Product Configuration Systems: State of the Art, Conceptualization and Extensions

Product configurators are considered to be among the most successful applications of artificial intelligence technology. In this paper, we determine different conceptualizations of configurators and condense them in a comprehensive morphological box, which should support configurator designers as well as decision makers in selecting the right system. The analysis of the criteria according to which configurators that are designed thus far reveals a neglect of the front-end perspective. Therefore, it is relevant to extend configurators with a front-end component assisting customers during product configuration through advisory. We develop a framework describing the main requirements on an advisory system and propose the technical infrastructure for its implementation. Finally, the advisory system and the configurator are integrated into a comprehensive interaction system.product configurators; advisory system; product personalization

The Semantic Grid: A future e-Science infrastructure

e-Science offers a promising vision of how computer and communication technology can support and enhance the scientific process. It does this by enabling scientists to generate, analyse, share and discuss their insights, experiments and results in an effective manner. The underlying computer infrastructure that provides these facilities is commonly referred to as the Grid. At this time, there are a number of grid applications being developed and there is a whole raft of computer technologies that provide fragments of the necessary functionality. However there is currently a major gap between these endeavours and the vision of e-Science in which there is a high degree of easy-to-use and seamless automation and in which there are flexible collaborations and computations on a global scale. To bridge this practice–aspiration divide, this paper presents a research agenda whose aim is to move from the current state of the art in e-Science infrastructure, to the future infrastructure that is needed to support the full richness of the e-Science vision. Here the future e-Science research infrastructure is termed the Semantic Grid (Semantic Grid to Grid is meant to connote a similar relationship to the one that exists between the Semantic Web and the Web). In particular, we present a conceptual architecture for the Semantic Grid. This architecture adopts a service-oriented perspective in which distinct stakeholders in the scientific process, represented as software agents, provide services to one another, under various service level agreements, in various forms of marketplace. We then focus predominantly on the issues concerned with the way that knowledge is acquired and used in such environments since we believe this is the key differentiator between current grid endeavours and those envisioned for the Semantic Grid

A Process Framework for Semantics-aware Tourism Information Systems

The growing sophistication of user requirements in tourism due to the advent of new technologies such as the Semantic Web and mobile computing has imposed new possibilities for improved intelligence in Tourism Information Systems (TIS). Traditional software engineering and web engineering approaches cannot suffice, hence the need to find new product development approaches that would sufficiently enable the next generation of TIS. The next generation of TIS are expected among other things to: enable semantics-based information processing, exhibit natural language capabilities, facilitate inter-organization exchange of information in a seamless way, and evolve proactively in tandem with dynamic user requirements. In this paper, a product development approach called Product Line for Ontology-based Semantics-Aware Tourism Information Systems (PLOSATIS) which is a novel hybridization of software product line engineering, and Semantic Web engineering concepts is proposed. PLOSATIS is presented as potentially effective, predictable and amenable to software process improvement initiatives

Psychological elements explaining the consumer's adoption and use of a website recommendation system: A theoretical framework proposal

The purpose of this paper is to understand, with an emphasis on the psychological perspective of the research problem, the consumer's adoption and use of a certain web site recommendation system as well as the main psychological outcomes involved. The approach takes the form of theoretical modelling. Findings: A conceptual model is proposed and discussed. A total of 20 research propositions are theoretically analyzed and justified. Research limitations/implications: The theoretical discussion developed here is not empirically validated. This represents an opportunity for future research. Practical implications: The ideas extracted from the discussion of the conceptual model should be a help for recommendation systems designers and web site managers, so that they may be more aware, when working with such systems, of the psychological process consumers undergo when interacting with them. In this regard, numerous practical reflections and suggestions are presented

Using Neural Networks for Pattern Association for the Online Purchase of Products

Abstract: Today, a huge percentage of all the business transactions that take place in the domain of e-commerce are dominated by online shopping after the virtual market conceptualization of the business. This paper focuses on how pattern association rules may be obtained from the dynamic databases generated during purchases in an e-Store to maximize the profit of the marketer. In this paper, ANN has been used as a tool for generating pattern association rules during online purchases of products to aid the cross-selling of products. For getting the rules, a methodology using artificial neural networks has been adapted for usage using an extended Delta rule for initial training of the network and a hetero-associative neural network for generating and storing the associative rules. Also, a methodology has been proposed to filter out all rules which do not add economic value to the firm and then select that rule which will meet the profit maximization objective of the marketer

Designing a Methodology for Marketing Intelligence Systems – The Case of Brand Image Diagnostics

In situations of information overload and complexity, consumers consult their existing knowledge regarding brands as a guide in consumption decisions. This knowledge manifests as brand association networks (BANs) in consumers’ minds and reflects what the consumer thinks of when being confronted with a brand stimulus. BANs therefore characterize a brand’s image that determines consumers’ attitudes and behaviour. BANs serve as diagnostic instruments to explain a brand’s success or failure and to plan or control marketing activities. Traditionally, BANs are elicited directly from consumers utilizing survey-based instruments. However, in a dynamic and interactive environment, user-generated content (UGC) is increasingly relevant for a brand’s image and thus should be exploited for the elicitation of BANs. However, established elicitation instruments either follow another elicitation paradigm (i.e. surveys or interviews), or are unable to cope with volume, velocity, and variety of UGC as a big data source (e.g. content analysis). Hence, exploiting UGC for BAN elicitation requires the development of new, computer-supported instruments. Following a design science research approach, we contribute a novel methodology as our artefact to extract BANs from UGC using text-mining and net- work analysis. We evaluate our solution and demonstrate its utility for brand management on a study of automotive brands

BlogForever D3.2: Interoperability Prospects

This report evaluates the interoperability prospects of the BlogForever platform. Therefore, existing interoperability models are reviewed, a Delphi study to identify crucial aspects for the interoperability of web archives and digital libraries is conducted, technical interoperability standards and protocols are reviewed regarding their relevance for BlogForever, a simple approach to consider interoperability in specific usage scenarios is proposed, and a tangible approach to develop a succession plan that would allow a reliable transfer of content from the current digital archive to other digital repositories is presented

Business Open Big Data Analytics to Support Innovative Leadership Decision in Canada

This paper summarizes how social media and other technologies continue to proliferate; the shifting economic landscape will precipitate more adaptive approaches for managers attempting to understand the multidimensional virtual aspects of communication with the artificial intelligence aspect. Also, we discover the different existing support of big data analytics to make the rational business decision. The methodology is the systematization literature sources within this context and approaches for underlining approach to open big data analytics and support innovative leadership decisions in Canada