Towards Semantic Interoperability for IT Governance: An Ontological Approach

In today's IT-centric environment, businesses rely more heavily on IT technologies. Organizations are often obliged to satisfy different requirements demanded and imposed by customers, business partners and legal entities. With increasing regulatory requirements, various best practices and standards are phenomenally employed to benchmark organizational adherence to different regulations. In a heterogeneous, multi-regulated, multi-disciplined and global environment, corporations are often required to consult with multiple standards. Interoperability between the standards for heterogeneous compliance management in the forms of semantic data translation and data integration is subsequently required. Semantic translation between standards allows compliance efforts established on a standard to be based on another standard. On the other hand, semantic data integration enables an integrated view of multiple standards. We present in this paper an ontology-based approach to the semantic interoperability problem in the domain of IT governance

Interoperability, Trust Based Information Sharing Protocol and Security: Digital Government Key Issues

Improved interoperability between public and private organizations is of key significance to make digital government newest triumphant. Digital Government interoperability, information sharing protocol and security are measured the key issue for achieving a refined stage of digital government. Flawless interoperability is essential to share the information between diverse and merely dispersed organisations in several network environments by using computer based tools. Digital government must ensure security for its information systems, including computers and networks for providing better service to the citizens. Governments around the world are increasingly revolving to information sharing and integration for solving problems in programs and policy areas. Evils of global worry such as syndrome discovery and manage, terror campaign, immigration and border control, prohibited drug trafficking, and more demand information sharing, harmonization and cooperation amid government agencies within a country and across national borders. A number of daunting challenges survive to the progress of an efficient information sharing protocol. A secure and trusted information-sharing protocol is required to enable users to interact and share information easily and perfectly across many diverse networks and databases globally.Comment: 20 page

Grid-enabled Workflows for Industrial Product Design

This paper presents a generic approach for developing and using Grid-based workflow technology for enabling cross-organizational engineering applications. Using industrial product design examples from the automotive and aerospace industries we highlight the main requirements and challenges addressed by our approach and describe how it can be used for enabling interoperability between heterogeneous workflow engines

Secure data sharing and processing in heterogeneous clouds

The extensive cloud adoption among the European Public Sector Players empowered them to own and operate a range of cloud infrastructures. These deployments vary both in the size and capabilities, as well as in the range of employed technologies and processes. The public sector, however, lacks the necessary technology to enable effective, interoperable and secure integration of a multitude of its computing clouds and services. In this work we focus on the federation of private clouds and the approaches that enable secure data sharing and processing among the collaborating infrastructures and services of public entities. We investigate the aspects of access control, data and security policy languages, as well as cryptographic approaches that enable fine-grained security and data processing in semi-trusted environments. We identify the main challenges and frame the future work that serve as an enabler of interoperability among heterogeneous infrastructures and services. Our goal is to enable both security and legal conformance as well as to facilitate transparency, privacy and effectivity of private cloud federations for the public sector needs. © 2015 The Authors

Exploring the Interoperability for Information Exchange Between Acute and Post-Acute Care Settings

The seamless transfer and assimilation of healthcare data is foundational to delivering holistic, timely, and effective patient care across the healthcare spectrum. In an era where medical histories are as intricate as they are critical, information exchange ensures clinicians and caregivers have a comprehensive view of patient journeys, irrespective of where care was previously rendered. However, disparities in Electronic Health Record (EHR) system adoption, especially in long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) settings, have consistently obstructed unrestricted interoperability. While much of the historical discourse around interoperability has been limited to hospital-to-hospital data exchanges, the complexities and barriers associated with consistent data transfer in LTPAC settings remain inadequately explored. This dissertation seeks to bridge this gap, delineating the factors that impede and facilitate health information exchange in LTPAC environments. Grounded theory served as the overarching methodology for our qualitative case study research, guiding our exploration of interoperability within the complex healthcare environment encompassing acute and post-acute care settings. This approach facilitated a systematic examination of data, steering our data acquisition activities throughout the case study. Drawing on the insights from 35 stakeholder interviews, encompassing a spectrum from technical specialists to decision-makers, we navigated four predominant facets: technical, operational, organizational, and compliance. Expanding on these facets, key findings are captured by nine distinct categories along these four facets: 1. Technical Aspects: At the heart, “Data Management and Integrity” stood out as pivotal, underscoring the indispensable need for integrated, reliable data structures. This technical backbone was further strengthened by insights from “Infrastructure and Integration” and the call for globalized “Standardization and Best Practices.” 2. Operational Dynamics: Operational efficiency hinged on streamlined “Operational Processes and Workflows” that encapsulated patient transitions. The equilibrium between visionary tech adoptions and their financial implications was captured in “Resource and Financial Management.” The necessity for continuous upskilling and proficiency was captured in “Learning and Proficiency Enhancement.” 3. Organizational Framework: A transformative shift in “Organizational Management and Strategy” was evident, moving towards an integrative, patient-centric paradigm. The crucial interplay between healthcare entities and external partners was crystallized in “Stakeholder and Vendor Dynamics.” 4. Compliance Challenges: With a dynamic healthcare landscape, the evolving nature of “Compliance and Governance” was spotlighted, emphasizing the need for setups to be proactive, adaptive, and future-ready in their compliance efforts. In conclusion, the findings distill a multifaceted exploration into actionable insights for health information exchange in LTPAC scenarios. As the healthcare landscape shifts towards more integrated, data-driven approaches, the findings capture the current challenges and potential pathways for a cohesive, interoperable future. At its core, it advocates for a harmonized approach, weaving together technology, operations, strategy, and compliance, all converging towards enhanced patient care. The insights provided are pivotal for policy-making, healthcare operations, and guiding further research in healthcare interoperability