An Interoperable eHealth Reference Architecture for Primary Care

eHealth is still not widely used in primary care, because barriers still exist around integrated and interoperable technological infrastructures for eHealth. This paper describes the design of an interoperable eHealth reference architecture for primary care and its evaluation with experts. This reference architecture aims to facilitate IT specialists in setting up interoperable eHealth infrastructures within primary healthcare organizations. The design of the reference architecture was based on the results of 14 working sessions with 10 eHealth Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the theory behind the Refined eHealth European Interoperability Framework (ReEIF). The evaluation with experts revealed additional conditions that – next to the reference architecture – are needed before interoperable eHealth in primary care can actually be achieved

A business process modelling approach to improve OEM and supplier collaboration

Nowadays, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) are facing fast changes in technological advancement. These changes encourage them to be more innovative and to offer their Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) quality products with ever shorter deadlines, which is not an easy task. This project (BENEFITS) aims to provide innovative solutions to keep the most exploitable SME’s skills within its local regions. This paper focuses on Business Process Modeling (BPM) and process interactions during the development phases of innovative products. Due to the specific needs and requirements in terms of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)-based solutions for SMEs and OEMs, this work explores the relationship between them and their suppliers, based on ICT technologies and focuses on SMEs adoption of PLM. Such relationship needs the Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) for representing all tasks that must be done for the collaborative process planning. Two existing information models (NIST and PPRO) serve as an information model to investigate the way of implementing design processes in the context of PLM

Software Interfaces - Stuck in the Middle: The Relationship Between the Law and Software Interfaces in Regulating and Encouraging INteroperability

Interoperability of software programs is associated with competition and innovation. This has resulted in exceptions to copyright protection for software interfaces and intervention by competition authorities. Despite this, the hidden and unreadable nature of machine code and the limitations of reverse engineering have given a much stronger protection than is normally associated with copyright. This article reviews the theoretical and empirical justifications for interoperability. Then, against the backdrop of the prevailing uncertainty pending the decision of the ECJ in the case of SAS Institute Inc v. World Programming Ltd, the author analyses the development of the law on the status of software interfaces in Europe and the USA. The effectiveness of compulsory disclosure of interoperability information under the “exceptional circumstances” test is considered but the shortcomings of this approach are identified. The possibility of relaxing the restriction on dissemination of interface information is proposed

The Future of Enterprise Information Systems

[First paragraph] Enterprise information systems (EIS) have been important enablers of crossfunctional processes within businesses since the 1990s. Often referred to as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, they were extended in line with electronic businesses to integrate with suppliers as well as customers. Today, EIS architectures comprise not only ERP, supply chain, and customer relationship management systems, but also business intelligence and analytics. Recently, the move towards decentralized technologies has created new perspectives for EIS. Information systems (IS) research has already addressed opportunities and challenges of these developments quite well, but what will be the pressing opportunities and challenges for supporting enterprises with IS in the coming years? The remainder of this discussion focuses on the future of EIS from diverse but complementary perspectives

Developing and Assessing a Workshop That Utilizes a Serious Game to Introduce Joint All-domain Operations

The DoD has begun developing Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO) to prepare for the future of warfare. As complexity and technological capability increases, the U.S. military needs to adapt to provide a more lethal and capable force, able to compete and win against near-peer adversaries. This research describes the development of an Introduction to JADO Workshop designed to provide a structured primer into JADO concepts. The research also presents an extension of BSN in the form of BSN scenarios. These scenarios alter the rules to lessen the learning curve for the game and to engage with JADO concepts. This research proposed a format for future JADO education course, refined the BSN tool to improve effectiveness, measurement of the response to JADO education, and an assessment of the workshop from JADO leaders across the Air Force

Towards a Traceable Enterprise Architecture for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The practice of Enterprise Architecture (EA) continues to develop. Many large organizations are using EA processes and practices to help manage their complex set of integrated processes and applications. The set of integrated processes and applications required to meet their unique business requirements. Large organizations inherently recognize that an effective EA assists the enterprise to determine its desired direction. The resulting EA is then used to help manage the changes required to achieve the enterprises chosen destination. In a similar manner, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from EA practices. Achieving these benefits requires EA practices and tools be appropriately scaled to the size of the enterprise. My objective is to address the EA needs of SMEs by researching appropriate EA best practices, building artifacts that embrace these practices, and then evaluating these artifacts to determine how well they meet the need

“It May Be a Pain in the Backside but...” Insights into the Resilience of Business after GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May 2018 and is designed to safeguard European Union (EU) citizens’ data privacy. The benefits of the regulation to consumers’ rights and to regulators’ powers are well known. The benefits to regulated businesses are less obvious and under-researched. We conduct exploratory research into understanding the sociotechnical impacts and resilience of business in the face of a major new disruptive regulation. In particular, we investigate if GDPR is all pain and no gain. Using semi-structured interviews, we survey 14 senior-level executives responsible for business, finance, marketing, compliance and technology drawn from six companies in the UK and Ireland. We find the threat of fines has focused the corporate mind and made business more privacy aware. Organisationally, it has created new power bases within companies to advocate GDPR. It has forced companies to modernise their platforms and indirectly benefited them with better risk management processes, information security infrastructure and up to date customer databases. Compliance, for some, is used as a reputational signal of trustworthiness. Many implementation challenges remain. New business development and intra-company communication is more constrained. Regulation has increased costs and internal bureaucracy. Grey areas remain due to a lack of case law. Disgruntled customers and ex-employees weaponise Subject Access Requests (SAR) as a tool of retaliation. All small and medium-sized businesses in our sample see GDPR as overkill and overwhelming. We conclude GDPR may be regarded as a pain by business but it has made it more careful with data. It created a short-term disruption that monopolised IT budgets in the run-up to GDPR and created a long-term disruption to company politics as Compliance and Information Security leverage the regulation for budget and control. The rising trend in the number of fines issued by national data protection regulators and the establishment of new case law will continue to reshape organisations