Functional programming languages in computing clouds: practical and theoretical explorations

Cloud platforms must integrate three pillars: messaging, coordination of workers and data. This research investigates whether functional programming languages have any special merit when it comes to the implementation of cloud computing platforms. This thesis presents the lightweight message queue CMQ and the DSL CWMWL for the coordination of workers that we use as artefact to proof or disproof the special merit of functional programming languages in computing clouds. We have detailed the design and implementation with the broad aim to match the notions and the requirements of computing clouds. Our approach to evaluate these aims is based on evaluation criteria that are based on a series of comprehensive rationales and specifics that allow the FPL Haskell to be thoroughly analysed. We find that Haskell is excellent for use cases that do not require the distribution of the application across the boundaries of (physical or virtual) systems, but not appropriate as a whole for the development of distributed cloud based workloads that require communication with the far side and coordination of decoupled workloads. However, Haskell may be able to qualify as a suitable vehicle in the future with future developments of formal mechanisms that embrace non-determinism in the underlying distributed environments leading to applications that are anti-fragile rather than applications that insist on strict determinism that can only be guaranteed on the local system or via slow blocking communication mechanisms

24th International Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases

In the last three decades information modelling and knowledge bases have become essentially important subjects not only in academic communities related to information systems and computer science but also in the business area where information technology is applied. The series of European – Japanese Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases (EJC) originally started as a co-operation initiative between Japan and Finland in 1982. The practical operations were then organised by professor Ohsuga in Japan and professors Hannu Kangassalo and Hannu Jaakkola in Finland (Nordic countries). Geographical scope has expanded to cover Europe and also other countries. Workshop characteristic - discussion, enough time for presentations and limited number of participants (50) / papers (30) - is typical for the conference. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: 1. Conceptual modelling: Modelling and specification languages; Domain-specific conceptual modelling; Concepts, concept theories and ontologies; Conceptual modelling of large and heterogeneous systems; Conceptual modelling of spatial, temporal and biological data; Methods for developing, validating and communicating conceptual models. 2. Knowledge and information modelling and discovery: Knowledge discovery, knowledge representation and knowledge management; Advanced data mining and analysis methods; Conceptions of knowledge and information; Modelling information requirements; Intelligent information systems; Information recognition and information modelling. 3. Linguistic modelling: Models of HCI; Information delivery to users; Intelligent informal querying; Linguistic foundation of information and knowledge; Fuzzy linguistic models; Philosophical and linguistic foundations of conceptual models. 4. Cross-cultural communication and social computing: Cross-cultural support systems; Integration, evolution and migration of systems; Collaborative societies; Multicultural web-based software systems; Intercultural collaboration and support systems; Social computing, behavioral modeling and prediction. 5. Environmental modelling and engineering: Environmental information systems (architecture); Spatial, temporal and observational information systems; Large-scale environmental systems; Collaborative knowledge base systems; Agent concepts and conceptualisation; Hazard prediction, prevention and steering systems. 6. Multimedia data modelling and systems: Modelling multimedia information and knowledge; Contentbased multimedia data management; Content-based multimedia retrieval; Privacy and context enhancing technologies; Semantics and pragmatics of multimedia data; Metadata for multimedia information systems. Overall we received 56 submissions. After careful evaluation, 16 papers have been selected as long paper, 17 papers as short papers, 5 papers as position papers, and 3 papers for presentation of perspective challenges. We thank all colleagues for their support of this issue of the EJC conference, especially the program committee, the organising committee, and the programme coordination team. The long and the short papers presented in the conference are revised after the conference and published in the Series of “Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence” by IOS Press (Amsterdam). The books “Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases” are edited by the Editing Committee of the conference. We believe that the conference will be productive and fruitful in the advance of research and application of information modelling and knowledge bases. Bernhard Thalheim Hannu Jaakkola Yasushi Kiyok

Coordination Issues in Complex Socio-technical Systems: Self-organisation of Knowledge in MoK

The thesis proposes the Molecules of Knowledge (MoK) model for self-organisation of knowledge in knowledge-intensive socio-technical systems. The main contribution is the conception, definition, design, and implementation of the MoK model. The model is based on a chemical metaphor for self-organising coordination, in which coordination laws are interpreted as artificial chemical reactions ruling evolution of the molecules of knowledge living in the system (the information chunks), indirectly coordinating the users working with them. In turn, users may implicitly affect system behaviour with their interactions, according to the cognitive theory of behavioural implicit communication, integrated in MoK. The theory states that any interaction conveys tacit messages that can be suitably interpreted by the coordination model to better support users' workflows. Design and implementation of the MoK model required two other contributions: conception, design, and tuning of the artificial chemical reactions with custom kinetic rates, playing the role of the coordination laws, and development of an infrastructure supporting situated coordination, both in time, space, and w.r.t. the environment, along with a dedicated coordination language