A Tool to Model and Simulate Dynamic Business Models

Software tools hold great promise to support the modeling, analyzing, and innovation of business models. Current tools only focus on the design of business models and do not incorporate the complexity of existing interdependencies between business model components. These tools merely allow simulating inherent dynamics within the models or different strategic decision scenarios. In this research, we use design science research to develop a prototype that is capable of modeling and simulating dynamic business models. We use system dynamics as a simulation approach and containers to allow deployment as web applications. This paper represents the first of three design cycles, realizing six out of 59 requirements that are collected from the literature on software tools for business models. We contribute toward the design of novel artifacts for business model innovation as well as their evaluation. Future research can use these results to build tools that consider and address the complexity of business models. Lastly, we present several options for extending the proposed tool in the future

Strategies for including cloud-computing into an engineering modeling workflow

With the advent of cloud computing, high-end computing, networking, and storage resources are available on-demand at a relatively low price point. Internet applications in the consumer and increasingly in the enterprise space are making use of these resources to upgrade existing applications and build new ones. This is made possible by building decentralized applications that can be integrated with one another through web-enabled application programming interfaces (APIs). However, in the fields of engineering and computational science, cloud computing resources have been utilized primarily to augment existing high-performance computing hardware, but engineering model integrations still occur by the use of software libraries. In this research, a novel approach is proposed where engineering models are constructed as independent services that publish web-enabled APIs. To enable this, the engineering models are built as stateless microservices that solve a single computational problem. Composite services are then built utilizing these independent component models, much like in the consumer application space. Interactions between component models is orchestrated by a federation management system. This proposed approach is then demonstrated by disaggregating an existing monolithic model for a cookstove into a set of component models. The component models are then reintegrated and compared with the original model for computational accuracy and run-time. Additionally, a novel engineering workflow is proposed that reuses computational data by constructing reduced-order models (ROMs). This framework is evaluated empirically for a number of producers and consumers of engineering models based on computation and data synchronization aspects. The framework is also evaluated by simulating an engineering design workflow with multiple producers and consumers at various stages during the design process. Finally, concepts from the federated system of models and ROMs are combined to propose the concept of a hybrid model (information artefact). The hybrid model is a web-enabled microservice that encapsulates information from multiple engineering models at varying fidelities, and responds to queries based on the best available information. Rules for the construction of hybrid models have been proposed and evaluated in the context of engineering workflows

Model-driven design, simulation and implementation of service compositions in COSMO

The success of software development projects to a large extent depends on the quality of the models that are produced in the development process, which in turn depends on the conceptual and practical support that is available for modelling, design and analysis. This paper focuses on model-driven support for service-oriented software development. In particular, it addresses how services and compositions of services can be designed, simulated and implemented. The support presented is part of a larger framework, called COSMO (COnceptual Service MOdelling). Whereas in previous work we reported on the conceptual support provided by COSMO, in this paper we proceed with a discussion of the practical support that has been developed. We show how reference models (model types) and guidelines (design steps) can be iteratively applied to design service compositions at a platform independent level and discuss what tool support is available for the design and analysis during this phase. Next, we present some techniques to transform a platform independent service composition model to an implementation in terms of BPEL and WSDL. We use the mediation scenario of the SWS challenge (concerning the establishment of a purchase order between two companies) to illustrate our application of the COSMO framework

Mapping Big Data into Knowledge Space with Cognitive Cyber-Infrastructure

Big data research has attracted great attention in science, technology, industry and society. It is developing with the evolving scientific paradigm, the fourth industrial revolution, and the transformational innovation of technologies. However, its nature and fundamental challenge have not been recognized, and its own methodology has not been formed. This paper explores and answers the following questions: What is big data? What are the basic methods for representing, managing and analyzing big data? What is the relationship between big data and knowledge? Can we find a mapping from big data into knowledge space? What kind of infrastructure is required to support not only big data management and analysis but also knowledge discovery, sharing and management? What is the relationship between big data and science paradigm? What is the nature and fundamental challenge of big data computing? A multi-dimensional perspective is presented toward a methodology of big data computing.Comment: 59 page

A framework of web-based conceptual design

A web-based conceptual design prototype system is presented. The system consists of four parts which interpret on-line sketches as 2D and 3D geometry, extract 3D hierarchical configurations, allow editing of component behaviours, and produce VRML-based behavioural simulations for design verification and web-based application. In the first part, on-line freehand sketched input is interpreted as 2D and 3D geometry, which geometrically represents conceptual design. The system then infers 3D configuration by analysing 3D modelling history. The configuration is described by a parent–child hierarchical relationship and relative positions between two geometric components. The positioning information is computed with respect to the VRML97 specification. In order to verify the conceptual design of a product, the behaviours can be specified interactively on different components. Finally, the system creates VRML97 formatted files for behavioural simulation and collaborative design application over the Internet. The paper gives examples of web-based applications. This work forms a part of a research project into the design and establishing of modular machines for automation manufacture. A consortium of leading automotive companies is collaborating on the research project

Will This Video Go Viral? Explaining and Predicting the Popularity of Youtube Videos

What makes content go viral? Which videos become popular and why others don't? Such questions have elicited significant attention from both researchers and industry, particularly in the context of online media. A range of models have been recently proposed to explain and predict popularity; however, there is a short supply of practical tools, accessible for regular users, that leverage these theoretical results. HIPie -- an interactive visualization system -- is created to fill this gap, by enabling users to reason about the virality and the popularity of online videos. It retrieves the metadata and the past popularity series of Youtube videos, it employs Hawkes Intensity Process, a state-of-the-art online popularity model for explaining and predicting video popularity, and it presents videos comparatively in a series of interactive plots. This system will help both content consumers and content producers in a range of data-driven inquiries, such as to comparatively analyze videos and channels, to explain and predict future popularity, to identify viral videos, and to estimate response to online promotion.Comment: 4 page

Using authentic 3D product visualisation for an electrical online retailer

This study investigates the effects of authentic three dimensional (3D) product visualisation versus 3D telepresence on consumers’ virtual experience. A hypothetical electrical retailer Web site presents a variety of laptops using 3D product visualisations for the within-subjects laboratory experiments. The first experiment uses two-way repeated measures ANOVA to determine the effects of the antecedents on 3D authenticity. In a second experiment, a one-way ANOVA compares telepresence and authenticity scores. This research uses a U.K. sample to investigate the effects of control and animated colours on 3D authenticity and the effects of 3D authenticity on experiential and instrumental values. The results reveal significant differences between telepresence and authenticity constructs. Authenticity is more significant in simulating an online retailer’s products, and control and animated colours represent the main antecedents of authenticity. Moreover, experiential and instrumental values represent the main consequences of 3D authenticity