Brief History
Section 7 - SOLITON Software (R)
Commercial software developed by PANGARO Incorporated is marketed under
the name SOLITON Software. The soliton
impulse is a metaphor for the exchange of ideas in a conversation where
the information is preserved. The transfer of ideas between individuals
in a conversation consists of tokens of language (whether speech, words
on a page, or movement). If successful, this transfer of tokens substantially
preserves the original meaning. That meaning also contains the influence
of the originator, and hence some individuality and distinctiveness of the
person are transferred. The common theme of all products bearing the name
SOLITON Software is the preservation of meaning and individuality across
the interaction of human and machine.
Expert Typing Tutor
The first product of SOLITON Software is a typing tutor called S.A.K.I (Self
Adaptive Keyboard Instructor). It is marketed in Great Britain where it
has sold successfully as an expert typing tutor for the office market, to
such customers as British Telecom, British Airways and the Post Office.
Based on the original patented system invented by Dr Gordon Pask in 1956,
the software program embodies a concept of expert typing that it constantly
compares to the present skill of the learner. The student is continuously
monitored and the results are used to generate successive exercises that
match the student's needs. For example, if good performance is achieved
the exercise is made more difficult; if the student begins to fail, the
task is simplified. At all times S.A.K.I is tuning its choices to maximize
the rate of skill acquisition, and the skill is acquired without the repetition
of exercises that are unnecessary to a particular individual. This makes
the system suitable for both beginners and experienced typists. S.A.K.I
provides current and cumulative records of the learner's progress, including
words per minute and errors per minute. It is designed for classroom training
as well as for individuals learning alone. S.A.K.I runs on the IBM-PC and
compatibles.
Organizational Modelling
PANGARO Incorporated has developed a robust technique for modeling
organizations of any type. The technique can be applied "manually"
with the aid of a live facilitator, or by using a software implementation
(now in prototype form). With it, the goals and activities of an organization
can be articulated, modeled and managed in a manner that is coherent, consistent
and efficient. The resulting models are accessible for revision by the participants,
and accessible for review to interested parties both internal and external
to the organization. This technique has been used successfully in various
applications for Du Pont:
- the construction of a model of past, present and future concerns within
the corporation
- the development and evaluation of the goals and directions of a new
and innovative research program.
Organizational Modeling is also being used in projects for other clients
on an evaluation basis.
The value of the technique can only be known by experiencing its application
in a specific case; however the following description is offered as an overview.
In brief, Organizational Modeling:
- provides a simple and informative diagram of the observed levels and
relations within an organization, among all relevant participants
- distinguishes between interactions under the control of the organization
(i.e., internal ones, performed by management fiat) and those not under
direct control (i.e., external ones, negotiated with the environment)
- produces an image of the implied as well as the expressed goals of
an organization
- gives an objective definition of "intelligent behavior",
and hence allows the evaluation of any given organization against that definition
- exposes specific organizational pathologies, such as:
- mismatch between the "managerial structure" and the working
dynamic that actually controls the organi-zation
- lack of action or lack of feedback, whether within levels of an
organization, or between the organization and its environment
- allows for close examination of the form of that flow of control and
feedback of results
- points to where changes must be made to maintain intelligent behavior
and viability due to the evolving environment
- predicts the potentially unsuccessful communication with other systems/individuals/
bodies corporate
- shows how messages may be internally inconsistent and hence misunderstood,
or intentionally deceiving
- shows how the message may be in conflict with the receiver's purposes.
Section 8 - Principals
PANGARO Incorporated History - Table of Contents
