Process Mining for Dynamic Modeling of Smart Manufacturing Systems: Data Requirements

Modern manufacturing systems can benefit from the use of digital tools to support both short- and long-term decisions. Meanwhile, such systems reached a high level of complexity and are frequently subject to modifications that can quickly make the digital tools obsolete. In this context, the ability to dynamically generate models of production systems is essential to guarantee their exploitation on the shop-floors as decision-support systems. The literature offers approaches for generating digital models based on real-time data streams. These models can represent a system more precisely at any point in time, as they are continuously updated based on the data. However, most approaches consider only isolated aspects of systems (e.g., reliability models) and focus on a specific modeling purpose (e.g., material flow identification). The research challenge is therefore to develop a novel framework that systematically enables the combination of models extracted through different process mining algorithms. To tackle this challenge, it is critical to define the requirements that enable the emergence of automated modeling and simulation tasks. In this paper, we therefore derive and define data requirements for the models that need to be extracted. We include aspects such as the structure of the manufacturing system and the behavior of its machines. The paper aims at guiding practitioners in designing coherent data structures to enable the coupling of model generation techniques within the digital support system of manufacturing companies

The Use of Process Mining in Business Process Simulation Model Construction - Structuring the Field

The paper focuses on the use of process mining (PM) to support the construction of business process simulation (BPS) models. Given the useful BPS insights that are available in event logs, further research on this topic is required. To provide a solid basis for future work, this paper presents a structured overview of BPS modeling tasks and how PM can support them. As directly related research efforts are scarce, a multitude of research challenges are identified. In an effort to provide suggestions on how these challenges can be tackled, an analysis of PM literature shows that few PM algorithms are directly applicable in a BPS context. Consequently, the results presented in this paper can encourage and guide future research to fundamentally bridge the gap between PM and BPS

zeek-osquery: Host-Network Correlation for Advanced Monitoring and Intrusion Detection

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) can analyze network traffic for signs of attacks and intrusions. However, encrypted communication limits their visibility and sophisticated attackers additionally try to evade their detection. To overcome these limitations, we extend the scope of Network IDSs (NIDSs) with additional data from the hosts. For that, we propose the integrated open-source zeek-osquery platform that combines the Zeek IDS with the osquery host monitor. Our platform can collect, process, and correlate host and network data at large scale, e.g., to attribute network flows to processes and users. The platform can be flexibly extended with own detection scripts using already correlated, but also additional and dynamically retrieved host data. A distributed deployment enables it to scale with an arbitrary number of osquery hosts. Our evaluation results indicate that a single Zeek instance can manage more than 870 osquery hosts and can attribute more than 96% of TCP connections to host-side applications and users in real-time.Comment: Accepted for publication at ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection (IFIP) SEC 202

Distributed Mail Transfer Agent

Technological advances have provided society with the means to easily communicate through several channels, starting off in radio and television stations, moving on through E-mail and SMS, and nowadays targeting Internet surfing through channels such as Google Ads and Webpush notifications. Digital marketing has flooded these channels for product promotion and customer engaging purposes in order to provide the customers with the best the organizations have to offer. E-goi is a web platform whose main objective is to facilitate digital marketing to all its customers, ranging from SMB to Corporate/Enterprise, and aid them to strengthen their relationships with its customers through digital communication. The platform’s most widely used channel is E-mail which is responsible for about fifteen million deliveries per day. The email delivery system currently employed by E-goi is functional and fault-tolerant to a certain degree, however, it has several flaws, such as its monolithic architecture, which is responsible for high hardware usage and lack of layer centralization, and the lack of deliverability related functionalities. This thesis aims to analyze and improve the E-goi’s e-mail delivery system architecture, which represents a critical system and of most importance and value for the product and the company. Business analysis tools will be used in this analysis to prove the value created for the company and its product, aiming at maintenance and infrastructure cost reduction as well as the increment in functionalities, both of which comprise valid points for creating business value. The project main objectives comprise an extensive analysis of the currently employed solution and the context to which it belongs to, followed up by a comparative discussion of currently existent competitors and technologies which may be of aid in the development of a new solution. Moving on, the solution’s functional and non-functional requirements gathering will take place. These requirements will dictate how the solution shall be developed. A thorough analysis of the project’s value will follow, discussing which solution will bring the most value to E-goi as a product and organization. Upon deciding on the best solution, its design will be developed based on the previously gathered requirements and the best software design patterns, and will support the implementation phase which follows. Once implemented, the solution will need to surpass several defined tests and hypothesis which will ensure its performance and robustness. Finally, the conclusion will summarize all the project results and define future work for the newly created solution.O avanço tecnológico forneceu à sociedade a facilidade de comunicação através dos demais canais, começando em rádios e televisões, passando pelo E-mail e SMS, atingindo, hoje em dia, a própria navegação na Internet através dos mais diversos canais como o Google Ads e notificações Webpush. Todos estes canais de comunicação são hoje em dia usados como base da promoção, o marketing digital invadiu estes canais de maneira a conseguir alcançar os mais diversos tipos de clientes e lhes proporcionar o melhor que as organizações têm para oferecer. A E-goi é uma plataforma web que pretende facilitar o marketing digital a todos os seus clientes, desde a PME à Enterprise, e ajudá-los a fortalecer as relações com os seus clientes através de comunicação digital. O canal mais usado da plataforma é o E-mail, totalizando, hoje em dia, cerca de quinze milhões de entregas por dia. O sistema de envio de e-mails usado hoje em dia pelo produto E-goi é funcional e tolerante a falhas até um certo nível, no entanto, apresenta diversas lacunas tanto na arquitetura monolítica do mesmo, responsável por um uso de hardware elevado e falta de centralização de camadas, como em funcionalidades ligadas à entregabilidade. O presente projeto visa a análise e melhoria da arquitetura do sistema de envio de e-mails da plataforma E-goi, um sistema crítico e de alta importância e valor para a empresa. Ao longo desta análise, serão usadas ferramentas de análise de negócio para provar o valor criado para a organização e para o produto com vista à redução de custos de manutenção e infraestrutura bem como o aumento de funcionalidades, ambos pontos válidos na adição de valor organizacional. Os objetivos do projeto passarão por uma análise extensiva da solução presente e do contexto em que a mesma se insere, passando a uma comparação com soluções concorrentes e tecnologias, existentes no mercado de hoje em dia, que possam ajudar no desenvolvimento de uma nova solução. Seguir-se-á um levantamento dos requisitos, tanto funcionais como não-funcionais do sistema que ditarão os moldes sobre os quais o novo sistema deverá ser desenvolvido. Após isto, dar-se-á uma extensa análise do valor do projecto e da solução que mais valor adicionará à E-goi, quer como produto e como organização. De seguida efectuar-se-á o Design da solução com base nos requisitos definidos e nas melhores práticas de engenharia informática, design este que servirá de base à implementação que se dará de seguida e será provada através da elaboração de diversos testes que garantirão a performance, robustez e validade do sistema criado. Finalmente seguir-se-á a conclusão que visa resumir os resultados do projecto e definir trabalho futuro para a solução criada

The Dawn of Open Access to Phylogenetic Data

The scientific enterprise depends critically on the preservation of and open access to published data. This basic tenet applies acutely to phylogenies (estimates of evolutionary relationships among species). Increasingly, phylogenies are estimated from increasingly large, genome-scale datasets using increasingly complex statistical methods that require increasing levels of expertise and computational investment. Moreover, the resulting phylogenetic data provide an explicit historical perspective that critically informs research in a vast and growing number of scientific disciplines. One such use is the study of changes in rates of lineage diversification (speciation - extinction) through time. As part of a meta-analysis in this area, we sought to collect phylogenetic data (comprising nucleotide sequence alignment and tree files) from 217 studies published in 46 journals over a 13-year period. We document our attempts to procure those data (from online archives and by direct request to corresponding authors), and report results of analyses (using Bayesian logistic regression) to assess the impact of various factors on the success of our efforts. Overall, complete phylogenetic data for ~60% of these studies are effectively lost to science. Our study indicates that phylogenetic data are more likely to be deposited in online archives and/or shared upon request when: (1) the publishing journal has a strong data-sharing policy; (2) the publishing journal has a higher impact factor, and; (3) the data are requested from faculty rather than students. Although the situation appears dire, our analyses suggest that it is far from hopeless: recent initiatives by the scientific community -- including policy changes by journals and funding agencies -- are improving the state of affairs

A business case for a data-driven decision-making tool to support the UNBC research enterprise.

Business intelligence tools allows for data-driven decision-making within organizations using historical events to predict future trends, which is especially valuable when allocating operational resources. As a research-intensive Canadian university, UNBC has seen a significant increase in activities related to supporting the research enterprise, which requires additional resources (human, capital, financial etc.) in order to effectively and efficiently advance the mission of the research community. As outlined in our Annual University Accountability Report, 2018/19 was an incredibly productive year for research with more than $14 million received in support of research. The University has seen a significant increase in the number and breadth of agencies and organizations funding research at UNBC. The administration of research awards involves both pre-award and post-award processes, which requires responsible allocation of available resources to ensure a sustainable model will be developed to achieve goals outlined by the institution’s strategic priorities and build the foundation to reach our goal of a research enterprise generating$25M in annual research revenue. Therefore, using business intelligence tools to utilize historical data to predict the necessary resourcing needs of the institution will allow UNBC to make strategic investments in research and remain competitive on the provincial, national and international stage. Informed decision-making when investing resources are critical to the success of any business. The goal of my MBA project is to gather critical information to be used in the development a data visualization and forecasting tool that will allow for informed decisions for the allocation of resources necessary to support the research mission at UNBC. The objectives of the MBA project are two-fold, which include the development of the business case for the UNBC data visualization tool (DVT) and also the completion of a design document. The information gathered6 from this project will be used in the future (post-MBA) to develop a data visualization tool that will allow for the on-going monitoring of UNBC’s progress towards putting in place the appropriate resources to reach $25M in annual research revenue. Specifically, the MBA project will consist of completing a comprehensive business case outlining the “business need” and potential solutions. Secondly, the MBA project will consist of developing a “design document” for an eventual tool that will be used to visualize research funding and labor information to inform business decisions for resource planning for the UNBC research enterprise. This design support system will be used by senior leadership within UNBC to effectively and efficiently make decisions to allocate resources