Enhancing business intelligence traceability through an integrated metadata framework

The Business Intelligence (BI) system provides users with multi-dimensional information (so-called BI product) to support their decision-making. However, very often business users still could not fully understand the BI product, nor have a clear picture of the entire information manufacturing chain of the BI product. In response to this situation, this paper presents an integrated metadata framework (&ldquo;BIP-Map&rdquo;) to facilitate the traceability and accountability of a BI product following the design science research approach. Specifically, the salient modelling and management techniques from the business process modelling notation (BPMN), the information product map (IP-Map), and the metadata management are adapted to construct a three-layered integrated metadata framework enabling the business users to make timely and informed decisions. A BIP-Map informed prototype system has been developed in collaboration with online job recruitment firms. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with seven key BI stakeholders of the recruitment firms to evaluate the usefulness of the BIP-Map. It is envisaged that the metadata framework allows the technical personnel to understand the business processes that relate to certain information provided in the BI reports. Business users will also be able to gain insights into the logic behind any BI report.<br /

Meeting report : NERC Integrated Environmental Modelling Workshop : held at the British Geological Survey, Keyworth, 4-5th February

This report describes the results of the NERC Integrated Environmental Modelling (IEM) workshop that was held at BGS Keyworth on the 4th to 5th February, 2014. The meeting brought together some 35 scientists from the NERC Science Office and five NERC centres and surveys. The workshop builds on previous meetings which have been convened over a number of years; such as the International summit on Integrated Environmental Modelling, Washington (2010), the AGU fall meeting, San Francisco (2009), and the international congress on Environmental Modelling and Software (2010). From these meetings it was recognised that there were many communities involved in developing IEM and that the two main groups of the US and Europe needed to work together to create an open community for all. Out of these meetings it was clear that there was a need to; provide accessible linkable components, to address uncertainty, to professionalise the development of integrated models, to engage with the user community (particularly decision and policy-makers) and to develop a community of practise to aid the development and uptake of IEM. The aim of this meeting was to: Develop a strategy for Integrated Environmental Modelling (IEM) within NERC Develop an Integrated Environmental Modelling Methodology that can be easily adopted both inside and outside NERC Establish several exemplar projects that are cross-cutting (institutional and discipline) and also deliver the key goals of IEM and the new NERC strategy The outcomes from the Washington meeting in 2010 have been considered and further developed. From this, the proposed NERC IEM strategy has been broken down into 4 key areas which formed the topics for each of the breakout groups and are: - 1. The premise that eventually all models will at some point in their life-cycle need to be linked to other models. What needs to be done to enable this to happen? 2. To encourage the development of modelling platforms. What needs to be done to enable this to happen? 3. To assess and quantify uncertainty arising from integrated modelling. What needs to be done to enable this to happen? 4. To develop specific exemplar projects. How should this be done within NERC and with NERC's partners? The report outlines the strategy and vision for Integrated Environmental Modelling in NERC and then gives a description of the main findings from each of the 4 main topics areas addressed within the NERC IEM worksho

Mediating between AI and highly specialized users

We report part of the design experience gained in X-Media, a system for knowledge management and sharing. Consolidated techniques of interaction design (scenario-based design) had to be revisited to capture the richness and complexity of intelligent interactive systems. We show that the design of intelligent systems requires methodologies (faceted scenarios) that support the investigation of intelligent features and usability factors simultaneously. Interaction designers become mediators between intelligent technology and users, and have to facilitate reciprocal understanding

Supply chain traceability using blockchain

Mestrado em Gestão MBARastreabilidade é a capacidade de rastrear a origem, a história e a distribuição de produtos numa cadeia logística. Para implementar rastreabilidade completa, é crucial estabelecer uma cadeia de custódia, normalmente definida como uma sequência de procedimentos que valida a propriedade e o controle de produtos ao longo da cadeia de logística. No mercado atual globalizado, as cadeias de logística podem abranger um grande número de países e fronteiras e exigir a interoperabilidade de numerosas organizações. Esta vastidão e complexidade impacta a competitividade dos negócios e dificulta a segurança, e a transparência da cadeia de logística. A implementação da rastreabilidade é fundamental para que as organizações possam posteriormente demonstrar a rastreabilidade, proveniência e integridade e conformidade do produto. A tecnologia Blockchain, com os seus atributos de descentralização, transparência e imutabilidade, tem sido apontada como destinada a revolucionar vários setores, com aplicação ao gerenciamento de cadeias de logística. O presente estudo começa pela revisão da literatura publicada para encontrar aspetos que influenciam o problema e segue a Metodologia de Pesquisa de Projeto para analisar os requisitos e propor uma solução para um sistema de gestão de cadeia de logística com melhor rastreabilidade. Os resultados da tese são artefactos de arquitetura, incluindo um contracto inteligente para Ethereum e um sistema de autenticação baseado em certificados, que permitem a implementação de um sistema de cadeia de logística suportado em Ethereum Blockchain que providencia aos seus utilizadores e ao consumidor final, as funcionalidades de proveniência, rastreabilidade e cadeia de custódia.Traceability is the ability to trace the origin, processing history, and the distribution of products in a Supply chain. In order to implement a complete traceability system, it is crucial to establish a chain of custody. Chain of Custody is typically defined as a sequence of procedures that validates the ownership and control of products along the supply chain. In the current global marketplace supply chains can span a huge number of countries and require interoperation of a multitude of organizations. This vastness of supply chains impacts business competitiveness since it adds complexity and can difficult securing traceability, chain of custody and transparency. In this work it is proposed a complete approach for organizations to be able to demonstrate traceability, provenance (proof of origin) and product integrity and compliance. Blockchain technology with its attributes of decentralization, transparency and immutability has been touted to revolutionize several industries, and most recently has been proposed for supply chain management (SCM). The present study reviews the published literature to find the aspects that influence the problem and then follows the Design Science Research Methodology to analyze the requirements and propose a solution to a more complete traceability in SCMs. The results of this thesis were architectural artifacts, including an Ethereum SC (Smart Contract) and a certificate-based authentication system. These deliverables would allow implementation of a supply chain system over the Ethereum Blockchain that can provide decentralized and trustful assurance of the provenance, chain of custody and traceability functionalities for the participants and consumers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio