The KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis (KTAB) is freely available, state-of-the-art software that has been designed to enable the rigorous and systematic analysis of collective decision-making processes (CDMPs). KTAB is being designed with three types of users in mind. The program code is available directly for computer programmers. Power users will be able to construct their own specific models based on the existing structure, and applied users will be able to access pre-built models through a simple graphical user interface. Collective decision-making processes are those in which a group of individual actors interact to arrive at a single decision. Common examples include the deliberations of corporate boards. These processes have usually been studied in a purely qualitative fashion, but there is a growing body of evidence which suggests that computer models can deliver additional insights. KTAB is being designed to unlock these additional insights for a broader range of analysts, but its release is also hoped to extend the awareness of computer models as a route to the investigation of CDMPs, and to prompt a wider acceptance and uptake of a quantitative approach to such analyses.

Program Director Brian Efird is the program director for Policy and Decision Science and a senior research fellow. He manages a multidisciplinary,… Brian Efird is the program director for Policy and Decision Science and a senior research fellow. He manages a multidisciplinary, multinational team of researchers whose global program of work focuses on the nexus between geopolitics, domestic and local politics, and energy. Fundamentally, the team examines the non-economic factors that impact energy markets and energy policy. This includes quantitative models of collective decision-making processes (CDMP), geospatial information system (GIS) applications, the energy policymaking process, and country-specific studies. Dr. Efird is managing editor of the journal Energy Transitions. He was previously a senior research fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.; a consultant on defense and international security matters in Washington; and a consultant applying quantitative models to support corporate, investment banking, and legal negotiations in New York. Dr. Efird received his M.A. in International Studies and Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University.
Expertise
- Geopolitics of Energy
- Behavioral Modeling
- Defense and National Security Studies
- Strategic Communication
Publications See all Brian Efird’s publications

India’s Ambition to Achieve Net-Zero Emissions by 2070: Uncertainty and Opportunity
The KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis (KTAB) is freely available, state-of-the-art software that has been…
29th December 2021Renewables and the Future of Geopolitics: Revisiting Main Concepts of International Relations from the Lens of Renewables
The KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis (KTAB) is freely available, state-of-the-art software that has been…
14th December 2020