Challenges and solutions in process automation in tertiary education institutes : an Australian case study

Challenges faced when automating business processes (BPs) in tertiary education sector are manifold. The complexity of the BP, fluid organizational structures, changing policies, limited resources and geographically disperse campuses are a few to list. ‘Courses Approval Process’ is a complex BP that generally requires considerable cooperation between academics and administrators of the institute. In this paper we present challenges faced and solution provided in automating the courses approval process of University of Western Sydney (UWS), under the OCAS (Online Course Approval System) project. OCAS was developed in-house by AeIMS research group under the guidance of the academic senate of UWS

Change impact analysis to manage process evolution in web workflows

Organisations have processes to manage their business activities, often referred to as business processes. In today’s competitive global economy, automation of processes with appropriate technology is advantageous. However, the paradox of processes automation is the continuous evolution and change that occurs in business processes. As the business processes evolve and change, the underpinning automated systems need to reflect those changes. Even after a decade of research in the areas of business process automation (BPA) and business process evolution management (BPEM), organisations still find it challenging to manage evolution of automated processes. Therefore, this thesis finds answers to the question of “How can business process evolutions be accurately and effectively reflected in already implemented web-based workflow systems?” In order to provide a holistic solution to the above research question, this research introduces a framework named paradigm of process automation – PoPA framework and discusses its role in managing process evolution. This framework embodies a business process at four levels as pragmatic, semantic, syntactic, and implementation. Each of these levels deals with a distinctive representation of a business process. For example, the pragmatic level represents the contextual artefact elements such as Acts, policies, organisational structures, rules, and guidelines; that define a process, and the syntactic level denotes the models created for the purposes of automation. When a change takes place in any one of the levels of the PoPA framework, it creates a propagating impact on elements in the above-mentioned four levels. This propagation of impact takes place due to constraints, associations, dependencies (CAD) among elements within and across the levels (intra and inter-level CAD). When analysing intra and inter-level CAD most correlations are found to be hierarchical; therefore, a relational database structure is appropriate to capture these hierarchical associations. However, operational processes at the semantic level have complex associations, which are not hierarchical. Therefore, this research proposes to use Kleene Algebra with Test (KAT) for representing CAD at the semantic level. Propagating impact does not exclusively depend on inter and intra-level CAD, but is also closely associated with the nature of evolution. Depending on the nature of evolution, the propagating impact can be categorised as direct, indirect, secondary, and non-cautionary (DISN) impact. These DISN impacts suggest the severity of the propagating impact. The core contribution of this research is the Process Evolution and Change Impact Analysis (PECIA) Model, which enables the management of process evolution accurately and effectively in automated systems. In this research, a process automation project named Online Courses Approval System (OCAS) is used as an exploratory case study. The practical utility of the PECIA Model is validated using evolution scenarios of OCAS and epistemic utility is analysed based on a study of the literature. Amidst a plethora of literature on BPA and BPEM, this research is significant due to the following theoretical contributions that facilitate in managing automated processes in tandem with organisational process evolution: ���� PECIA Model holistically captures inter and intra-level CAD of process elements facilitating the propagating impact analysis within and across the four levels of the PoPA framework. • A novel use of KAT to capture CAD among process elements cohesively and completely into linear expressions, in order to analyse the impact propagation. • An algorithm that analyses KAT expressions of a process, to locate DISN impacts so that evolutions can be carried out accurately and effectively. The future works that arise from this work are manifold. These may include improving the use of the PECIA Model as a corporate process knowledge repository, and exploring possible other uses of the PECIA Model and KAT based process expressions

Health Information Managers and the future needs of e-health

There are only a handful of tertiary education institutes in Australia that produce Health Information Managers (HIMs), despite the high demand for qualified health information management professionals in the healthcare industry. The high demand in the industry has not been converted into student numbers in tertiary education courses, forcing some institutes to cease offering these courses (McDonald, 2016a). In an era where we are surrounded by technologies and systems that deal with healthcare data, it is puzzling why students are not attracted to health information management or health informatics courses. When I put this question to an open forum at the recent Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) conference, there were very interesting responses. Some indicated that this profession is ‘not sexy’ and it is rather ‘boring’. The views of some senior academics were that universities should concentrate on converting people already with clinical expertise, such as nurses, into HIMs through postgraduate and research programs, rather than attempting to create HIMs at the undergraduate level. Others had pragmatic views about how courses should be offered in offline mode to attract more students. All of these are valid arguments. On this premise, this article explores skills needed by new-age HIMs and how tertiary education sectors could embrace the new wave of change

An algorithm for propagating-impact analysis of process evolutions

Business processes evolve due to different reasons. Evolution of business processes essentially means changing its process elements namely: actions, participants, and process objects; which are associated to each other in various ways. In the event of one process element change, the above-mentioned associations create propagating-impact. Therefore in process evolution management, it is imperative to have a business process modelling tool that can completely and cohesively capture associations among process elements. In our previous research [1] we have developed such a process modelling tool using Kleene Algebra with Tests - KAT [2]. In this paper, we present an algorithm that facilitates locating the propagating-impact, of a process element change, across the entire process. The proposed mechanism initially, maps the KAT expression of a process, into a binary-tree structure. Then using this binary-tree, the created propagating-impact is extracted under four categories as Direct, Indirect, Secondary and Non-cautionary (DISN) impacts [1]

A mechanism for efficient management of changes in BPEL based business processes : an algebraic methodology

Business process execution language (BPEL) is an XML-based Web service composition language that is commonly used for the orchestration of business processes. Orchestration refers to the sequencing of services, usually defined in a separate Web services definition language (WSDL) document, in order to provide additional logic to process data, which essentially creates the application logic. In certain situations, when business goals or policies change, these services (external to the orchestrated process) may change in a way that it affects the orchestrated process. For example, some services may be removed and new ones introduced. In situations like this, BPEL models need to be changed accordingly. In large and complex business processes, due to the verbose nature of BPEL, making alterations to BPEL descriptions is an arduous task, and can often lead to inconsistencies and errors. This paper demonstrates a way to map BPEL processes and related WSDL service descriptions into algebraic expressions, which encapsulate all process elements into a single phrase. The purpose of these algebraic expressions is to easily identify the effect of service changes in the orchestrated process, which in turn enables the required changes to be carried out efficiently in-situ within a given context, without disturbing the consistency of the overall BPEL document. The proposed algebraic methodology is based on Kleene algebra with tests (KAT), which is a new branch of algebra that lends itself for practical modeling purposes

Individual grading in groups : a Capstone Project practice

The ICT industry requires professionals with heterogeneous skills such as technical expertise, business management capabilities, innovative thinking and artistic creativity to work together in order to solve complex problems. To meet this industry demand, Western Sydney University (WSU) in Australia has a final-year capstone program aimed at training students with a range of skills to work together, in a software development project, that would enhance their employability. One of the challenges in this program is awarding a fair grade, that accurately reflects each individual student’s potential. As a solution, WSU has developed a System for Individual Grading in Capstone Projects (SIG-CP). SIG-CP calculates individual marks in a group setting, utilizing: peer, supervisor/mentor, client/sponsor and an academic-panel feedback factors. The approach assesses both the product and process aspect of the capstone work, as well as the quality and quantity of contribution of individual students. Further, the paper presents an analysis on how the average mark varies depending on how and which feedback factors are used in the grading process

Change Impact Analysis to Manage Process Evolutions: Managing Process Evolutions in Web-based Workflow Management Systems

Business processes are the pillars of an organisation that define and distinguish it from another. Advancements in web technologies persuade organisations to automate their processes as web-based Workflow Management Systems (WfMS). The paradox of process automation is the constant changes in processes that force the automated systems to evolve. Despite the claimed flexibility, replicating process changes in WfMS is still a challenging task. One reason for this is the lack of tools that support managing the impact of process changes. Therefore, this work introduces a framework that captures all process and automation related information completely and cohesively. The solution allows analysing the impact of process changes prior to making solid changes in WfMS. The solution is founded on an algebraic process modelling technique based on Kleene Algebra with Tests (KAT) and a tool named Process Evolution and Change Impact Analysis (PECIA) model. Although this solution is founded on deep theoretical concepts, these are presented in a very practical manner using a real-life process automation and management example; making this book an apt reading for both novice and expert researchers

CAD model of process elements : towards effective management of process evolution in web-based workflows

The issue of process automation is their desire to change. When business processes are automated using web-based workflow systems (WWS), process evolutions and changes need to be reflected in these implemented systems. Evolutions in business processes essentially mean altering process elements - actions, participants, object, and rules. In a process, elements are interlinked and woven together to achieve business objectives of an organization. Thus, a change in one element creates propagating impact on the other elements that are linked to it. Therefore, it is critical to understand constraints, associations and dependencies (CAD) among process elements for effective management of process evolution in WWS. Previous studies on CAD among process elements mostly focus on (at most) one or two process elements at a time. This paper brings together these isolated works into a single CAD model of process elements. Cohesive and complete nature of this model, lays the foundation to effective management of process evolution in WWS

Towards criteria based allocation of capstone projects for an enhanced learning experience

The success of industry-based projects (capstone projects) used in computing course depends on a number of factors. These are: i) characteristics of the information system and the client perception, ii) individual student and group characteristics, iii) development methodology used, and iv) the support and supervision provided. Generally academics use a ‘trial-by-error’ approach in striking the right balance between these factors for the success of capstone projects. As oppose to this approach, here we lay the foundation for a criteria-based allocation of projects, with the objective of enhancing student leaning experience. As the first step, this paper analyzes the correlation of two dimensions: a) the complexity level of the IS (one dimension of characteristics of the IS) and b) group mean Grade Point Average-GPA (one dimension of characteristics of the student group); and the success of a project. Data collected from 32 projects is presented and analyzed here in exploring the above-mentioned correlation

Transforming Healthcare Through Innovation in Digital Health: Selected Papers from Global Telehealth 2018

The term Telehealth covers a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from the enabling of direct clinical interventions to patient-centered care needs such as personal monitoring and care team support, as well as education, policy and professional aspects. Contributing to the solving of healthcare sustainability challenges and supporting the development and delivery of a wide range of innovative care and treatment models, Telehealth also acts as a major driver for change in global health issues. The book, presents the accepted full-paper, double-blinded, peer-reviewed contributions, as well as the editor-reviewed invited keynote papers, delivered at the 7th International Conference on Global Telehealth (GT2018), held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 10 and 11 October 2018. Approximately 50% of the total initial submissions were accepted. The conference provided a platform for the sharing of best practice and research directions across the international Telehealth community, and the 14 papers presented here deal with a variety of themes ranging from data collection and analysis to the design of interventions and delivery mechanisms, in situations from public health and primary care through to consumer health informatics, and from implementation and algorithm design to privacy and ethical considerations