The field of complex systems could show a clearer way forward in the face of the global financial meltdown...

That's according to Associate Professor Victor Korotkikh, who is applying his skills to help the Mackay region understand the issues and find strategies to survive the storm.

Dr Victor Korotkikh

Currently, his campus region relies on coal for economic success and it is important to diversify the regional economy by focusing on economic development and job creation in knowledge-based industries.

For example, Dr Korotkikh, who is advising the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, believes to optimise coal operations it is vital to build a cyber infrastructure.

It should in real-time efficiently control the coal supply chain from any mines in the region to any customer destinations in the world. Once implemented, the coal cyber infrastructure could be further developed to be able in real-time to efficiently control more global economic activities.

Dr Korotkikh will deliver a FREE seminar from 4pm-5pm on Thursday April 16 at Mackay Campus with videoconference links to campuses in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Emerald and Bundaberg. All are welcome to attend.

"The recent crisis has sharply revealed that current understanding of the financial system shaped and entangled by the globalisation into a complex entity is more than limited," Dr Korotkikh said.

He considers that in the development of a new global financial system the confidence in the underlying theory is crucial and this requires clear explanations why the foundation of the theory is solid and can not be further reduced.

Dr Korotkikh's approach is based on his description of complex systems in terms of self-organization processes of prime integer relations.

"Remarkably, based on integers and controlled by arithmetic only, self-organization processes of prime integer relations can describe a complex system by information not requiring further explanation," he explains.

"This raises the possibility to develop an irreducible theory of complex systems that, with full confidence in its foundation, could be used in the establishment of a new global financial system. Such confidence is much needed in getting through the crisis."

Dr Korotkikh said there is potential to design a self-organizing financial system so that a global crisis of such severity would never happen again.

Practical applications of the self-organization processes used in the development of the Mackay transport technology and cyber infrastructure for the Goonyella coal supply chain will be discussed.