Role-oriented process-driven enterprise cooperative work using the combined rule scheduling strategies

The key to enterprise process simulation and process enactment is to implement enterprise process cooperative schedule, i.e., how to control the execution order of the scheduled activities according to cooperative behavior rules under resource constraints. This paper proposes a dynamic PERT/CPM approach using a compound number, and discusses its applications to dynamic enterprise process scheduling for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). By using the compound number, activity’s duration, the earliest start time, and the latest start time of activities in a process model can be defined and calculated effectively to facilitate the enterprise process flexible scheduling and process forecast during process enactment. A framework to role-oriented process-driven enterprise cooperative work is proposed, some schedule strategies and the algorithm implementation are discussed, as well as the process-driven enterprise application integration.

Compositional enterprise modeling and decision support

In this article, we present a conceptual model and a web-based architecture for implementing an enterprise-wide modeling system for decision support. It describes a framework and develops a method that is aimed at effectively organizing, integrating, and reusing knowledge and model components from various sources across an organization in order to provide better knowledge access to decision makers. Given a query, the compositional modeling system responds with automatically building models for the described scenario by searching the organizational knowledge base and retrieving and integrating relevant knowledge components. We conclude with outlining an illustrative business example that demonstrates how our enterprise modeling system can be applied as useful tool for operational and strategic decision-making.

Enterprise modeling using the foundation concepts of the RM-ODP ISO/ITU standard

Enterprise architecture (EA) projects require analyzing and designing across the whole enterprise and its environment. Enterprise architects, therefore, frequently develop enterprise models that span from the markets in which the organization operates down to the implementation of the IT systems that support its operations. In this paper, we present SEAM for EA: a method for defining an enterprise model in which all the systems are systematically represented with the same modeling ontology. We base our modeling ontology on the foundation modeling concepts defined in Part 2 of ISO/ITU Standard “Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing” (RM-ODP). This work has two contributions to enterprise architecture: the SEAM for EA method itself and the use of Part 2 of the RM-ODP standard as a modeling ontology.

Managing context in business process management systems

Businesses need to continuously focus on change and innovation in order to survive in dynamic environments. The ability of an organization to deploy appropriate business processes requires that the fit between business processes and systems that support the management of these processes is continuously maintained and evolved. Acquisition and use of the knowledge about the context in which business processes are defined, modified, and implemented can help maintain this fit. We identify requirements for a business process management system (BPMS) capable of managing contextual knowledge. Based on these requirements, we have enhanced KOPeR, a knowledge-based system for business process improvement, with an explanation facility that can acquire and maintain knowledge about the context behind process definitions and design choices. A case study that illustrates the functionalities of this system which is designed to improve the fit between business processes and BPMS is presented.

COMUNICAR: designing a multimedia, context-aware human-machine interface for cars

The European Union co-funded COMUNICAR (communication multimedia unit inside car) project designed and developed an integrated multimedia human–machine interface (HMI) able to manage a wide variety of driver information systems (from entertainment to safety). COMUNICAR proposed an innovative information provision paradigm, in which the on-vehicle HMI is able to tailor the delivery of the information in real time according to the actual driving context and the drivers workload. COMUNICAR adopted a user-centred design process involving an iterative development based on extensive user tests since the early phases of the project. This approach was particularly useful to define and improve the layout of the user interface and specify the rules that decide the scheduling and the modalities of the delivery of the information messages to the driver. This paper introduces the COMUNICAR concept and the user-centred flow of design. Then, a concrete case of user-test driven, iterative improvement of a systems functionality is presented. We also briefly describe two software tools that we have designed to enhance the development process in a user-centred perspective. Finally, the future evolution of the concept of smart and safe information scheduling is sketched and discussed.

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Ubiquitous enterprise service adaptations based on contextual user behavior

Recent advances in mobile technologies and infrastructures have created the demand for ubiquitous access to enterprise services from mobile handheld devices. Further, with the invention of new interaction devices, the context in which the services are being used becomes an integral part of the activity carried out with the system. Traditional human–computer interface (HCI) theories are now inadequate for developing these context-aware applications, as we believe that the notion of context should be extended to different categories: computing contexts, user contexts, and physical contexts for ubiquitous computing. This demands a new paradigm for system requirements elicitation and design in order to make good use of such extended context information captured from mobile user behavior. Instead of redesigning or adapting existing enterprise services in an ad hoc manner, we introduce a methodology for the elicitation of context-aware adaptation requirements and the matching of context-awareness features to the target context by capability matching. For the implementation of such adaptations, we propose the use of three tiers of views: user interface views, data views, and process views. This approach centers on a novel notion of process views to ubiquitous service adaptation, where mobile users may execute a more concise version or modified procedure of the original process according to their behavior under different contexts. The process view also serves as the key mechanism for integrating user interface views and data views. Based on this model, we analyze the design and implementation issues of some common ubiquitous access situations and show how to adapt them systematically into a context-aware application by considering the requirements of a ubiquitous enterprise information system.

Prediction of dynamical,nonlinear, and unstable process behavior

Process scheduling techniques consider the current load situation to allocate computing resources. Those techniques make approximations such as the average of communication, processing, and memory access to improve the process scheduling, although processes may present different behaviors during their whole execution. They may start with high communication requirements and later just processing. By discovering how processes behave over time, we believe it is possible to improve the resource allocation. This has motivated this paper which adopts chaos theory concepts and nonlinear prediction techniques in order to model and predict process behavior. Results confirm the radial basis function technique which presents good predictions and also low processing demands show what is essential in a real distributed environment.

Yet Another Map Algebra

This paper describes features of a language approach for map algebra based on the use of algebraic expressions that satisfy a concise formalism. To be consistent with formal approaches such as geoalgebra and image algebra, the proposed algebraic expressions are suitable not only for the usual modeling of layers but also to describe variable neighborhoods and zones. As a compromise between language and implementation issues we present an implementation strategy based on the theory of automata. The result is an efficient way of implementing map algebra that simplifies its use on environmental and dynamic models without going too far from its well-known paradigm.

Adaptation and application of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for rule reduction and parameter tuning of fuzzy rule-based systems

Recently, multi-objective evolutionary algorithms have been applied to improve the difficult tradeoff between interpretability and accuracy of fuzzy rule-based systems. It is known that both requirements are usually contradictory, however, these kinds of algorithms can obtain a set of solutions with different trade-offs. This contribution analyzes different application alternatives in order to attain the desired accuracy/interpr-etability balance by maintaining the improved accuracy that a tuning of membership functions could give but trying to obtain more compact models. In this way, we propose the use of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms as a tool to get almost one improved solution with respect to a classic single objective approach (a solution that could dominate the one obtained by such algorithm in terms of the system error and number of rules). To do that, this work presents and analyzes the application of six different multi-objective evolutionary algorithms to obtain simpler and still accurate linguistic fuzzy models by performing rule selection and a tuning of the membership functions. The results on two different scenarios show that the use of expert knowledge in the algorithm design process significantly improves the search ability of these algorithms and that they are able to improve both objectives together, obtaining more accurate and at the same time simpler models with respect to the single objective based approach.

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Challenges and opportunities in collaborative business process management: Overview of recent advances and introduction to the special issue

Modern business process management expands to cover the partner organisations’ business processes across organisational boundaries, and thereby supports organisations to coordinate the flow of information among organisations and link their business processes. With collaborative business processes, organisations can create dynamic and flexible collaborations to synergically adapt to the changing conditions, and stay competitive in the global market. Due to its significant potential and value, collaborative business processes are now turning to be an important issue of contemporary business process management, and attracts lots of attention and efforts from both academic and industry sides. In this paper, we review the development of B2B collaboration and collaborative business processes, provide an overview of related issues in managing collaborative business processes, and discuss some emerging technologies and their relationships to collaborative business processes. Finally, we introduce the papers that are published in this special issue.

The 2007 IEEE CEC simulated car racing competition

This paper describes the simulated car racing competition that was arranged as part of the 2007 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation. Both the game that was used as the domain for the competition, the controllers submitted as entries to the competition and its results are presented. With this paper, we hope to provide some insight into the efficacy of various computational intelligence methods on a well-defined game task, as well as an example of one way of running a competition. In the process, we provide a set of reference results for those who wish to use the simplerace game to benchmark their own algorithms. The paper is co-authored by the organizers and participants of the competition.

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A glimpse of symbolic-statistical modeling by PRISM

We give a brief overview of a logic-based symbolic modeling language PRISM which provides a unified approach to generative probabilistic models including Bayesian networks, hidden Markov models and probabilistic context free grammars. We include some experimental result with a probabilistic context free grammar extracted from the Penn Treebank. We also show EM learning of a probabilistic context free graph grammar as an example of exploring a new area.

Methods for quantitative usability requirements: a case study on the development of the user interface of a mobile phone

Quantitative usability requirements are a critical but challenging, and hence an often neglected aspect of a usability engineering process. A case study is described where quantitative usability requirements played a key role in the development of a new user interface of a mobile phone. Within the practical constraints of the project, existing methods for determining usability requirements and evaluating the extent to which these are met, could not be applied as such, therefore tailored methods had to be developed. These methods and their applications are discussed.

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Services computing as the foundation of enterprise agility: Overview of recent advances and introduction to the special issue

The advancement of web services in the last few years has spurred a number of revolutionary concepts in information technology and management including service-oriented architectures, service-oriented computing, and services science, management and engineering, which can be collectively called as “services computing.” Services computing is a new research field that goes beyond traditional computing disciplines as it includes not only architectural, programming, deployment, and other engineering issues, but also management issues such as business component modeling, business process design, and service delivery. In this paper, we provide an overview of emerging research concepts in services computing without attempting to unify them as it will take sometime for the field to become mature. In addition, we take a position that the ultimate goal of services computing is to create the necessary technological and managerial foundation to support enterprise agility. In this short paper, we give an overview of services computing, describe its relationship to enterprise agility, and discuss basic technical and managerial issues. Finally, we introduce the papers that are published in this special issue.

The potential of dialogue in a municipal development project: action research and planning practice

This article applies reflexive and dialogue oriented approaches to municipal planning. Experience from the dialogical development process in Vennesla is discussed, highlighting the potential of collaborative work in a development coalition. Dialogue and democracy in the coalition are discussed, emphasising the social construction of meaning and knowledge.

Shape Metrics Based on Elastic Deformations

Deformations of shapes and distances between shapes are an active research topic in computer vision. We propose an energy of infinitesimal deformations of continuous 1- and 2-dimensional shapes that is based on the elastic energy of deformed objects. This energy defines a shape metric which is inherently invariant with respect to Euclidean transformations and yields very natural deformations which preserve details. We compute shortest paths between planar shapes based on elastic deformations and apply our approach to the modeling of 2-dimensional shapes.

Evaluation of inter-organizational business process solutions: A conceptual model-based approach

Collaboration and coordination between organizations are necessary in today’s business environment, and are enabled by inter-organizational processes. Many approaches for the construction of such processes have been proposed in recent years. However, due to the lack of standard terminology it is hard to evaluate and select a solution that fits a specific business scenario. The paper proposes a conceptual model which depicts the nature of interaction between organizations through business processes under specific business requirements that emphasize the privacy and autonomy of the participating organizations. The model is generic, and relies on the generic process model (GPM) framework and on Bunge’s ontology. Being generic and theory-based, we propose to use the model as a basis for comparing and evaluating design and implementation-level approaches for inter-organizational processes. We demonstrate the evaluation procedure by applying it to three existing approaches.

A cost-effective lexical acquisition process for large-scale thesaurus translation

Thesauri and controlled vocabularies facilitate access to digital collections by explicitly representing the underlying principles of organization. Translation of such resources into multiple languages is an important component for providing multilingual access. However, the specificity of vocabulary terms in most thesauri precludes fully-automatic translation using general-domain lexical resources. In this paper, we present an efficient process for leveraging human translations to construct domain-specific lexical resources. This process is illustrated on a thesaurus of 56,000 concepts used to catalog a large archive of oral histories. We elicited human translations on a small subset of concepts, induced a probabilistic phrase dictionary from these translations, and used the resulting resource to automatically translate the rest of the thesaurus. Two separate evaluations demonstrate the acceptability of the automatic translations and the cost-effectiveness of our approach.

ONTRACK: Dynamically adapting music playback to support navigation

Listening to music on personal, digital devices whilst mobile is an enjoyable, everyday activity. We explore a scheme for exploiting this practice to immerse listeners in navigation cues. Our prototype, ONTRACK, continuously adapts audio, modifying the spatial balance and volume to lead listeners to their target destination. First we report on an initial lab-based evaluation that demonstrated the approach’s efficacy: users were able to complete tasks within a reasonable time and their subjective feedback was positive. Encouraged by these results we constructed a handheld prototype. Here, we discuss this implementation and the results of field-trials. These indicate that even with a low-fidelity realisation of the concept, users can quite effectively navigate complicated routes.

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Evolving strategy for a probabilistic game of imperfect information using genetic programming

We provide the complete record of methodology that let us evolve BrilliAnt, the winner of the Ant Wars contest. Ant Wars contestants are virtual ants collecting food on a grid board in the presence of a competing ant. BrilliAnt has been evolved through a competitive one-population coevolution using genetic programming and fitnessless selection. In this paper, we detail the evolutionary setup that lead to BrilliAnt’s emergence, assess its direct and indirect human-competitiveness, and describe the behavioral patterns observed in its strategy.

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