There are four software programs that were designed to facilitate the building and use of System Dynamics models- Dynamo, iThink/Stella, PowerSim and Vensim. More information on these is given below. In addition, there are a number of other modeling and simulation environments which provide some support for building system dynamics models and some of these are also listed here. It is possible to perform good system dynamics work with a many different tools, including spreadsheets and programming languages, though this is not usually practical.
If you would like additional information on any of the programs listed please contact the Vendors directly.
| PA Consulting One Memorial Drive Cambridge MA 02142 Phone: 617 225 2700 Fax: 617 225 2631 |
DYNAMO was the first system dynamics simulation language, and for a long time the language and the field were considered synonymous. Originally developed by Jack Pugh at MIT the language was made commercially available from Pugh-Roberts in the early 1960s. DYNAMO today runs on PC compatibles under Dos/Windows. It provides an equation based development environment for system dynamics models. |
| isee Systems 46 Centerra Parkway Suite 200 Lebanon NH 03766 Phone: 603 643 9636 Fax: 603 643 9502 http://www.iseesystems.com |
Originally introduced on the Macintosh in 1984, the Stella software provided a graphically oriented front end for the development of system dynamics models. The stock and flow diagrams, used in the system dynamics literature are directly supported with a series of tools supporting model development. Equation writing is done through dialog boxes accessible from the stock and flow diagrams. IThink is available for Macintosh and Windows computers. |
| Powersim Software AS
Sandbrugaten 5-7 P.O. Box 3961, Dreggen N-5835 Bergen, NORWAY Phone: 47 55 60 65 00 Fax: 47 55 60 65 01 Email: powersim@powersim.no URL: http://www.powersim.com |
In the mid 1980s the Norwegian government sponsored research aimed at improving the quality of high school education using system dynamics models. This project resulted in the development of Mosaic, an object oriented system aimed primarily at the development of simulation based games for education. Powersim was later developed as a Windows based environment for the development of system dynamics models that also facilitates packaging as interactive games or learning environments. |
| Ventana Systems, Inc.
60 Jacob Gates Road Harvard, MA 01451 Phone 508 651 0432 Fax: 508 650 5422 Email: vensim@vensim.com URL: http://www.vensim.com |
Originally developed in the mid 1980s for use in consulting projects Vensim was made commercially available in 1992. It is an integrated environment for the development and analysis of system dynamics models. Vensim runs on Windows and Macintosh computers. |
Though not specifically developed to support System Dynamics modeling the following software products do have support for the development of system dynamics style models as well as other modeling approaches.
| XJ Technologies Company Politekhnicheskaya street, 21 St. Petersburg, 194021 Russian Federation Phone: 7 (812) 247-1674 Fax: 7 (812) 247-1639 Url: http://www.xjtek.com |
AnyLogic supports a variety of approaches to discrete event and continuous modeling, such as process flow diagrams, system dynamics, agent-based modeling, state charts and equation systems. AnyLogic runs on Windows. |
| Email: madonna@kagi.com URL: http://www.berkeleymadonna.com |
Berkeley Madonna was developed by Robert Macey and George Oster of the University of California at Berkeley under the sponsorship of NSF and NIH. Berkeley Modonna runs on Windows and Macintosh Computers. |
| Attune Group 16 Regina Court Albany NY 12054 Phone: 518 475 0783 Fax: 518 475 0783 Email: info@attunegroup.com URL: http://www.attunegroup.com |
Exposé is a Microsoft Excel add-in that supports the creation of causal loop/stock and flow diagrams in parallel with spreadsheet development. |
| Global Strategy Dynamics Ltd P O Box 314 Princes Risborough Bucks, HP27 0JS, United Kingdom Phone +44 1844 275518 Fax +44 1844 275507 email sales@strategydynamics.com URL http://www.strategydynamics.com/vsd/mystrategy |
Developed to support the Strategy Dynamics focus outlined by Kim Warren in Competitive Strategy Dynamics this Windows PC software focuses on stock and flow structures to aid problem solving. This is an introductory level simulation tool aimed at learners, managers and strategy professionals. |
| Simulistics Ltd
11 Tantallon Place Edinburgh EH9 1NZ Scotland, U.K. Phone +44 131 667 8938 Email: info@simulistics.com URL: http://www.simulistics.com |
Development of Simile started in 1996, and it was released commercially in 2002. It was developed primarily as a comprehensive modelling environment for ecological and environmental research, and thus was designed to support various forms of disaggregation (e.g. spatial and individual-based modelling) as well as System Dynamics. It runs on Windows, Unix-based and Macintosh operating systems. |