Towards a service system ontology for service science

Service Science is a new interdisciplinary approach to the study, design, implementation, and innovation of service systems. However due to the variety in service research, there is no consensus yet about the theoretical foundation of this domain. In this paper we clarify the service systems worldview proposed by Service Science researchers Spohrer and Kwan by investigating its foundational concepts from the perspective of established service theories and frameworks. By mapping the proposed service system concepts on the selected service theories and frameworks, we investigate their theoretical foundations, examine their proposed definitions and possible conflicting interpretations, discover their likely relationships and general structure, and identify a number of issues that need further discussion and elaboration. This analysis is visualised in a multi-view conceptual model (in the form of a UML class diagram) which we regard as a first step towards an explicitly and formally defined service system ontology

Ontology for SEAM Service Models

A service system is a popular concept in academia and industry. At the same time, it is a challenging concept to represent, due to its recursive nature and difficulty to relate it to entities in reality. In this paper we present an ontology for modeling service systems using the SEAM systemic method. Our ontology represents an updated and minimalistic version of the existing SEAM service modeling language that puts an emphasis on the behavior. The research approach we used is the design science for information systems research and it resulted with the ontology artifact. As part of the ontology, we provide a meta-model, well-formedness rules and formalization in the Alloy language. We conclude with presenting the limitations and a brief discussion on the contribution of shifting the focus towards the behavior in service systems

Towards a process model for service systems

Service Science is a new interdisciplinary approach to the study, design, implementation. and innovation of service systems. However due to the variety in service research, there is no consensus yet about the theoretical foundation of this domain. As a basis for a common understanding of service systems and their interactions, Service Science researchers Spohrer and Kwan proposed the service systems worldview. The ISPAR model was presented as a part of this service systems worldview as a tool for identifying ten possible interaction episodes, i.e., the sequences of activities that are undertaken by two interacting service system entities. In this paper we evaluate the use of the ISPAR model as a process model for service systems. We identify the shortcomings of the ISPAR model and propose possible improvements. This analysis leads to the development of a new service process model which is demonstrated through tree different examples

A Semantic Grid Oriented to E-Tourism

With increasing complexity of tourism business models and tasks, there is a clear need of the next generation e-Tourism infrastructure to support flexible automation, integration, computation, storage, and collaboration. Currently several enabling technologies such as semantic Web, Web service, agent and grid computing have been applied in the different e-Tourism applications, however there is no a unified framework to be able to integrate all of them. So this paper presents a promising e-Tourism framework based on emerging semantic grid, in which a number of key design issues are discussed including architecture, ontologies structure, semantic reconciliation, service and resource discovery, role based authorization and intelligent agent. The paper finally provides the implementation of the framework.Comment: 12 PAGES, 7 Figure

The Knowledge Life Cycle for e-learning

In this paper, we examine the semantic aspects of e-learning from both pedagogical and technological points of view. We suggest that if semantics are to fulfil their potential in the learning domain then a paradigm shift in perspective is necessary, from information-based content delivery to knowledge-based collaborative learning services. We propose a semantics driven Knowledge Life Cycle that characterises the key phases in managing semantics and knowledge, show how this can be applied to the learning domain and demonstrate the value of semantics via an example of knowledge reuse in learning assessment management

Reference Ontologies to Support the Development of New Product-Service Lifecycle Systems

In competitive and time sensitive market places, organisations are tasked with providing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) approaches to achieve and maintain competitive advantage, react to change and understand the balance of possible options when making decisions on complex multi-faceted problems, Global Production Networks (GPN) in one such domain in which this applies. When designing and configuring GPN to develop, manufacture and deliver product-service provision, information requirements that affect decision making become more complex. The application of reference ontologies to a domain and its related information requirements can enhance and accelerate the development of new product-service lifecycle systems with a view towards the seamless interchange of information or interoperability between systems and domains. This paper present preliminary results for the capture and modelling of end-user information and an initial higher level reference core ontology for the development of reference ontologies to ameliorate product-service lifecycle management for GPNPalmer, C.; Urwin, E.; Pinazo-Sanchez, J.; Sánchez Cid, F.; Pajkovska-Goceva, S.; Young, R. (2014). Reference Ontologies to Support the Development of New Product-Service Lifecycle Systems. En Advances in Production Management Systems: Innovative and Knowledge-Based. Springer Verlag. 642-649. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-44736-9_78S642649Vandermerwe, S., Rada, J.: Servitization of business: adding value by adding services. European Management Journal 6(4), 314–324 (1988)Coe, N.M., Dicken, P., Hess, M.: Global production networks: realizing the potential. Economic Geography Research Group, Working Paper Series No. 05.07 (2007)Young, R.I.M., Gunendran, A.G., Chungoora, N., Harding, J.A., Case, K.: Enabling interoperable manufacturing knowledge sharing in PLM. In: Proceedings of the Sixth Interna-tional Conference on Product Life Cycle Management PLM 2009, University of Bath, Bath, UK, July 6-8, pp. 130–138. Inderscience Enterprises Ltd., Switzerland (2009)Chungoora, N., Young, R.I.M.: The configuration of design and manufacture know-ledge models from a heavyweight ontological foundation. International Journal of Production Research 49(15), 4701–4725 (2011)Chungoora, N., Cutting-Decelle, A.-F., Young, R.I.M., Gunendran, G., Usman, Z., Harding, J.A., Case, K.: Towards the ontology-based consolidation of production-centric standards. International Journal of Production Research 51(2), 327–345 (2013a)Hastilow, N.: An Ontological Approach to Manufacturing Systems Interoperability in Dynamic Change Environments. PhD Thesis. School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, UK (2013)Highfleet Ontology Library Reference. Highfleet Inc., Baltimore (2014)International Standards Society, ISO/IEC 15288:2008 Systems and Software Engineering – System lifecycle processes. ISO, Genève (2008)Banathy, B.H.: A systems view of education: Concepts and principles for effective practice. Educational Technology (1992)OMG, 2012 OMG unified modeling language (OMG UML), superstructure and infrastructure version 2.4.1 (2012), http://www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.4.1/ (accessed May 9, 2014)Mizoguchi, R., Kozaki, K., Kitamura, Y.: Ontological analyses of roles. In: 2012 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS), pp. 489–496. IEEE (September 2012)FIPS PUBs: Integration definition for function modelling (IDEF0). Federal information processing standards publication, 183 (1993)POP* Revised framework Work package – A1.8, Athena European integrated project no. 507849 public deliverable (2006

Ontology as Product-Service System: Lessons Learned from GO, BFO and DOLCE

This paper defends a view of the Gene Ontology (GO) and of Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) as examples of what the manufacturing industry calls product-service systems. This means that they are products (the ontologies) bundled with a range of ontology services such as updates, training, help desk, and permanent identifiers. The paper argues that GO and BFO are contrasted in this respect with DOLCE, which approximates more closely to a scientific theory or a scientific publication. The paper provides a detailed overview of ontology services and concludes with a discussion of some implications of the product-service system approach for the understanding of the nature of applied ontology. Ontology developer communities are compared in this respect with developers of scientific theories and of standards (such as W3C). For each of these we can ask: what kinds of products do they develop and what kinds of services do they provide for the users of these products

Service-oriented Context-aware Framework

Location- and context-aware services are emerging technologies in mobile and desktop environments, however, most of them are difficult to use and do not seem to be beneficial enough. Our research focuses on designing and creating a service-oriented framework that helps location- and context-aware, client-service type application development and use. Location information is combined with other contexts such as the users' history, preferences and disabilities. The framework also handles the spatial model of the environment (e.g. map of a room or a building) as a context. The framework is built on a semantic backend where the ontologies are represented using the OWL description language. The use of ontologies enables the framework to run inference tasks and to easily adapt to new context types. The framework contains a compatibility layer for positioning devices, which hides the technical differences of positioning technologies and enables the combination of location data of various sources