Viability as a generalized characteristic of the properties of a technical system

With the growing complexity of modern technical systems and the increasing number of intelligent functions and properties inherent to living organisms, there is a need to generalize these properties within a unified conceptual framework. Various interpretations of system viability are considered across different domains as concepts reflecting the properties of living systems. In this study, the notion of viability is grounded in the concept of life, whose distinguishing features have been formulated within biology and related disciplines. Through a logical–linguistic analysis of these features, the study demonstrates the broader generality of individual viability compared to population viability, which is characterized by properties of reproduction and evolution. The conditions under which this concept can be applied to an individual technical system are considered. This article addresses the problem of constructing an ontological model of the viability of a technical system based on the proposed definition. The quality of life of a technical system is interpreted in terms of the realizability of viability properties under changing internal and external environments. A set of such properties is defined. An ontological model of the viability of a technical system is proposed in the form of a directed graph, where the root node represents the viability of the system, and the leaf nodes correspond to the properties that ensure the viability of the system. If the viability of a technical system is treated as an aggregate property, the degree of its completeness is determined by the set of terminal properties inherent to the system. Methods for assessing the measure of viability are proposed.