An ontology co-design method for the co-creation of a continuous care ontology

Ontology engineering methodologies tend to emphasize the role of the knowledge engineer or require a very active role of domain experts. In this paper, a participatory ontology engineering method is described that holds the middle ground between these two 'extremes'. After thorough ethnographic research, an interdisciplinary group of domain experts closely interacted with ontology engineers and social scientists in a series of workshops. Once a preliminary ontology was developed, a dynamic care request system was built using the ontology. Additional workshops were organized involving a broader group of domain experts to ensure the applicability of the ontology across continuous care settings. The proposed method successfully actively engaged domain experts in constructing the ontology, without overburdening them. Its applicability is illustrated by presenting the co-created continuous care ontology. The lessons learned during the design and execution of the approach are also presented

Reclaiming human machine nature

Extending and modifying his domain of life by artifact production is one of the main characteristics of humankind. From the first hominid, who used a wood stick or a stone for extending his upper limbs and augmenting his gesture strength, to current systems engineers who used technologies for augmenting human cognition, perception and action, extending human body capabilities remains a big issue. From more than fifty years cybernetics, computer and cognitive sciences have imposed only one reductionist model of human machine systems: cognitive systems. Inspired by philosophy, behaviorist psychology and the information treatment metaphor, the cognitive system paradigm requires a function view and a functional analysis in human systems design process. According that design approach, human have been reduced to his metaphysical and functional properties in a new dualism. Human body requirements have been left to physical ergonomics or "physiology". With multidisciplinary convergence, the issues of "human-machine" systems and "human artifacts" evolve. The loss of biological and social boundaries between human organisms and interactive and informational physical artifact questions the current engineering methods and ergonomic design of cognitive systems. New developpment of human machine systems for intensive care, human space activities or bio-engineering sytems requires grounding human systems design on a renewed epistemological framework for future human systems model and evidence based "bio-engineering". In that context, reclaiming human factors, augmented human and human machine nature is a necessityComment: Published in HCI International 2014, Heraklion : Greece (2014

Supporting decision making process with "Ideal" software agents: what do business executives want?

According to Simon’s (1977) decision making theory, intelligence is the first and most important phase in the decision making process. With the escalation of information resources available to business executives, it is becoming imperative to explore the potential and challenges of using agent-based systems to support the intelligence phase of decision-making. This research examines UK executives’ perceptions of using agent-based support systems and the criteria for design and development of their “ideal” intelligent software agents. The study adopted an inductive approach using focus groups to generate a preliminary set of design criteria of “ideal” agents. It then followed a deductive approach using semi-structured interviews to validate and enhance the criteria. This qualitative research has generated unique insights into executives’ perceptions of the design and use of agent-based support systems. The systematic content analysis of qualitative data led to the proposal and validation of design criteria at three levels. The findings revealed the most desirable criteria for agent based support systems from the end users’ point view. The design criteria can be used not only to guide intelligent agent system design but also system evaluation

Federated Embedded Systems – a review of the literature in related fields

This report is concerned with the vision of smart interconnected objects, a vision that has attracted much attention lately. In this paper, embedded, interconnected, open, and heterogeneous control systems are in focus, formally referred to as Federated Embedded Systems. To place FES into a context, a review of some related research directions is presented. This review includes such concepts as systems of systems, cyber-physical systems, ubiquitous computing, internet of things, and multi-agent systems. Interestingly, the reviewed fields seem to overlap with each other in an increasing number of ways

K-Trek: A Peer-to-Peer Approach To Distribute Knowledge In Large Environments

In this paper, we explore an architecture, called K-Trek, that enables mobile users to travel across knowledge distributed over a large geographical area (ranging from large public buildings to a national park). Our aim is providing, dis-tributing, and enriching the environment with location-sensitive information for use by agents on board of mobile and static devices. Local interactions among K-Trek devices and the distribution of information in the larger environment adopt some typical peer-to-peer patterns and techniques. We introduce the architecture, discuss some of its potential knowledge management applications, and present a few experimental results obtained with simulation

Defining the markets : an exploration of marketing managers' cognitive frameworks

School of Managemen

Strategic Unification of Artificial Intelligence in Foreign Direct Investment Application Forms

A foreign direct investment (FDI) is a very popular method of investing overseas but different from a stock investment in a foreign company. It could be purchasing of an interest in a company by an investor located outside its borders and in most cases, governments pay special interest on them. This is a business decision to acquire a substantial stake in a foreign business or to buy it outright as to expand its operations to a new region. Embedding artificial intelligence (AI) across the business requires significant investment and a change in overall approach. It is highly constructive and productive transformation that should be planned professionally, applied systematically, and managed strategically. AI drives meaningful value to business through better decision-making and consumer-facing applications. The general perception about filling a FDI application is a cumbersome job. Some countries manage this stage very methodically and investors always give priority for them as they can commence the production/business activities within a short period. Those countries who fail to gain this competitive advantage tend to lose the FDI opportunities even if they own various other advantages of resources to attract investors. This paper attempts to evaluate the potential of embedding a strategic unification of artificial intelligence in the application forms used to fill by investors at the time of starting foreign direct investment projects

A formal model for analyzing manager’s performance during stress

Managers who are exposed to stress have the risk of taking insufficient decisions, which will affect their performance levels. The affect could be either positive or negative, depending on the individual’s perception on stress. Many inadequate conventional studies have been conducted for analyzing the complicated relationship of stress and performance. Hence this study introduces a formal model supports managers’ performance during stress. This model can be encapsulated within an intelligent agent or robots that can be used to support managers. The methodology was used to explore human cognitive processes during stress consisted of four phases: identification of local and non-local properties, conceptualization of the model of these properties, formalization, and evaluation. Deferential equations have been used in formalizing the properties. The developed model has been simulated by applying it to different scenarios. Mathematical analysis has been used for the evaluation of the model. Results showed that the formal model was able to show the effects of different levels of stress on managers’ performance

How to explore new business models for technological innovations

Technological innovation projects must be accompanied by upstream strategic analysis on the related value creation model. It can be shown that generally successful technological innovations have also involved business model innovation. Exploration of new business models is however particularly difficult where there is a rupture in technology due to a lack of vision of the markets and applications to target. This article proposes a scenario-based method for exploring business models for technological innovation. The method includes overview questions on the businessmodels completed by specific questions relating the developed technology. This is followed by the definition of business model scenarios based on use scenarios in various application areas of the technology considered. The development of scenarios involves the creation of contrasting butcoherent business models and varying the elements of the retained business models (types of client, value proposition, economical logic, organisation of the value network, technological and marketing criteria specific to the technology). The method was developed to accompany a radical technological innovation in the telecommunications sector, as part of a European project. The article presents the technology under development and the way in which the authors defined the business model questionnaire and how they developed the various scenarios from uses of the technology. The approach opens both theoretical and managerial perspectives: it allows the notion of business model to be made operational by linking it to the technological innovation on one hand and its use on the other. The method should then be extended, by creating storyboards from strategic scenarios, in order to enable the project stakeholders to evaluate them.technological innovation, business model, method, scenarios

Towards a conceptualisation of smart tourists and their role within the smart destination scenario

‘Smart tourism’ and ‘smart destinations’ have been gaining attention as new frameworks within which to understand the impact the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs) have on the relationship between businesses, destinations and tourists. However, there is a crucial element of the smart tourism ecosystem that has been rather neglected in research hitherto: the tourists themselves. By acknowledging a shift in tourists’ behaviour due to the advent of disruptive factors, this paper conceptualises the recently emerged notion of ‘the smart tourist’. This new type of tourist is profiled through a description of their attitudes and behaviours, and their role within the smart destination scenario is depicted. By taking a consumer-centric perspective and framing the conceptualisation within the relevant theories, this paper contributes to the current body of knowledge on tourism in a highly technological context and facilitates bridging smart tourism theoretical foundations with empirical research. The observed transformation in tourists’ behaviour and its encapsulation in the smart tourist conceptualisation reveal critical managerial implications for both destination management organisations and businesses in the rapidly changing smart tourism ecosystem.Research carried out within the project ‘Analysis of planning processes applied to smart cities and smart tourism destinations. Balance and methodological proposal for tourist spaces: Smart Tourism Planning’ (CSO2017-82592-R) under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan and Grant no. BES-2015-073909, funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness