Collaborative business process management through harmonized messaging

Workflow systems in specific and Business Process Management Technologies in general, have significantly contributed to overcoming some of the integration problems of intra and inter enterprise process control and monitoring. However, the complexity of the interactions between heterogeneous and autonomous systems with in the enterprise and often between trading partners in ever increasing. A number of initiatives and proposals are underway to provide solutions for process specification and communication. However, the focus is often on defining APIs and interfaces rather than the semantics of the underlying interactions. On the other hand messaging technologies are well positioned as the key enabling technology for facilitating these interactions. Although messaging systems have traditionally had a different agenda dominated by scalability and performance, we see a great potential in the enhancement of current messaging infrastructure, in its new role in facilitating complex, long running interactions for dynamic and collaborative processes operating in decentralized environments like the web. In this paper, we primarily present a vision for a technology aimed at providing a level of harmonization to multiple messages to form a single custom definable backbone. We will provide the foundation framework for the harmonized messaging technology and identify fundamental issues for the management of such complex interactions

A framework for deriving semantic web services

Web service-based development represents an emerging approach for the development of distributed information systems. Web services have been mainly applied by software practitioners as a means to modularize system functionality that can be offered across a network (e.g., intranet and/or the Internet). Although web services have been predominantly developed as a technical solution for integrating software systems, there is a more business-oriented aspect that developers and enterprises need to deal with in order to benefit from the full potential of web services in an electronic market. This ‘ignored’ aspect is the representation of the semantics underlying the services themselves as well as the ‘things’ that the services manage. Currently languages like the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) provide the syntactic means to describe web services, but lack in providing a semantic underpinning. In order to harvest all the benefits of web services technology, a framework has been developed for deriving business semantics from syntactic descriptions of web services. The benefits of such a framework are two-fold. Firstly, the framework provides a way to gradually construct domain ontologies from previously defined technical services. Secondly, the framework enables the migration of syntactically defined web services toward semantic web services. The study follows a design research approach which (1) identifies the problem area and its relevance from an industrial case study and previous research, (2) develops the framework as a design artifact and (3) evaluates the application of the framework through a relevant scenario

ISURF: RFID Enabled Collaborative Supply Chain Planning Environment

To be able to cope with the requirements of today’s competitive and demanding digital world of business, companies, especially SMEs, need to be more agile, and be ready to react to the changing requirements of the sector. This requires a better view and a more comprehensive analysis of the whole marketplace which can be achieved through a knowledge oriented collaborative supply chain planning initiative. The parties also need to be capable of monitoring the supply chain visibility in a real time fashion, which can be enabled through the use of RFID devices. RFID enabled collaborative supply chain planning has been achieved by big industry players in well defined restricted business circumstances through some selected standard message schemes. However, SMEs are still far behind in this process due to their small IT budgets. In iSURF Project we address this problem by providing a set of open source tools to enable seamless collection of supply chain visibility, synchronizing this with master data, exchanging supply chain visibility and other planning data with each other through a service oriented supply chain planning environment which also handles the interoperability of the messages exchanged

Analysis of Radio Spectrum Market Evolution Possibilities

A tremendous growth in wireless traffic volumes and a shortage of feasible radio spectrum has led to a situation where the old and rigid spectrum regime is not a viable option for spectrum management and a shift towards a more market driven approach has begun. Great uncertainty still exists over how such a radio spectrum market will come about and what kind of shape it would take. This paper studies some long term macro level evolution possibilities for how this radio spectrum market could emerge and what would be the corresponding value chain configurations. The scenario planning and system dynamics methods are utilized to build four alternative future spectrum market scenarios.Spectrum Markets, Spectrum Policy, Flexible Spectrum Usage, Cognitive Radio, Value Networks, Scenario Planning, System Dynamics.

InfoTech Update, Volume 10, Number 4, July/August 2002

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/4993/thumbnail.jp

Toward a Library Renaissance

For centuries, librarians have tried to safeguard information, sometimes in the face of destruction. Think of the great Library of Alexandria, the burning of which symbolizes the irretrievable loss of knowledge. Think also of Umberto Eco\u27s novel, The Name of the Rose, and the (fictitious) 14th-century story about the search for a lost volume of Aristotle that no one is allowed to read—but yet must be preserved—because it might reveal that Jesus could and did laugh, contrary to the death-obsessed zeitgeist of the time. Fast-forward to the age of the internet, when some fear libraries are again being destroyed and many ask: Who wants libraries when you have Google? This is not an easy question to address but one need not yield to pessimism. This paper argues that identifiable trends direct to a promising future: in light of these, one should be able to circumscribe plausible scenarios. Approaches to strategic planning that count on ownership should make a big difference and point to desirable skills for librarians. If they also invest in resilience and give unequivocal attention to branding, libraries can enjoy a renaissance

Design of Interoperable Communication Architecture for TSO-DSO Data Exchange

European Union’s Horizon 202

Documentation and data handling: How can Africa promote record keeping and investment in data management?

The presence of quality data and data management is important for the future of food in Africa. Data management can impact agriculture sector performance and food security because it facilitates the identification of agriculture sector problems and planning. However, existing systems, data collection practices, record keeping and handling are all challenged by a myriad of factors that undermine quantity and quality of data output. This paper discusses how countries can improve and implement data capture, record keeping and investment in data management. Using past literature and data management, we assess the current status of data management systems and challenges faced at the farmer, local/NGO, national and international levels. Drawing on best practices currently at work in the private sector and amongst NGO-supported projects, we identify potential investment opportunities and incentives that could promote a culture of record keeping, documentation, data management. Over time, investing in projects that have built-in incentives that solve farmer needs can facilitate record keeping at the farmer level. Putting in place mechanisms such as central registries and platforms for sharing information and coordinating local initiatives can promote the culture of documentation and data management at the local/NGO level. Improvements at the national level may stem from investing more in human and financial resources, capitalizing on public-private partnerships to develop and deploy innovative digital tools for data collection and management, as well as building stronger linkages and tapping into international capacities of agricultural data collection.Keywords: Documentation, Data management, Africa, Agriculture, Non-governmental organization