Ontology-based patterns for the integration of business processes and enterprise application architectures

Increasingly, enterprises are using Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) as an approach to Enterprise Application Integration (EAI). SOA has the potential to bridge the gap between business and technology and to improve the reuse of existing applications and the interoperability with new ones. In addition to service architecture descriptions, architecture abstractions like patterns and styles capture design knowledge and allow the reuse of successfully applied designs, thus improving the quality of software. Knowledge gained from integration projects can be captured to build a repository of semantically enriched, experience-based solutions. Business patterns identify the interaction and structure between users, business processes, and data. Specific integration and composition patterns at a more technical level address enterprise application integration and capture reliable architecture solutions. We use an ontology-based approach to capture architecture and process patterns. Ontology techniques for pattern definition, extension and composition are developed and their applicability in business process-driven application integration is demonstrated

Framing purposeful evaluation through critical systems thinking

Two traditions of practice – evaluation and systems – share three significant concerns regarding development intervention: (i) making sense of complex interrelationships and the continual change brought about by such relationships; (ii) engaging with multiple (including exogenous and endogenous), often conflicting, perspectives on situations; and (iii) challenging vicious cycles of practice and understanding by cultivating a more radical learning culture. These challenges might be described successively in terms of cultivating a shift from (i) summative to formative evaluation (ii) positional bargaining to interest based negotiation, and (iii) purposive to purposeful action. Some ideas from traditions of social learning and critical systems thinking are presented to support a re-framing of intervention and evaluation from one serving the 'project state' towards one serving more radical transformative practice

Towards evaluation design for smart city development

Smart city developments integrate digital, human, and physical systems in the built environment. With growing urbanization and widespread developments, identifying suitable evaluation methodologies is important. Case-study research across five UK cities - Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Peterborough - revealed that city evaluation approaches were principally project-focused with city-level evaluation plans at early stages. Key challenges centred on selecting suitable evaluation methodologies to evidence urban value and outcomes, addressing city authority requirements. Recommendations for evaluation design draw on urban studies and measurement frameworks, capitalizing on big data opportunities and developing appropriate, valid, credible integrative approaches across projects, programmes and city-level developments

A practitioner's guide to 'Imagine', the systemic and prospective sustainability analysis

The purpose of the Mediterranean Action Plans Coastal Area Management Programme is to help Mediterranean countries implement a sustainable management process for their coastal areas. This in particular implies thinking collectively about possible futures by taking into account past developments and the present situation of the area in question. To do so and right from the very start, the Blue Plan has assisted teams involved in the CAMPs to use the systemic and prospective approach so as to highlight priorities, forecast negative developments and suggest action to be taken to establish sustainable development in the Mediterranean's coastal areas. What do we mean by sustainable development? The Blue Plan adheres to a definition that is a blend of what you find in the Bruntland Report and at the FAO, 'sustainable development is one that respects the environment, is technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable, making it possible to meet the needs of present generations without jeopardising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. In this framework the 'Imagine' analysis of systemic and prospective sustainability now proposes a set of tools and methods (a methodological corpus) to describe, assess and examine the level of sustainability of an eco-socio system in the past, present and future by means of indicators and a participatory process that considers local actors to be experts at their level

Apache Calcite: A Foundational Framework for Optimized Query Processing Over Heterogeneous Data Sources

Apache Calcite is a foundational software framework that provides query processing, optimization, and query language support to many popular open-source data processing systems such as Apache Hive, Apache Storm, Apache Flink, Druid, and MapD. Calcite's architecture consists of a modular and extensible query optimizer with hundreds of built-in optimization rules, a query processor capable of processing a variety of query languages, an adapter architecture designed for extensibility, and support for heterogeneous data models and stores (relational, semi-structured, streaming, and geospatial). This flexible, embeddable, and extensible architecture is what makes Calcite an attractive choice for adoption in big-data frameworks. It is an active project that continues to introduce support for the new types of data sources, query languages, and approaches to query processing and optimization.Comment: SIGMOD'1

Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning