4.2 System engineering and the future of education: sociocultural aspects

   In the modern world technology and reality created with its help determine not only parameters and contours of our physical world, but also sets regulations for a person as an element of functioning global social engineering systems. Researchers have long been talking about a hybrid reality, which includes physical natural world, human and virtual digital environment, as part of the global sociotechnical system. Modern humanity is facing very serious challenges. However, they are determined not only and not so much by the logic of the development of technical systems, but also by the socio-cultural foundations of human civilization and trends that set the vector and pace of modern technology development. In this perspective an obvious need to seek and to describe the socio-cultural determinants, which will help mankind in overcoming the crises that arise through confronting serious challenges. In this overcoming, engineering education, which has the potential of reflexively active self – developing environment, has a special, perhaps, even the key place. The formation of a model of education, adequate methodology of transdisciplinarity and training of the elite of development is one of the priorities – both science and practice.