A requirements engineering framework for integrated systems development for the construction industry

Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) systems are computer environments through which collaborative working can be undertaken. Although many CIC systems have been developed to demonstrate the communication and collaboration within the construction projects, the uptake of CICs by the industry is still inadequate. This is mainly due to the fact that research methodologies of the CIC development projects are incomplete to bridge the technology transfer gap. Therefore, defining comprehensive methodologies for the development of these systems and their effective implementation on real construction projects is vital. Requirements Engineering (RE) can contribute to the effective uptake of these systems because it drives the systems development for the targeted audience. This paper proposes a requirements engineering approach for industry driven CIC systems development. While some CIC systems are investigated to build a broad and deep contextual knowledge in the area, the EU funded research project, DIVERCITY (Distributed Virtual Workspace for Enhancing Communication within the Construction Industry), is analysed as the main case study project because its requirements engineering approach has the potential to determine a framework for the adaptation of requirements engineering in order to contribute towards the uptake of CIC systems

Social Mental Shaping: Modelling the Impact of Sociality on Autonomous Agents' Mental States

This paper presents a framework that captures how the social nature of agents that are situated in a multi-agent environment impacts upon their individual mental states. Roles and relationships provide an abstraction upon which we develop the notion of social mental shaping. This allows us to extend the standard Belief-Desire-Intention model to account for how common social phenomena (e.g. cooperation, collaborative problem-solving and negotiation) can be integrated into a unified theoretical perspective that reflects a fully explicated model of the autonomous agent's mental state

Harnessing agile concepts for the development of intelligent systems

Traditional and current approaches to intelligent systems design, have led to the creation of sophisticated and computationally-intensive packages and environments, for a wide range of applications. This paper proposes methods with which to extend the functionality of such systems, borrowing knowledge management concepts from the field of Agile Manufacturing. As such, this paper proposes that the future of intelligent systems design should be based not only upon the continuing development of artificial intelligence techniques, but also effective methods for harnessing human skills and core competencies to achieve these aims

Towards a pivotal-based approach for business process alignment.

This article focuses on business process engineering, especially on alignment between business analysis and implementation. Through a business process management approach, different transformations interfere with process models in order to make them executable. To keep the consistency of process model from business model to IT model, we propose a pivotal metamodel-centric methodology. It aims at keeping or giving all requisite structural and semantic data needed to perform such transformations without loss of information. Through this we can ensure the alignment between business and IT. This article describes the concept of pivotal metamodel and proposes a methodology using such an approach. In addition, we present an example and the resulting benefits

Introducing argumentative and discursive enterprise leading and management

Leading an enterprise requires, obviously, decision making. However, these decisions require explanations in order to make it possible for stakeholders to get an understanding about the enterprise's strategic direction. This is even more important when these stakeholders are in charge to transpose such strategic decision into their tactical or operational work. Enterprise modelling may be capable of depicting strategies per se, but it is rather a vessel of communication than of explanation. Whilst, a strategy may be accordingly modelled, those who receive such a model needs to purposeful interpret and successfully implement it. However, without any insights, justifications or references that go beyond the claim of a model, it is dificult to embrace the theory of the actual modeller. Therefore, in this paper argumentative modelling will be specifically applied to the domain of strategic management. Moreover it will be elucidated how modelled strategic arguments can be used as a basis for enterprise architecture alignment and management. As it will be shown in the paper, the application of argumentative modelling overcomes classical restrictions and makes it possible to support a discourse, which can be later on used as an explanation for the intentions of the modeller

Codified-Tacit and General-Specific Knowledge in the division of labour among firms. A study of the Software Industry

This paper addresses the organisation and codification of knowledge in the software industry. It analyses various economic incentives to codification, including the need to improve the productivity and quality of software production processes and to access inter-firm collaborations. The paper examines the experience of four Italian software firms specialised in software packages and services. It compares their capabilities, the main sources of tacit knowledge, their specific incentives to invest in knowledge codification, their usage of formal software development methodologies and quality control systems. Finally, the paper analyses two distinct technological collaborations that two of these firms have recently established.

Decolonising the Informal: Discourse, Everyday Life, and the Politics of Urbanisation in Windhoek, Namibia

In contemporary post-colonial Namibia, the concept of informality is widely applied with reference to the ‘informal economy’ and ‘informal settlements’, which are rapidly overtaking formal urbanisation processes inherited from colonial times. All the while, conventional professional spatial practices remain structurally elitist and seem ineffectual in settings of ‘urban informality’, which largely overlap with the lived experience of the black urban poor. Urban theory continues to reinforce a binary conceptualisation in which ‘informality’ remains framed as the non-formal, emphasising what it is not rather than providing a conceptual framework for what it is. This study is threefold: firstly, I investigate understandings of ‘informality’ throughin-depth interviews with professional spatial practitioners in the governmental, NGO and private sectors. Secondly, I reconceptualise ‘informality’ as everyday spatial practice based on participant observation at the “Herero Mall” ‘informal market’ in Windhoek. Thirdly, I give account of my involvement in a co-productive spatial intervention at the Herero Mall with local traders. Through these three approaches, I found that the temporal overlap between Namibia’s decolonisation (from the late 1970s until Independence in 1990) and the mainstreaming of the concept of ‘informality’ in urban theory provided the conditions of emergence for ‘informality’ to become a discursive practice. By discursively constructing the world of the ‘informal’ as the binary opposite of what is considered formal and legitimate, its actors and practices are delegitimised and thus continue to be structurally excluded. At the same time, I argue that the ‘informal’ everyday spatial and economic practices of the subaltern is a form of resistance to formal enclosure, weaving together fragments of colonial urbanisation into a decolonising urbanism. I argue that this form of alter-urbanisation provides a point of departure for an alternative professional spatial practice, the outlines of which I trace through reflecting on a co-productive spatial intervention at the Herero Mall

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation