Towards a benchmark of the ODE API methods for accessing ontologies in the WebODE platform

Ontology editors and ontology engineering platforms allow creating and maintaining ontologies and using them in a wide range of applications, but there are neither specific benchmark for evaluating ontology platforms nor for evaluating their ontology access services. In this paper we present how we have designed and structured a benchmark for the ontology access services of the WebODE platform. We also present some results and analysis of the benchmark suite execution

Design and Architecture of an Ontology-driven Dialogue System for HPV Vaccine Counseling

Speech and conversational technologies are increasingly being used by consumers, with the inevitability that one day they will be integrated in health care. Where this technology could be of service is in patient-provider communication, specifically for communicating the risks and benefits of vaccines. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, in particular, is a vaccine that inoculates individuals from certain HPV viruses responsible for adulthood cancers - cervical, head and neck cancers, etc. My research focuses on the architecture and development of speech-enabled conversational agent that relies on series of consumer-centric health ontologies and the technology that utilizes these ontologies. Ontologies are computable artifacts that encode and structure domain knowledge that can be utilized by machines to provide high level capabilities, such as reasoning and sharing information. I will focus the agent’s impact on the HPV vaccine domain to observe if users would respond favorably towards conversational agents and the possible impact of the agent on their beliefs of the HPV vaccine. The approach of this study involves a multi-tier structure. The first tier is the domain knowledge base, the second is the application interaction design tier, and the third is the feasibility assessment of the participants. The research in this study proposes the following questions: Can ontologies support the system architecture for a spoken conversational agent for HPV vaccine counseling? How would prospective users’ perception towards an agent and towards the HPV vaccine be impacted after using conversational agent for HPV vaccine education? The outcome of this study is a comprehensive assessment of a system architecture of a conversational agent for patient-centric HPV vaccine counseling. Each layer of the agent architecture is regulated through domain and application ontologies, and supported by the various ontology-driven software components that I developed to compose the agent architecture. Also discussed in this work, I present preliminary evidence of high usability of the agent and improvement of the users’ health beliefs toward the HPV vaccine. All in all, I introduce a comprehensive and feasible model for the design and development of an open-sourced, ontology-driven conversational agent for any health consumer domain, and corroborate the viability of a conversational agent as a health intervention tool

A Semantic Wiki-based Platform for IT Service Management

The book researches the use of a semantic wiki in the area of IT Service Management within the IT department of an SME. An emphasis of the book lies in the design and prototypical implementation of tools for the integration of ITSM-relevant information into the semantic wiki, as well as tools for interactions between the wiki and external programs. The result of the book is a platform for agile, semantic wiki-based ITSM for IT administration teams of SMEs

Knowledge-based system for collaborative process specification

Le marché industriel est aujourd’hui de plus en plus dynamique et compétitif. Cette tendance évolutive de l’écosystème amène les entreprises à prendre part à un nombre croissant de réseaux industriels, dans l’optique de maintenir leur activité et d’accroître leur compétitivité. La qualité d’interaction et de collaboration de partenaires de ces réseaux dépend grandement de la capacité de leurs systèmes d’information (SIs) respectifs à gérer et à partager les informations. Le projet MISE (Mediation Information System Engineering) relève pleinement de cette problématique en proposant une approche de conception d’une solution (conceptuelle et technologique) pour le support de l’interopérabilité d’entreprises au travers de leurs SIs. Ce projet s’appuie sur la notion de MDE (Model-Driven Engineering) et s’articule autour de trois niveaux : métier, logique et technologique. Les travaux de thèse dont il est ici question relèvent du niveau métier en présentant une démarche d’obtention d’un modèle indépendant de toute implémentation (CIM pour Computer Independent Model). Il s’agit en particulier de s’appuyer sur un système basé sur la gestion de connaissance pour concevoir des processus collaboratifs en BPMN (Business Process Modelling Notation). En se positionnant à un niveau d’abstraction au dessus de celui du CIM, on peut capitaliser, manipuler et raisonner une connaissance permettant d’une part de caractériser des collaborations et d’autre part de mettre en place des mécanismes de déduction pour descendre au niveau de CIM. Ces principes sont en outre illustrés par le biais d’un prototype développé pour valider l’approche. ABSTRACT : Enterprises are now operating in an environment where market is more open, globalized, and competitive. Changes in market conditions are obliging enterprises to become involved in various kinds of industrial networks in order to maintain their business efficiency. The integration of business partners depends deeply on the ability to capture and share information seamlessly amongst the information systems (ISs) of different enterprises. The MISE (Mediation Information System Engineering) project was evolved in order to tackle this problem by providing an information technology solution for supporting the enterprise interoperability through ISs. It is developed on the basis of the MDE (Model Driven Engineering). This dissertation addresses the business level of the interoperability, and the CIM (Computer Independent Model) of the MDE. Its main objective is to develop a knowledge-based system for supporting the design of collaborative processes that conform to the BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation). We propose to work at the upper level of the CIM to capture knowledge that allows us to characterize collaboration by basing on the perspectives and experiences of business partners. We use this knowledge together with the existing knowledge (instances about business processes) from the MIT Process Handbook for moving down to the CIM level. The prototype of our knowledge-based system is also developed in order to validate and evaluate the approach

Technology transfer practices and strategies: Issues for Nigerian construction organisations and for research

Technology transfer is increasingly being seen as an important issue for economic development and growth. Arguably, this is why developed and especially developing countries are very keen on technology transfer. However, there are those that contend that organisations in the Nigerian construction industry are not as engaged in technology transfer as many would like, and that potential benefits of doing so are not realized. In the same vein, the challenges that confront construction organisations in Nigeria in terms of technology transfer have received very little empirical studies. This paper, therefore, presents a thorough review of literature on strategic issues and choices that Nigerian construction organisations face in grappling with technology transfer, together with associated challenges. Consideration is also given to what technology transfer actually means to such organisations, and how this is viewed in line with other terms such as innovation. The paper argues and concludes that the challenges that confront construction organisations in Nigeria are multifaceted and likely to impact on their strategic choices. In the same vein, it is also argued that these have implications for researchers attempting to investigate technology transfer practices and strategies in construction organisations in Nigeria in terms of their choice of research strategy and design