An extensible manufacturing resource model for process integration

Driven by industrial needs and enabled by process technology and information technology, enterprise integration is rapidly shifting from information integration to process integration to improve overall performance of enterprises. Traditional resource models are established based on the needs of individual applications. They cannot effectively serve process integration which needs resources to be represented in a unified, comprehensive and flexible way to meet the needs of various applications for different business processes. This paper looks into this issue and presents a configurable and extensible resource model which can be rapidly reconfigured and extended to serve for different applications. To achieve generality, the presented resource model is established from macro level and micro level. A semantic representation method is developed to improve the flexibility and extensibility of the model

A Flexible and Modular Framework for Implementing Infrastructures for Global Computing

We present a Java software framework for building infrastructures to support the development of applications for systems where mobility and network awareness are key issues. The framework is particularly useful to develop run-time support for languages oriented towards global computing. It enables platform designers to customize communication protocols and network architectures and guarantees transparency of name management and code mobility in distributed environments. The key features are illustrated by means of a couple of simple case studies

Tools and Processes for enhanced Product Customization

O fornecimento de um sistema personalizável permite que clientes e parceiros expandam as funcionalidades do produto para abranger as suas necessidades e os seus objetivos específicos. Mas as alterações ou adições de funcionalidades ao sistema-base requerem um profundo conhecimento da sua estrutura e do seu funcionamento, assim como competências técnicas que garantam alterações totalmente funcionais. Com o intuito de minimizar as dificuldades inerentes ao processo de desenvolvimento e teste destas customizações, os fornecedores de software disponibilizam ferramentas e documentação de suporte.O principal foco do presente trabalho consiste na análise de projetos de customização, suas ferramentas e documentação de suporte ao desenvolvimento, para a resolução ou minimização das dificuldades e problemas do processo de customização. Através da definição de uma estratégia de suporte à customização que propõe a extracção de conhecimento como forma de documentação orientada pelos conceitos dos Collective Knowledge Systems. E uma ferramenta que aumenta a simplicidade e a fiabilidade do processo apresentando de uma forma intuitiva ao utilizador a análise do código produzida pelo compilador.O presente trabalho contempla ainda a implementação dessa estratégia de suporte ao processo de customização do Manufacturing Execution System (MES) da Critical Manufacturing (CMF), com vista a validar a sua eficácia.O Critical Manufacturing MES é um sistema de informação personalizável que realiza a gestão das operações em ambientes avançados de fabricação garantindo um elevado desempenho e competitividade. A CMF garante a personalização do sistema para corresponder aos requisitos dos clientes e parceiros, mas a complexidade inerente à oferta de um sistema completo e competitivo implica uma estratégia de apoio à customização que garanta um processo simples, rápido e fiável.Os resultados esperados para o presente trabalho, e consequentes da definição de uma estratégia de apoio à customização de software são: (1) uma ferramenta e documentação de apoio que orientem os clientes e parceiros no seu processo de customização e (2), um aumento da confiança e eficiência dos clientes e parceiros no desenvolvimento das suas personalizações através de um processo mais rápido e fiável. A estratégia de apoio à customização definida procura ser a mais abrangente e genérica possível de forma a facilitar a sua adoção por outras entidades.Providing a customizable system allows customers and partners to expand product functionality to meet their specific needs and goals. But the changes or additions of functionalities to the base system require a deep knowledge of its structure and functionality, as well as technical skills that ensure fully functional modifications. In order to minimize the inherent difficulties of the development and testing process of these customizations, software suppliers provide support tools and documentation.The main focus of the present work is the analysis of customization projects, their support tools and documentation, to solve or minimize the customization process difficulties and problems. Through the definition of a customization support strategy that proposes knowledge extraction as a kind of documentation guided by the Collective Knowledge Systems concepts. And a tool that improves the process simplicity and reliability due to displaying intuitively the compilers code analysis to the user. The present work also covers the implementation of this support strategy to the process of customization of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) of Critical Manufacturing (CMF), in order to validate its effectiveness.Critical Manufacturing MES is a customizable information system that performs operations management in advanced manufacturing environments while ensuring high performance and competitiveness. CMF provides system customizations to meet customer and partner requirements, but the inherent complexity in offering a complete and competitive system implies a customization support strategy that ensures a simple, fast and reliable process.The expected results for the present work, and following the definition of a software customization support strategy are: (1) a tool and documentation that support and guide customers and partners in their customization process, and (2) an increase in the confidence and efficiency of customers and partners on the development of their customizations through a more rapid and efficient process. The customization support strategy seeks to be as comprehensive and generic as possible to facilitate its adoption by other entities

An Ontology-based Approach to Web Site Design and Development

Building a data-intensive web site is a complex task. Ad-hoc rapid prototyping approaches easily lead to unsatisfactory results, e. g. poor maintainability and extensibility. The situation becomes even more difficult when customization issues arise and web sites need to present customized views to individual users. To address this problem, a number of model-based approaches have been proposed, which attempt to simplify the design and development of data-intensive web sites. However these approaches suffer a number of limitations, such as relatively little support for the composition of sophisticated user interfaces and the specification of presentation styles and little support for customization design. In this work we propose and implement an ontology-based approach, OntoWeaver, which provides comprehensive support for the design and development of data-intensive web sites. In particular, OntoWeaver provides a set of ontologies to represent all aspects of data-intensive web sites in a declarative and re-usable format. The declarative nature of the specification of web sites opens up a number of possibilities with respect to intelligent analysis and management. Moreover, OntoWeaver includes providing high level support for developing customized web sites. Finally, it offers a powerful tool suite to support the design and development of data-intensive web sites. In the course of this research, we have also extended OntoWeaver by addressing the issue of integrating web service technology into a high level web site design framework

An ontology-based model management architecture for service innovation

Organizations have indicated renewed interest in service innovation, design and management, given the growth of service sector. Decision support systems (DSS) play an important role in supporting this endeavor, through management of organizational resources such as data and models. Given the global nature of service value chains, there have been ever increasing demands on managing, sharing, and reusing these heterogeneous and distributed resources, both within and across organizational boundaries, through DSS consisting of database management systems (DBMS) and model management systems (MMS). Analogous to DBMS, model management systems focus on the management of decision models, dealing with representation, storage, and retrieval of models as well as a variety of applications such as analysis, reuse, sharing, and composition of models. Recent developments in the areas of semantic web and ontologies have provided a rich tool set for computational reasoning about these resources in an intelligent manner. In this chapter, we leverage these advances and apply service-oriented design principles to propose an ontology-based model management architecture supporting service innovation. The architecture is illustrated with case study scenarios and current state of implementation. The role of potential information technologies in supporting the architecture is also discussed. We then provide a roadmap to make advancements in research in this direction

Towards a Global Learning Commons: ccLearn

Though open educational resources (OER) promise to transform the conditions for teaching and learning worldwide, there are many barriers to the full realization of this vision. Among other things, much of what is currently considered "free and open" is legally, technically, and/or culturally incompatible. Herein, the authors give a brief history of open education, outline some key problems, and offer some possible solutionsThis article was originally published in Educational Technology 4(6). Nov-Dec 2007

Open Source Software for Integrated Library System : Relative Appropriatness in the Indian Context

Libraries in all fields of human activity are involved in collection, preservation, management, and effective distribution of information that determines the quality of development in concerned sectors including that of higher education and research. Now information is flooding and along with that the recorded information to be managed; which necessitates automation of libraries to make the information stored in their collections useful and retrievable. Hitherto the cost of commercial packages for automation has prevented millions of libraries from using those tools. The recent emergence of Open Source Software has drastically reduced the cost of automation as well provided tools for new and innovative information services. The present research work focuses on comparative study of library automation packages with stress to appropriateness of Open Source Integrated Library Systems (OSILS) for countries like India. Study is based on a survey among library professionals from India using commercial and OSILS packages. The sample users belong to 601 libraries covering university, college, school, special and research libraries using any one of the integrated library systems. Packages covered is limited to the software /versions used in India. The survey found that features users of library automation packages consider are cost effectiveness, technical infrastructure, staff skills, software functionality and the availability of support, documentation and community. Study revealed that OSILS provides technological freedom and so is changing the landscape of library automation. Survey found Koha to be most popular in India. Suggests solutions to improve the situation. Few recommendations are provided to help libraries to choose suitable OSILS by understanding their advantages. Opines that being an attractive alternative to costly commercial package for any type of libraries OSILS, which is free to experiment and easy to use and customize for local requirements needs to be promoted in Indian libraries