  The capacity to adapt can greatly influence the success of systems that need
to compensate for damaged parts, learn how to achieve robust performance in new
environments, or exploit novel opportunities that originate from new
technological interfaces or emerging markets. Many of the conditions in which
technology is required to adapt cannot be anticipated during its design stage,
creating a significant challenge for the designer. Inspired by the study of a
range of biological systems, we propose that degeneracy - the realization of
multiple, functionally versatile components with contextually overlapping
functional redundancy - will support adaptation in technologies because it
effects pervasive flexibility, evolutionary innovation, and homeostatic
robustness. We provide examples of degeneracy in a number of rudimentary living
technologies from military socio-technical systems to swarm robotics and we
present design principles - including protocols, loose regulatory coupling, and
functional versatility - that allow degeneracy to arise in both biological and
man-made systems.
