Contextual Criteria to Select a Framework for Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture is considered to be an efficient tool to overcome on managerial problems, especially those which come from information technology environment of the enterprise. One of the steps must to be taken to have an Enterprise Architecture is to select an appropriate Framework. Frameworks are the most important components in any Enterprise Architecture. Those are essentially needed to create an integrated Enterprise Architecture. There are many frameworks proposed for specific use in certain enterprises. However there are some more general frameworks which are applied in different situations. These general frameworks are FEAF, TEAF and C4ISR. In this paper some criteria to select a framework are introduced. These criteria are based on the context for Enterprise, Architecture and Framework. Although all of the examples here, include only these three frameworks, the provided criteria are applicable on other frameworks in the area of Enterprise Archietcure

Towards a Traceable Enterprise Architecture for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The practice of Enterprise Architecture (EA) continues to develop. Many large organizations are using EA processes and practices to help manage their complex set of integrated processes and applications. The set of integrated processes and applications required to meet their unique business requirements. Large organizations inherently recognize that an effective EA assists the enterprise to determine its desired direction. The resulting EA is then used to help manage the changes required to achieve the enterprises chosen destination. In a similar manner, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from EA practices. Achieving these benefits requires EA practices and tools be appropriately scaled to the size of the enterprise. My objective is to address the EA needs of SMEs by researching appropriate EA best practices, building artifacts that embrace these practices, and then evaluating these artifacts to determine how well they meet the need

A Lean Enterprise Architecture Approach as an Enabler for Organizational Agility : Case: Metso Outotec

In the era where delivery speed is perceived more important than IT landscape integration, consistency and long-term planning, different architectural approaches have become important considerations of information systems management. Moreover, recent studies have shown that the need for a holistic EA is often overlooked, when organizations try to apply agile development models, which may lead to several problems, such as technical debt, redundant rework, inconsistent communication, decentralized and siloed architecture design, unsustainable architecture, and inconsistence in coding style. Hence, with the growing deployment of scaling agile methods there is a need for purpose-fit approaches to integrate EA frameworks to enable organization agility while maintaining long-term vision. This study aims to explore how EA activities are put into practices in a company deploying large-scale agile development methods – namely EA deliverables, EA benefits, EA concerns and EA enablers. In total, 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted from a case company, and an analysis was done using the Gioia method. As a result, EA deliverables (business objective deliverables, intentional architecture deliverables, and emergent design deliverables), EA benefits (organizational agility and organizational robustness), EA concerns (immaturity, disengagement, urgency, and resistance and anti-patterns), and EA enablers (communication and collaboration, Lean EA, and EA culture) were identified. The enterprise architecture practices used by the case company were in line with the guidelines and best practices recommended by the literature and industry experts. Moreover, a literature review provided some theoretical constructs and suggestions, namely the Lean EA development (LEAD) method and the design principles of architectural thinking for supporting organizational agility, which can be recommended to be applied by the case company or any other organization scaling agile

Towards the development of the framework for inter sensing enterprise architecture

[EN] Inter-enterprise architecture (IEA) is a new concept that seeks to apply the tools and methodologies of enterprise architecture (EA) in a collaborative context, in order to model collaborative organizations in an inclusive manner. According to the main enterprise architectures proposed to this point, an EA should be conformed at least for a framework, a methodology and a modelling language. Sensing enterprise (SE) is an attribute of an enterprise or a network that allows it to react to business stimuli originating on the Internet. These fields have come into focus recently, and there is not evidence of the use of IEA for modelling a SE, while finding an interesting gap to work on. Thus, this paper proposes an initial framework for inter sensing enterprise architecture (FISEA), which seeks to classify, organize, store and communicate, at the conceptual level, all the elements for inter-sensing enterprise architectures and their relationships, ensuring their consistency and integrity. This FISEA provides a clear idea about the elements and views that create collaborative network and their inter-relationships, based on the support of Future Internet.This work was supported by the European Commission FP7 UNITE Project, through its Secondment Programme and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia ADENPRO-PJP project (ref. SP20120703).Vargas, A.; Cuenca, L.; Boza, A.; Sacala, I.; Moisescu, M. (2016). Towards the development of the framework for inter sensing enterprise architecture. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing. 27(1):55-72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-014-0901-zS5572271Adaba, G., Rusu, L., & Mekawy, M. (2010). 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Software architecture knowledge for intelligent light maintenance

The maintenance management plays an important role in the monitoring of business activities. It ensures a certain level of services in industrial systems by improving the ability to function in accordance with prescribed procedures. This has a decisive impact on the performance of these systems in terms of operational efficiency, reliability and associated intervention costs. To support the maintenance processes of a wide range of industrial services, a knowledge-based component is useful to perform the intelligent monitoring. In this context we propose a generic model for supporting and generating industrial lights maintenance processes. The modeled intelligent approach involves information structuring and knowledge sharing in the industrial setting and the implementation of specialized maintenance management software in the target information system. As a first step we defined computerized procedures from the conceptual structure of industrial data to ensure their interoperability and effective use of information and communication technologies in the software dedicated to the management of maintenance (E-candela). The second step is the implementation of this software architecture with specification of business rules, especially by organizing taxonomical information of the lighting systems, and applying intelligencebased operations and analysis to capitalize knowledge from maintenance experiences. Finally, the third step is the deployment of the software with contextual adaptation of the user interface to allow the management of operations, editions of the balance sheets and real-time location obtained through geolocation data. In practice, these computational intelligence-based modes of reasoning involve an engineering framework that facilitates the continuous improvement of a comprehensive maintenance regime

A Multi-Vehicle Cooperative Localization Approach for an Autonomy Framework

Offensive techniques produced by technological advancement present opportunities for adversaries to threaten the operational advantages of our joint and allied forces. Combating these new methodologies requires continuous and rapid development towards our own set of \game-changing technologies. Through focused development of unmanned systems and autonomy, the Air Force can strive to maintain its technological superiority. Furthermore, creating a robust framework capable of testing and evaluating the principles that define autonomy allows for the exploration of future capabilities. This research presents development towards a hybrid reactive/deliberative architecture that will allow for the testing of the principles of task, cognitive, and peer flexibility. Specifically, this work explores peer flexibility in multi-robot systems to solve a localization problem using the Hybrid Architecture for Multiple Robots (HAMR) as a basis for the framework. To achieve this task a combination of vehicle perception and navigation tools formulate inferences on an operating environment. These inferences are then used for the construction of Factor Graphs upon which the core algorithm for localization implements iSAM2, a high performing incremental matrix factorization method. A key component for individual vehicle control within the framework is the Unified Behavior Framework (UBF), a behavior-based control architecture which uses modular arbitration techniques to generate actions that enable actuator control. Additionally, compartmentalization of a World Model is explored through the use of containers to minimize communication overhead and streamline state information. The design for this platform takes on a polymorphic approach for modularity and robustness enabling future development

Participation technologies: a framework for the development of an online interactive GIS application

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are generally implemented in a top-down manner and do not inherently support public participation. It is believed that when these GIS applications are supported with collaboration and decision-aid tools this gap can be reduced. This study explores the participatory tools and technologies that support spatial decision making. A step by step process is proposed to guide the selection of participation tools and technologies in different scenarios. An online application prototype is then developed with the tools suggested by the step by step process to support public participation in the Ames Urban Fringe Plan in Story County, Iowa. The application is evaluated for its effectiveness based on the survey feedback received from the participants and interview responses. Opportunities, challenges and future recommendations are presented

User-centered visual analysis using a hybrid reasoning architecture for intensive care units

One problem pertaining to Intensive Care Unit information systems is that, in some cases, a very dense display of data can result. To ensure the overview and readability of the increasing volumes of data, some special features are required (e.g., data prioritization, clustering, and selection mechanisms) with the application of analytical methods (e.g., temporal data abstraction, principal component analysis, and detection of events). This paper addresses the problem of improving the integration of the visual and analytical methods applied to medical monitoring systems. We present a knowledge- and machine learning-based approach to support the knowledge discovery process with appropriate analytical and visual methods. Its potential benefit to the development of user interfaces for intelligent monitors that can assist with the detection and explanation of new, potentially threatening medical events. The proposed hybrid reasoning architecture provides an interactive graphical user interface to adjust the parameters of the analytical methods based on the users' task at hand. The action sequences performed on the graphical user interface by the user are consolidated in a dynamic knowledge base with specific hybrid reasoning that integrates symbolic and connectionist approaches. These sequences of expert knowledge acquisition can be very efficient for making easier knowledge emergence during a similar experience and positively impact the monitoring of critical situations. The provided graphical user interface incorporating a user-centered visual analysis is exploited to facilitate the natural and effective representation of clinical information for patient care

Design considerations for a hierarchical semantic compositional framework for medical natural language understanding

Medical natural language processing (NLP) systems are a key enabling technology for transforming Big Data from clinical report repositories to information used to support disease models and validate intervention methods. However, current medical NLP systems fall considerably short when faced with the task of logically interpreting clinical text. In this paper, we describe a framework inspired by mechanisms of human cognition in an attempt to jump the NLP performance curve. The design centers about a hierarchical semantic compositional model (HSCM) which provides an internal substrate for guiding the interpretation process. The paper describes insights from four key cognitive aspects including semantic memory, semantic composition, semantic activation, and hierarchical predictive coding. We discuss the design of a generative semantic model and an associated semantic parser used to transform a free-text sentence into a logical representation of its meaning. The paper discusses supportive and antagonistic arguments for the key features of the architecture as a long-term foundational framework

AN INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE FOR UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS: A CASE STUDY AT HOSPITAL DAS CLÍNICAS OF UFPE

Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been present in the literature since the 1980s and has been widely applied in several fields, bringing notable benefits in supporting the management and governance of organizations. However, this concept is still little explored when we refer to the application of EA in health systems. The objective of this research in the area of Business Architecture applied to health is to investigate and propose an Information Systems Architecture Model for University Hospitals through a case study carried out at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Pernambuco (HC- UFPE). The methodological path covered two main stages, with a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) followed by a case study at HC-UFPE. The SRL was developed from a protocol, using the methodology addressed by Kitchenham (2007) and Dybå & Dingsøyr (2008). Nine specific research questions were selected to explore quantitative and qualitative aspects of state of art in applying EA in health. The Cohen's Kappa method was also used to assess the level of disagreement between the two teams of researchers involved in this SLR. The case study considered two primary data collection methodologies, semi-structured interviews, and second participant observation. The data analysis was based on a data triangulation of collected data through open coding, including technical and normative documents from the HC-UFPE. Lastly, the development of an initial Information Systems Architecture modeling the hospital IT sector's current and future business processes. With the SLR, it was possible to identify, from specific research questions, which environments of EA application; what are the positive impacts that EA has brought to the organization; what are the problems and challenges encountered during the application of the EA; and what are the critical success factors for the application of EA. The main publication channels and authors who publish on the topic were also identified. In the case study, the Information Systems Architecture of HC-UFPE was built, using the TOGAF 9.2 framework and the Archi software as a construction tool, aligned with the Archimate language. The data presented here can help IT, and health professionals search for methods to support management hospitals. Regarding the case study, it was possible to present tools that can help in the governance of the HC-UFPE and open doors for new studies to be started for future implementation of EA in the network of university hospitals in Brazil