Aerovergence: Cross-cutting Concepts Shaping Ecosystemic Futures

There are increasingly more disconnects in society today as consumer knowledge and education struggle to keep up with the pace of technology proliferation that threatens to add even more complexity to already wicked societal problems. We are witnessing a shift in focus from silos to convergence to address these complex problems. Convergence is the sharing of ideas, expertise, technology and processes across domains. It is the translation of paradigms from biology to engineering, from art to medicine. Rather than add to the mechanical chaos, we seek to understand complex societal systems (wicked problems) and the role our collective wisdom might play in shaping a more desirable future for all. To this end, we may look to natural systems, digital systems, social systems and more – both past and present – to inform us of best practices and lessons learned. We seek to explore and to apply convergence to the frontiers of aerospace. Potential transferability and applicability across domains and disciplines should be included. Research outcomes are anticipated to be convergent in nature.

Most large societal problems (e.g., inequity, hunger, effects of climate change) stem from a lack of awareness or disregard of the complex nature of society, and from technological advancements that are disconnected from considerations of long-term impacts and unintended consequences. Artificial intelligence (AI), biomimetics, and systems thinking are being leveraged to identify opportunities in complex problems, with advances in systems modelling making mapping out such systems more accessible to organizations.

This Research Topic is focused on highlighting the applications of convergence, physiomimetics, and complex problems to aviation innovation. We aim to capture the state-of-the-art in these areas to provide the aerospace industry with evidence-based processes, products, and practices.

Manuscripts focused on the following topic areas are of particular interest to this article collection:
• Examples of convergence - processes, infrastructure, and results
• Biomimicry, and advances in understanding complex adaptive systems and wicked problems

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: convergence, aerospace, aviation, aeronautics, astronautics, nature inspired design, social sciences, systems science, business, decision support sciences, humanities, medicine, natural and applied sciences, mathematics, ethics, artificial intelligence

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.