  The global availability of communication services makes it possible to
interconnect independently developed systems, called constituent systems, to
provide new synergistic services and more efficient economic processes. The
characteristics of these new Systems-of-Systems are qualitatively different
from the classic monolithic systems. In the first part of this presentation we
elaborate on these differences, particularly with respect to the autonomy of
the constituent systems, to dependability, continuous evolution, and emergence.
In the second part we look at a SoS from the point of view of cognitive
complexity. Cognitive complexity is seen as a relation between a model of an
SoS and the observer. In order to understand the behavior of a large SoS we
have to generate models of adequate simplicity, i.e, of a cognitive complexity
that can be handled by the limited capabilities of the human mind. We will
discuss the importance of properly specifying and placing the relied-upon
message interfaces between the constituent systems that form an open SoS and
discuss simplification strategies that help to reduce the cognitive complexity.
