Abstract
Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) are gradually becoming the primary
modelling framework in the industry where autonomously evolving and self-adaptive
systems exist. There has been a quick escalation in the research results in the past few
years as the concept of CAS is emerging in the working sectors due to its capabilities
and vital properties to shape an organizational workflow. CAS exhibits selforganization, adaptability, modularity, and others beyond complex systems. Designing
CAS models is a tedious task as the intra-system components are composed of subcomponents that interact with running operations across the system. Researchers in
engineering, healthcare, defense and military automation are extensively progressing in
adapting the CAS framework and conceptualizing the systems for increasing
performance efficiency. This paper primarily argues for the relevance and value of the
CAS approach and then presents a detailed discussion on the core concepts of CAS and
Agent-based modelling, highlighting the difference between them. Furthermore, the
paper provides a detailed review of the applications of CAS, such as Manufacturing
(Assembly systems), Defense and Analysis, Internet of Things (IoT), Distributed
Networks, Healthcare organizations and a few social-ecological systems (SES). Many
pieces of software agent-based modelling, tools for CAS development and data
visualizations are surveyed and discussed in the second half of the paper.