A Hybrid Framework for Automated and Adaptive E-Business Platforms

The automation of business transactions between corporations has been dominated by proprietary and inflexible EDI solutions for a long time. During the last years, novel XML-based standards emerged which have a wider scope than EDI but strongly differ with regard to granularity and industry-focus. Due to the abundance of many complex standards with limited diffusion among users and industries, especially small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have not yet managed to automate the execution of business transactions and to seamlessly interconnect their respective IT applications. In this work, we propose a novel approach which builds on a composite of existing standards and combines them towards a hybrid architecture facilitating electronic business transactions. The Web Service stack represents the technical foundation of this approach, while parts of the ebXML standard are leveraged to ensure a common understanding of business information and processes between trading partners. A central server acts as repository of formal agreements, common data and process modeling artifacts and allows for intermittent connectivity of the users. Decentral adapter components enable connecting heterogeneous legacy applications of the users to the central server. The resulting approach can thus be considered as hybrid regarding the degree of centralism involved and with respect to the combination of the Web services stack and the ebXML standard as an infrastructural foundation

A framework for promoting interoperability in a global electronic market-space

The primary contributions to the area of electronic business integration, propounded by this thesis, are (in no particular order):  A novel examination of global Business-to-Business (B2B) interoperability in terms of a "multiplicity paradox" and of a "global electronic market-space" from a Complex Systems Science perspective.  A framework for an, integrated, global electronic market-space, which is based on a hierarchical, incremental, minimalist-business-pattern approach. A Web Services-SOA forms the basis of application-to-application integration within the framework. The framework is founded in a comprehensive study of existing technologies, standards and models for secure interoperability and the SOA paradigm. The Complex Systems Science concepts of "predictable structure" and "structural complexity" are used consistently throughout the progressive formulation of the framework.  A model for a global message handler (including a standards-based message-format) which obviates the common problems implicit in standard SOAP-RPC. It is formulated around the "standardized, common, abstract application interface" critical success factor, deduced from examining existing models. The model can be used in any collaboration context.  An open standards-based security model for the global message handler. Conceptually, the framework comprises the following:  An interoperable standardized message format: a standardized SOAP-envelope with standardized attachments (8-bit binary MIME-serialized XOP packages).  An interoperable standardized message-delivery infrastructure encompassing an RPC-invoked message-handler - a Web service, operating in synchronous and/or asynchronous mode, which relays attachments to service endpoints.  A business information processing infrastructure comprised of: a standardized generic minimalist-business-pattern (simple buying/selling), comprising global pre-specifications for business processes (for example, placing an order), standardized specific atomic business activities (e.g. completing an order-form), a standardized document-set (including, e.g. an order-form) based on standardized metadata (common nomenclature and common semantics used in XSD's, e.g. the order-form), the standardized corresponding choreography for atomic activities (e.g. acknowledgement of receipt of order-form) and service endpoints (based on standardized programming interfaces and virtual methods with customized implementations).Theoretical ComputingPHD (INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Ontology-based information standards development

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Standards may be argued to be important enablers for achieving interoperability as they aim to provide unambiguous specifications for error-free exchange of documents and information. By implication, therefore, it is important to model and represent the concept of a standard in a clear, precise and unambiguous way. Although standards development organisations usually provide guidelines for the process of developing and approving standards, they are usually more concerned with administrative aspect of the process. As a consequence, the state-of-the-art lacks practical support for developing the structure and content of a standard specification. In short, there is no systematic development method currently available: (a) For developing the conceptual model underpinning a standard; and/or (b) to guide a group of stakeholders to develop a standard specification. Semantic interoperability is considered to be an essential factor for effective interoperation – the ability to achieve semantic interoperability effectively and efficiently being strongly equated with quality by some. Semantics require that the meaning of terms, their relationships and also the restrictions and rules in the standards should be clearly defined in the early stages of standard development and act as a basis for the latter stages. This research proposes that ontology can help standards developers and stakeholders to address the issues of improving conceptual models and providing a robust and shared understanding of the domain. This thesis presents OntoStanD, a comprehensive ontology-based standards development methodology, which utilises the best practices of the existing ontology creation methods. The potential value of OntoStanD is in providing a comprehensive, clear and unambiguous method for developing robust information standards, which are more test friendly and of higher quality. OntoStanD also facilitates standards conformance testing and change management, impacts interoperability and also assists in improved communication among the standards development team. Last, OntoStanD provides an approach that is repeatable, teachable and potentially general enough for creating any kinds of information standard.Fujitsu Laboratories of Europe Ltd, Google Anitaborg Memorial Scholarshi

E-business innovation and customs renovation for secure supply chain management

Includes bibliographyInformation technologies (ITs) and supply chain management (SCM) are increasingly considered as indispensable tools of competitiveness especially for companies facing excessive global competition, although these companies have not necessarily succeeded in taking full advantage of such cutting-edge technologies and management systems. Their use, especially of international SCMs, is limited to a small number of purchaser-suppliers groups that are formed primarily by transnational corporations (TNCs). The factors impeding a proliferation of SCMs at a global scale include the difficulties that companies face in establishing flexible electronic data interchange (EDI) systems with their business partners, the high costs involved in building seamless and real-time information sharing systems where long-term business partnerships do not exist, and uncertainty on and high costs involved in international trade such as trade finance and customs procedures. In addition, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in New York magnified national security concerns, which seem to have a negative effect on global SCMs. On the other hand, new technological innovations in web services and tracking/tracing are emerging from the efforts to overcome these hurdles. This paper examines the late efforts on e-commerce, customs modernization, and trade facilitation, in response to the recent dynamic progress in information and web technologies. In the first chapter, we study some cases of SCMs emphasizing the importance of the state of the art information systems as an important instrument of trade facilitation. The second chapter reviews the recent efforts by the international community for trade facilitation, as well as new technologies and services based on eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) and radio frequency identification (RFID) that have a great potential to change the online business environment dramatically. The third chapter consists of case studies on renovations of customs and trade information systems in Asia, Europe and North America while the fourth chapter reviews the present situations and efforts in Latin America. Based on these chapters, policy implications will be derived in the last chapter

Ontology-based information standards development

Standards may be argued to be important enablers for achieving interoperability as they aim to provide unambiguous specifications for error-free exchange of documents and information. By implication, therefore, it is important to model and represent the concept of a standard in a clear, precise and unambiguous way. Although standards development organisations usually provide guidelines for the process of developing and approving standards, they are usually more concerned with administrative aspect of the process. As a consequence, the state-of-the-art lacks practical support for developing the structure and content of a standard specification. In short, there is no systematic development method currently available: (a) For developing the conceptual model underpinning a standard; and/or (b) to guide a group of stakeholders to develop a standard specification. Semantic interoperability is considered to be an essential factor for effective interoperation – the ability to achieve semantic interoperability effectively and efficiently being strongly equated with quality by some. Semantics require that the meaning of terms, their relationships and also the restrictions and rules in the standards should be clearly defined in the early stages of standard development and act as a basis for the latter stages. This research proposes that ontology can help standards developers and stakeholders to address the issues of improving conceptual models and providing a robust and shared understanding of the domain. This thesis presents OntoStanD, a comprehensive ontology-based standards development methodology, which utilises the best practices of the existing ontology creation methods. The potential value of OntoStanD is in providing a comprehensive, clear and unambiguous method for developing robust information standards, which are more test friendly and of higher quality. OntoStanD also facilitates standards conformance testing and change management, impacts interoperability and also assists in improved communication among the standards development team. Last, OntoStanD provides an approach that is repeatable, teachable and potentially general enough for creating any kinds of information standard.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceFujitsu Laboratories of Europe LtdGoogle Anitaborg Memorial ScholarshipGBUnited Kingdo

Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi- Bilgi Toplumu Teknolojileri- Mükemmeliyet merkez projesi

TÜBİTAK EEEAG Proje01.02.200

A Business Collaboration Registry Model on Top of ebRIM

UN/CEFACT’s Modeling Methodology (UMM) is a well accepted approach to define inter-organizational business processes. UMM models should be managed in a registry for two reasons: Firstly, business partners supporting the process can find it and bind to it. Secondly, a model-or more important parts thereof- may be reused in an-other model of an inter-organizational process. Accord-ingly, registering one model as one object in a registry is not appropriate. Those parts of a model that may be reused must become registry objects themselves. Extract-ing parts of a model results in objects that are logically inter-related. Thus, a registry model taking care of these inter-relationships is needed. In this paper we present a so-called business collaboration registry model that sits on top of the ebRIM (ebXML registry information model) in order to manage UMM business collaboration models in an ebXML registry. Furthermore, we outline the registry man-agement functions for maintaining models in the registry. 1