Towards the realisation of an integratated decision support environment for organisational decision making

Traditional decision support systems are based on the paradigm of a single decision maker working at a stand‐alone computer or terminal who has a specific decision to make with a specific goal in mind. Organizational decision support systems aim to support decision makers at all levels of an organization (from executive, middle management managers to operators), who have a variety of decisions to make, with different priorities, often in a distributed and dynamic environment. Such systems need to be designed and developed with extra functionality to meet the challenges such as collaborative working. This paper proposes an Integrated Decision Support Environment (IDSE) for organizational decision making. The IDSE distinguishes itself from traditional decision support systems in that it can flexibly configure and re‐configure its functions to support various decision applications. IDSE is an open software platform which allows its users to define their own decision processes and choose their own exiting decision tools to be integrated into the platform. The IDSE is designed and developed based on distributed client/server networking, with a multi‐tier integration framework for consistent information exchange and sharing, seamless process co‐ordination and synchronisation, and quick access to packaged and legacy systems. The prototype of the IDSE demonstrates good performance in agile response to fast changing decision situations

Implementing 5D BIM on construction projects: Contractor perspectives from the UK construction sector

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology on 09/05/2020: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-01-2020-0007 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on primary research findings that sought to investigate and analyse salient issues on the implementation of 5D building information modelling (BIM) from the UK contractors’ perspective. Previous research and efforts have predominantly focussed on the use of technologies for cost estimation and quantity takeoff within a more traditional-led procurement, with a paucity of research focussing on how 5D BIM could facilitate costing within contractor-led procurement. This study fills this current knowledge gap and enhances the understanding of the specific costing challenges faced by contractors in contractor-led projects, leading to the development of 5D framework for use in future projects. Design/methodology/approach To develop a fully detailed understanding of the challenges and issues being faced in this regard, a phenomenological, qualitative-based study was undertaken through interviews involving 21 participants from UK-wide construction organisations. A thematic data analytical process was applied to the data to derive key issues, and this was then used to inform the development of a 5D-BIM costing framework. Findings Multi-disciplinary findings reveal a range of issues faced by contractors when implementing 5D BIM. These exist at strategic, operational and technological levels which require addressing successful implementation of 5D BIM on contractor-led projects adhering to Level 2 BIM standards. These findings cut across the range of stakeholders on contractor-led projects. Ultimately, the findings suggest strong commitment and leadership from organisational management are required to facilitate cost savings and generate accurate cost information. Practical implications This study highlights key issues for any party seeking to effectively deploy 5D BIM on a contractor-led construction project. A considerable cultural shift towards automating and digitising cost functions virtually, stronger collaborative working relationship relative to costing in design development, construction practice, maintenance and operation is required. Originality/value By analysing findings from primary research data, the work concludes with the development of a 5D BIM costing framework to support contractor-led projects which can be implemented to ensure that 5D BIM is successfully implemented

Mathematical and computer modeling of electro-optic systems using a generic modeling approach

The conventional approach to modelling electro-optic sensor systems is to develop separate models for individual systems or classes of system, depending on the detector technology employed in the sensor and the application. However, this ignores commonality in design and in components of these systems. A generic approach is presented for modelling a variety of sensor systems operating in the infrared waveband that also allows systems to be modelled with different levels of detail and at different stages of the product lifecycle. The provision of different model types (parametric and image-flow descriptions) within the generic framework can allow valuable insights to be gained

CERN openlab Whitepaper on Future IT Challenges in Scientific Research

This whitepaper describes the major IT challenges in scientific research at CERN and several other European and international research laboratories and projects. Each challenge is exemplified through a set of concrete use cases drawn from the requirements of large-scale scientific programs. The paper is based on contributions from many researchers and IT experts of the participating laboratories and also input from the existing CERN openlab industrial sponsors. The views expressed in this document are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of their organisations and/or affiliates

Deriving Safety Cases for the Formal Safety Certification of Automatically Generated Code

We present an approach to systematically derive safety cases for automatically generated code from information collected during a formal, Hoare-style safety certification of the code. This safety case makes explicit the formal and informal reasoning principles, and reveals the top-level assumptions and external dependencies that must be taken into account; however, the evidence still comes from the formal safety proofs. It uses a generic goal-based argument that is instantiated with respect to the certified safety property (i.e., safety claims) and the program. This will be combined with a complementary safety case that argues the safety of the framework itself, in particular the correctness of the Hoare rules with respect to the safety property and the trustworthiness of the certification system and its individual components