Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Time: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Virtual
The Policy Institute at KAUST invites you to a timely discussion with Prof. Steven W. Popper, Distinguished University Professor of Decision Sciences in the School of Government and Public Transformation at Tecnológico de Monterrey. Prof. Popper will present a talk titled “Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty: A Brief Introduction.”
Prof. Alexandra A. Gomes, Instructional Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at CEMSE, KAUST, will moderate the discussion. This Policy Institute Speaker Series session will explore how Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) provides a framework for navigating “wicked problems” by shifting focus from flawed predictions to the development of robust strategies that perform well across many unpredictable futures.
Over the past thirty years, methods under the title of decision making under deep uncertainty (DMDU) have grown in both analytical power and breadth of practical application. DMDU concepts and techniques prove useful under conditions that frustrate most traditional predictive forms of analysis: lack of reliable prior information, uncertainty over many future factors not readily characterized by probabilities, disagreement over how causality should be modeled, and controversy in defining normative outcomes. These are the elements of the classic “wicked problem” to which we could add the presence of complex adaptive system phenomena that call into serious question the role of normal science in providing policy decision support in the absence of the means to conduct dispositive experiments — a characteristic of many of the issues that challenge contemporary governance, both public and private. Prof. Steven W. Popper’s presentation will use the DMDU method of robust decision making (RDM) to illustrate some of the ways that DMDU in both business and public policy helps address major contemporary challenges.
Bringing together KAUST researchers, faculty, and the wider policy community with leading experts from around the world, the Policy Institute Speaker Series supports thoughtful dialogue on how science, technology, and research can better inform public policy decision-making in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond.
We would greatly value your participation in this discussion and hope you will be able to join us.
