Exploring system behavior in a system ontology

Understanding and modeling system behavior is a key aspect of many disciplines, and is crucial when systems are designed to manifest desirable behaviors. In order to grasp system behavior, it is inevitable to address how it emerges from the properties and behaviors of interrelated system components. In pursuit of an understanding of the emergence phenomenon and to account for the nature of emergent system behavior, this paper takes a first step in extending a system core ontology with behavioral aspects. The ontology extension is grounded on the Unified Foundational Ontology and also in system science definitions and disposition theories.</p

A System Core Ontology for Capability Emergence Modeling

To properly understand organizational adaptation and innovation, it is critical to understand the emergence phenomenon, i.e., how the capabilities of a system emerge after changes. However, for this, we should be able to explain systems, their structure, behavior, and capabilities. In pursuit of an understanding of the emergence phenomenon and the nature of those new kinds of systems in organizations, we propose a well-founded system core ontology based on the Unified Foundational Ontology. The ontology is also grounded in system science definitions and disposition theories. For a more integrated explanation of emergence, the proposed ontology considers distinct perspectives of a system, such as its composition, structure, properties, and functions. In the end, we discuss the applications and implications of the proposed ontology on the enterprise architecture area and emergence modeling

On the essence and ontology of systems

In the first part of this research, publications were reviewed from 1968 to 2019, with the aim of observing how the definition of system has evolved, since it was established by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. From this review it is concluded that this definition has not changed in essence, all the researchers consulted use concepts similar to those of Bertalanffy, when they propose a definition of system. However, according to the specific field of work, the authors add their own characteristics.Bertalanffy's definition and all that have been derived from it postulate that a system is a conglomerate of interacting components. But after a brief reasoning it is concluded that everything in our universe meets that definition. A system is an atom, a cell, a chair, a galaxy, or the universe as a whole. So systems theory would be the theory of everything, which is too broad and imprecise.Vagueness and imprecision have been eliminated when the concept of system has been applied to specific fields of knowledge and human activity and in each of them characteristics have been added that define more specifically the systems that are relevant to certain technical or scientific specialties. However, this has caused that many concepts developed in one field cannot be extended or used in others.In this work, a system definition is established that allows us to clearly and precisely describe what these entities are and distinguish them from other concepts and entities. In this way it has been possible to characterize what a system is, using concepts that are applicable to any of the types of systems that can be found in our known world: natural systems, man-made systems and social systems

P2P, CSC and TE: A Survey on Hardware, Software and Data

Peer-to-Peer (P2P), Transactive Energy (TE) and Community Self-Consumption (CSC) are exciting energy generation and use models, offering several opportunities for prosumers, micro-grids and services to the grid; however, they require numerous components to function efficiently. Various hardware devices are required to transmit data and control the generation and consumption equipment, whereas software is needed to use the gathered information to monitor and manage the hardware and energy trading. Data can be gathered from a variety of origins from within the grid and external sources; however, these data must be well-structured and consistent to be useful. This paper sets out to gather information regarding the hardware, software and data from the several archetypes available, focusing on existing projects and trials in these areas to see what the most-common hardware, software and data components are. The result presents a concise overview of the hardware, software and data-related topics and structures within the P2P, TE and CSC energy generation and use models

Linguistic and Structural Basis of Engineering Design Knowledge

Artefact descriptions are the primary carriers of engineering design knowledge that is both an outcome and a driver of the design process. While an artefact could be described in different connotations, the design process requires a description to embody engineering design knowledge, which is expressed in the text through intricate placement of entities and relationships. As large-language models learn from all kinds of text merely as a sequence of characters/tokens, these are yet to generate text that embodies explicit engineering design facts. Existing ontological design theories are less likely to guide the large-language models whose applications are currently limited to ideation and learning purposes. In this article, we explicate engineering design knowledge as knowledge graphs from a large sample of 33,881 patent documents. We examine the constituents of these knowledge graphs to understand the linguistic and structural basis of engineering design knowledge. In terms of linguistic basis, we observe that entities and relationships could be generalised to 64 and 24 linguistic syntaxes. While relationships mainly capture attributes ('of'), structure ('in', 'with'), purpose ('to', 'for'), hierarchy ('include'), exemplification ('such as'), and behaviour ('to', 'from'), the hierarchical relationships could specifically be identified using 75 unique syntaxes. To understand the structural basis, we draw inspiration from various studies on biological/ecological networks and discover motifs from patent knowledge graphs. We identify four 3-node and four 4-node patterns that could further be converged and simplified into sequence [->...->], aggregation [->...]. Expected to guide large-language model based design tools, we propose few regulatory precepts for concretising abstract entities and relationships within subgraphs, while explicating hierarchical structures

System integration and data models to support smart grids energy trading

As smart grids gained relevance in the renewable energy landscape, the demand for new data management models became evident. Independently, whether emerging models are centralised on the Transmission System Operators (TSO), Distribution System Operators (DSO), or even on a third-party entity/aggregator (under proper regulatory supervision), the complexity of integration and interoperability of heterogeneous systems are worsened by the increase of renewable energy sources - given its potential reach and the diversity of solution providers. This work provides a detailed study of the main systems concerns present on TSO and DSO platforms alike, and main concerns in relation to renewable energy sources, sensor devices (e.g., smart meters and Internet of Things (IoT) devices) and processes. Furthermore, this work also carries out an analysis of the available integration studies - including a study case. Finally, this work proposes a top-level ontology-based standardisation for smart grid integration to support energy trading initiatives

An Axiomatic Categorisation Framework for the Dynamic Alignment of Disparate Functions in Cyber-Physical Systems

YesAdvancing Industry 4.0 concepts by mapping the product of the automotive industry on the spectrum of Cyber Physical Systems, we immediately recognise the convoluted processes involved in the design of new generation vehicles. New technologies developed around the communication core (IoT) enable novel interactions with data. Our framework employs previously untapped data from vehicles in the field for intelligent vehicle health management and knowledge integration into design. Firstly, the concept of an inter-disciplinary artefact is introduced to support the dynamic alignment of disparate functions, so that cyber variables change when physical variables change. Secondly, the axiomatic categorisation (AC) framework simulates functional transformations from artefact to artefact, to monitor and control automotive systems rather than components. Herein, an artefact is defined as a triad of the physical and engineered component, the information processing entity, and communication devices at their interface. Variable changes are modelled using AC, in conjunction with the artefacts, to aggregate functional transformations within the conceptual boundary of a physical system of systems.Jaguar Land Rover funded research “Intelligent Personalised Powertrain Healthcare” 2016-201

System: A core conceptual modeling construct for capturing complexity

[EN] The digitalization of human society continues at a relentless rate. However, to develop modern information technologies, the increasing complexity of the real-world must be modeled, suggest-ing the general need to reconsider how to carry out conceptual modeling. This research proposes that the often-overlooked notion of "system"should be a separate, and core, conceptual modeling construct and argues for incorporating it and related concepts, such as emergence, into existing approaches to conceptual modeling. The work conducts a synthesis of the ontology of systems and general systems theory. These modeling foundations are then used to propose a CESM+ template for conducing systems-grounded conceptual modeling. Several new conceptual modeling notations are introduced. The systemist modeling is then applied to a case study on the development of a citizen science platform. The case demonstrates the potential contributions of the systemist approach and identifies specific implications of explicit modeling with systems for theory and practice. The paper provides recommendations for how to incorporate systems into existing projects and suggests fruitful opportunities for future conceptual modeling research.We wish to thank the editor-in-chief, Carson Woo, and three anonymous reviewers for their exceptionally insightful and developmental comments. The substantial improvements that resulted from their feedback were much deeper than we usually experience in journal review processes. We wish to thank the participants of www.nlnature.com (now inactive) who contributed their sightings from 2010 to 2022. We also thank Jeffrey Parsons and Yolanda Wiersma - the co -investigators of NLNature. We are grateful to the late Mario Bunge and to Ron Weber with whom we discussed ontological ideas that inspired this paper. We also want to thank the participants and reviewers of AIS SIGSAND and ER Conference for their comments and feedback on earlier versions of this paper. This research was supported by McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, United States, and by VRAIN Research Institute of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia and the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain under the CoMoDiD project (CIPROM/2021/023) .Lukyanenko, R.; Storey, VC.; Pastor López, O. (2022). System: A core conceptual modeling construct for capturing complexity. Data & Knowledge Engineering. 141:1-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.datak.2022.10206212914

Le Système d'information ressources humaines - outil incontournable au service des organisations: Une analyse théorique

L’étude projetée à travers le présent article, se propose comme une description, du point de vue théorique, de la genèse du système d’information ressources humaines (SIRH) au sein des organisations. Dans cet article, qui pourrait constituer, une base théorique aux futurs chercheurs désirant mener leurs recherches en la matière, nous avons présenté, à partir d’une revue de littérature diversifiée, d’un côté, un ensemble de définitions des différents concepts clés liés au SIRH tels que le système, l’information, le système d’information (SI), en plus de la présentation d’un petit aperçu historique sur son émergence et son évolution dans le temps au sein des organisations, et, d’un autre côté, ses divers aspects et composantes, que ce soit administratifs, tels que la paie, la gestion administrative du personnel (GAP), la gestion des temps et des activités (GTA), et décisionnels, comme la gestion du recrutement, de la rémunération et de la formation, la gestion prévisionnelle des emplois et des compétences (GPEC), etc., tout en soulignant l’importance du SIRH pour les organisations, à travers ses multiples processus, en termes d’efficacité du processus de prise de décision RH et du contrôle de l’organisation. La présente étude a révélé que le recours à l’utilisation du SIRH, contribue pleinement à la réduction du temps dédié aux tâches répétitives qui auparavant effectuée par le personnel RH tout en leur permettant de s’attaquer aux activités et missions génératrices de plus de valeur pour les organisations, et que l’offre présentée par le SIRH à travers ses multiples fonctionnalités intégrées permet aux différents collaborateurs de suivre leur situation administrative en opérant les mises à jour qui s’imposent, sans pour autant recourir au soutien de la fonction RH ce qui consolide la communication entre les équipes et minimise significativement les coûts de transactions RH.L’étude projetée à travers le présent article, se propose comme une description, du point de vue théorique, de la genèse du système d’information ressources humaines (SIRH) au sein des organisations. Dans cet article, qui pourrait constituer, une base théorique aux futurs chercheurs désirant mener leurs recherches en la matière, nous avons présenté, à partir d’une revue de littérature diversifiée, d’un côté, un ensemble de définitions des différents concepts clés liés au SIRH tels que le système, l’information, le système d’information (SI), en plus de la présentation d’un petit aperçu historique sur son émergence et son évolution dans le temps au sein des organisations, et, d’un autre côté, ses divers aspects et composantes, que ce soit administratifs, tels que la paie, la gestion administrative du personnel (GAP), la gestion des temps et des activités (GTA), et décisionnels, comme la gestion du recrutement, de la rémunération et de la formation, la gestion prévisionnelle des emplois et des compétences (GPEC), etc., tout en soulignant l’importance du SIRH pour les organisations, à travers ses multiples processus, en termes d’efficacité du processus de prise de décision RH et du contrôle de l’organisation. La présente étude a révélé que le recours à l’utilisation du SIRH, contribue pleinement à la réduction du temps dédié aux tâches répétitives qui auparavant effectuée par le personnel RH tout en leur permettant de s’attaquer aux activités et missions génératrices de plus de valeur pour les organisations, et que l’offre présentée par le SIRH à travers ses multiples fonctionnalités intégrées permet aux différents collaborateurs de suivre leur situation administrative en opérant les mises à jour qui s’imposent, sans pour autant recourir au soutien de la fonction RH ce qui consolide la communication entre les équipes et minimise significativement les coûts de transactions RH