Interfaces Between SD and ABM Modules in a Hybrid Model

Modelers in various disciplines have applied system dynamics (SD) and agent-based models (ABM) to support decision-makers in managing complex adaptive systems. Combining these methods in a hybrid simulation offers an opportunity to overcome the challenges that modelers face using SD or ABM alone. It also provides a complementary view and rich insight into the problems that modelers investigate. Hence, this approach can offer solutions to a plethora of systems problems. One of the limitations of existing frameworks that guide the process of combining SD and ABM is the lack of detailed guidance describing how the two methods can interact and exchange information. This paper provides guidance for interfacing these simulation modeling methods in a hybrid simulation. In this guidance, we describe interface approaches to exchanging information for different types of information flow between SD and ABM.