottom-level rules. A system that is able to adapt to (internal and external) feedback and context is self-regulatory. The dynamics of such a system modifies the environment in which it is evolving. This therefore represents a feedback loop which is an emergent structure, since it is the result of the dynamics, which in turn is determined by the interactions at the bottom-level. The feedback loop can be pictured as an engine that allows the system to develop and eventually reach sustainability through self-regulation. The seed, or the spark for the engine, is given by the rules at the bottom-level in context. These as referred to as generic rules.The aim of this project is to identify the generic rules, feedback and context that allow systems to develop and reach sustainability through self-regulation. This will be achieved by contrasting the social behaviour in three different systems, a biological social system where we know we have emergent behaviour, an artificial social system where we have full control, and human social systems where observable data is available.The biological system that we will investigate is ant colonies. This is tractable from the microscopic individual-level to the macroscopic social level. The inferred bottom-level rules will be explored and verified in totally controlled experiments with robots. This will allow us to develop a conceptual and theoretical framework for self-regulatory social systems.The theoretical framework will serve as a foundation to design self-sustainable bottom-up programmes for community regeneration and control methods for automated manufacturing.This is very timely since in the case of rural and urban regeneration, the limitations on traditional mechanistic top-down approaches to socio-economic development have been widely documented. Sponsoring multinational agencies, like the World Bank and United Nations, have recognised the importance of shifting the paradigm of development to more holistic approaches, empowering and supporting communities to lead and self-regulate their main development agendas. However, the effort made in practice has not yet achieved that goal.In the case of the manufacturing industry, the efficiency is limited due to the low performance of existing methods for controlling large collaborative multi-robot systems. Traditional, centralised, top-down algorithms are generally preferable in small systems as they can identify globally optimal solutions. In large systems, however, it is not possible to identify optimal solutions due to the complexity of the problem. As a result, behaviour-based, distributed, bottom-up algorithms which employ some form of individual learning from experience, have been studied extensively and they have been shown to have superior performance.The establishment of generic rules, giving rise to self-regulatory systems, will initiate new research worldwide. The developed conceptual and theoretical framework will provide a new approach for understanding the behaviour of dynamical systems. The potential applications within such a framework are limitless, and span over a variety of fields, for example, nanotechnology, evolutionary theory, synthetic biology, and social systems.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Over the last decade, the creative industries have been revolutionised by the Internet and the digital economy. The UK, already punching above its weight in the global cultural market, stands at a pivotal moment where it is well placed to build a cultural, business and regulatory infrastructure in which first movers as significant as Google, Facebook, Amazon or iTunes may emerge and flourish, driving new jobs and industry. However, for some creators and rightsholders the transition from analogue to digital has been as problematic as it has been promising. Cultural heritage institutions are also struggling to capitalise upon new revenue streams that digitisation appears to offer, while maintaining their traditional roles. Policymakers are hampered by a lack of consensus across stakeholders and confused by partisan evidence lacking robust foundations. Research in conjunction with industry is needed to address these problems and provide support for legislators. CREATe will tackle this regulatory and business crisis, helping the UK creative industry and arts sectors survive, grow and become global innovation pioneers, with an ambitious programme of research delivered by an interdisciplinary team (law, business, economics, technology, psychology and cultural analysis) across 7 universities. CREATe aims to act as an honest broker, using open and transparent methods throughout to provide robust evidence for policymakers and legislators which can benefit all stakeholders. CREATe will do this by: - focussing on studying and collaborating with SMEs and individual creators as the incubators of innovation; - identifying "good, bad and emergent business models": which business models can survive the transition to the digital?, which cannot?, and which new models can succeed and scale to drive growth and jobs in the creative economy, as well as supporting the public sector in times of recession?; - examining empirically how far copyright in its current form really does incentivise or reward creative work, especially at the SME/micro level, as well as how far innovation may come from "open" business models and the "informal economy"; - monitoring copyright reform initiatives in Europe, at WIPO and other international fora to assess how they impact on the UK and on our work; - using technology as a solution not a problem: by creating pioneering platforms and tools to aid creators and users, using open standards and released under open licences; - examining how to increase and derive revenues from the user contribution to the creative economy in an era of social media, mash-up, data mining and "prosumers"; - assessing the role of online intermediaries such as ISPs, social networks and mobile operators to see if they encourage or discourage the production and distribution of cultural goods, and what role they should play in enforcing copyright. Given the important governing role of these bodies should they be subject to regulation like public bodies, and if so, how?; - consider throughout this work how the public interest and human rights, such as freedom of expression, privacy, and access to knowledge for the socially or physically excluded, may be affected either positively or negatively by new business models and new ways to enforce copyright. To investigate these issues our work will be arranged into seven themes: SMEs and good, bad and emergent business models; Open business models; Regulation and enforcement; Creators and creative practice; Online intermediaries and physical and virtual platforms; User creation, behaviour and norms; and, Human rights and the public interest. Our deliverables across these themes will be drawn together to inform a Research Blueprint for the UK Creative Economy to be launched in October 2016.