Abstract for: How to Build Collaborative Online Planning Simulations for Public Policy and Business

Modelers building simulations for long-term public policy or business planning need to be aware of the varied needs of their clients. During this workshop simulation developers Billy Schoenberg and Michael Bean of Forio Online Simulations will lead you through the deconstruction of an example planning simulation in order to show you techniques you can use when you build collaborative online simulations for your own clients. We will show you how you can leverage Forio Simulate, a web-based development environment to create simulations using drag-and-drop design tools. No programming skills are required. Topics we will cover include: 1. Using browser-based drawable Line graphs for creating varied scenarios. 2. How to create run comparisons to allow your clients to explore the differences in the scenarios they create 3. How to share scenarios online among different users through a web browser. 4. Techniques for separating assumptions from policies or strategy decisions. Our presentation will start explain how each of these features can be developed using tools available online. Throughout this workshop we will be using Forio Simulate to illustrate the development process.