Universal Resource Lifecycle Management

This paper presents a model and a tool that allows Web users to define, execute, and manage lifecycles for any artifact available on the Web. In the paper we show the need for lifecycle management of Web artifacts, and we show in particular why it is important that non-programmers are also able to do this. We then discuss why current models do not allow this, and we present a model and a system implementation that achieves lifecycle management for any URI-identifiable and accessible object. The most challenging parts of the work lie in the definition of a simple but universal model and system (and in particular in allowing universality and simplicity to coexist) and in the ability to hide from the lifecycle modeler the complexity intrinsic in having to access and manage a variety of resources, which differ in nature, in the operations that are allowed on them, and in the protocols and data formats required to access them

OpenUP/MDRE: A Model-Driven Requirements Engineering Approach for Health-Care Systems

The domains and problems for which it would be desirable to introduce information systems are currently very complex and the software development process is thus of the same complexity. One of these domains is health-care. Model-Driven Development (MDD) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) are software development approaches that raise to deal with complexity, to reduce time and cost of development, augmenting flexibility and interoperability. However, many techniques and approaches that have been introduced are of little use when not provided under a formalized and well-documented methodological umbrella. A methodology gives the process a well-defined structure that helps in fast and efficient analysis and design, trouble-free implementation, and finally results in the software product improved quality. While MDD and SOA are gaining their momentum toward the adoption in the software industry, there is one critical issue yet to be addressed before its power is fully realized. It is beyond dispute that requirements engineering (RE) has become a critical task within the software development process. Errors made during this process may have negative effects on subsequent development steps, and on the quality of the resulting software. For this reason, the MDD and SOA development approaches should not only be taken into consideration during design and implementation as usually occurs, but also during the RE process. The contribution of this dissertation aims at improving the development process of health-care applications by proposing OpenUP/MDRE methodology. The main goal of this methodology is to enrich the development process of SOA-based health-care systems by focusing on the requirements engineering processes in the model-driven context. I believe that the integration of those two highly important areas of software engineering, gathered in one consistent process, will provide practitioners with many benets. It is noteworthy that the approach presented here was designed for SOA-based health-care applications, however, it also provides means to adapt it to other architectural paradigms or domains. The OpenUP/MDRE approach is an extension of the lightweight OpenUP methodology for iterative, architecture-oriented and model-driven software development. The motivation for this research comes from the experience I gained as a computer science professional working on the health-care systems. This thesis also presents a comprehensive study about: i) the requirements engineering methods and techniques that are being used in the context of the model-driven development, ii) known generic but flexible and extensible methodologies, as well as approaches for service-oriented systems development, iii) requirements engineering techniques used in the health-care industry. Finally, OpenUP/MDRE was applied to a concrete industrial health-care project in order to show the feasibility and accuracy of this methodological approach.Loniewski, G. (2010). OpenUP/MDRE: A Model-Driven Requirements Engineering Approach for Health-Care Systems. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/11652Archivo delegad

A Reference System Architecture with Data Sovereignty for Human-Centric Data Ecosystems

Since the European information economy faces insufficient access to and joint utilization of data, data ecosystems increasingly emerge as economical solutions in B2B environments. Contrarily, in B2C ambits, concepts for sharing and monetizing personal data have not yet prevailed, impeding growth and innovation. Their major pitfall is European data protection law that merely ascribes human data subjects a need for data privacy while widely neglecting their economic participatory claims to data. The study reports on a design science research (DSR) approach addressing this gap and proposes an abstract reference system architecture for an ecosystem centered on humans with personal data. In this DSR approach, multiple methods are embedded to iteratively build and evaluate the artifact, i.e., structured literature reviews, design recovery, prototyping, and expert interviews. Managerial contributions embody novel design knowledge about the conceptual development of human-centric B2C data ecosystems, considering their legal, ethical, economic, and technical constraints

Integrated Modeling of Process- and Data-Centric Software Systems with PHILharmonicFlows

Process- and data-centric software systems require a tight integration of processes, functions, data, and users. Thereby, the behavioral perspective is described by process models, while the information perspective is captured in a data model. Eliciting and capturing requirements of such software systems in a consistent way is a challenging task, demanding that both process and data model are well aligned and consistent with each other. While traditional software modeling languages do not allow for an explicit integration of data and process models, activity-centric process modeling languages tend to neglect the role of data as a driver of process execution; i.e., business objects are usually outside the control of the process, normally stored in external databases. To overcome this drawback, PHILharmonicFlows provides a comprehensive framework for enabling object-aware process support. In addition, a sound specification of process- and object-centric software systems becomes possible. In this paper, we present a requirements modeling approach that provides methodological guidance for modeling large process- and data-centric software systems based on PHILharmonicFlows. Such guidance will foster the introduction of respective software systems in the large scale

Visualizing the Geography of Platform Boundary Resources: The Case of the Global API Ecosystem

Platform boundary resources play an increasingly transformative role in the global digital ecosystem. In this study, we focus on one type of platform boundary resource, namely application programming interfaces (APIs). Guided by two competing assumptions—1) that geographic boundaries are blurred and potentially less important in a digitally connected world, and 2) that geographic proximity matters for co-innovation—we investigate the global footprint of APIs. Using a data-driven visual network analysis approach to examine more than 15,000 APIs and mashups, we first map the global locations of where APIs are being created. We then examine how API mashups connect these locations globally and regionally. Our results show that while APIs are globally distributed, they are mainly concentrated in major entrepreneurial regions. We also find that there is a skewed distribution, with the U.S. and Silicon Valley in particular leading the way. We conclude with both theoretical and managerial implications

Toward an Information Service View of an Enterprise

An information service view engenders a conceptual shift from the provision of defined and preset services or applications, to an environment that enables users to select and integrate pre-built technology services in the ongoing creation and re-creation of unique information systems. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study into one organization’s experience in implementing information services. Using grounded theory research, the study characterizes information services not as information technology artifacts, but as relationships between heterogeneous actors interacting with technology services for business purposes. The findings are used to propose an information services view of an enterprise. The view presents three clusters of concepts that are distinct yet interdependent: enabled (choreographed) by enterprise-wide directives and structures, driven (orchestrated) by information services management, and founded (instrumentalized) on information service IT architecture. The paper ends identifying implications not only for the completion of this study but also for research and practice