OMiLAB: the Role of Model-driven Digital Innovation in Information Systems Development

OMiLAB is a community of practice interested in the value of conceptual models and the role they play in Information Systems development or operation. One key value proposition of the OMiLAB is a Digital Innovation environment having conceptual modeling at its core, as a means for integrating a business-oriented view with a technical view. The business-oriented view is based on a Digital Design Thinking method, whereas the technical view benefits from a diverse set of model-driven IoT devices for cyber-physical experimentation. The semantic and functional integrator between the two views is the BEE-UP modeling tool, together with the Agile Modeling Method Engineering framework - which can be employed to expand the modeling tool\u27s semantic space with domain-specific and technology-specific concepts or functionality. Academic and industry partners are joining the OMiLAB ecosystem as OMiLAB Nodes, sharing knowledge assets and artifacts developed with the help of OMiLAB\u27s Digital Innovation environment. These are disseminated via dedicated research streams and scientific events such as the NEMO summer school (initiated in 2014), the PROSE workshop (initiated in 2017) and a Springer book series on domain-specific conceptual modeling (initiated in 2016). Tool-specific tutorials have been held in recent Business Informatics and Information Systems conferences (e.g. HICSS, BIR, PoEM) to raise awareness on the value of conceptual models for such communities. Recently, the OMiLAB-FSEGA node was established at Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. The thematic focus of the node is Digital Business Models, targeting topics such as semantics of Product-Service Systems, their dynamic pricing, supplying and automated delivery from a design-oriented research perspective. In relation to this thematic specificity, the talk will highlight the value of this node for both research and education

Process Based Knowledge Management: Experiences with Two Projects

This paper is concerned with two projects in the field of process-oriented knowledge management, InfoAtlas and PROMOTE. In the InfoAtlas project the feasibility of our approach for process-oriented knowledge management was shown, in PROMOTE this approach is currently being extended for building a methodology and a product integrated in the framework of business process management. For both projects conceptual and implementational issues are discussed

How to connect design thinking and cyber-physical systems: the s*IoT conceptual modelling approach

The alignment of enterprise models and information systems is a factor that influences the efficiency of enterprise practices. Considering the changing landscape in the age of the fourth industrial revolution, it is imperative that alignment methodologies are evolved with the progression of enterprise models and the transformation from information systems to cyber-physical systems (CPSs). This issue was dissected in three layers - scenario layer, modelling layer, and run-time environment. In this structure, design thinking and CPSs were extended from the scenario layer and the run-time environment to the modelling layer. Focusing on the modelling layer, progress was made towards composing smart models that innovate enterprise models according to novel influences from design thinking while abstracting from run-time environments that CPS provide. The hypothesis was to consider the automated transformation of knowledge as an axle around which artifacts on the modelling layer revolve. Based on this hypothesis, the modelling layer was structured in a modelling hierarchy, in which a metamodel was defined using a metamodelling platform. The metamodel is the direct model of modelling methods which were used to build smart models that connect design thinking and CPSs

A Proposal for Deploying Hybrid Knowledge Bases: the ADOxx-to-GraphDB Interoperability Case

Graph Database Management Systems brought data model abstractions closer to how humans are used to handle knowledge - i.e., driven by inferences across complex relationship networks rather than by encapsulating tuples under rigid schemata. Another discipline that commonly employs graph-like structures is diagrammatic Conceptual Modeling, where intuitive, graphical means of explicating knowledge are systematically studied and formalized. Considering the common ground of graph databases, the paper proposes an integration of OWL ontologies with diagrammatic representations as enabled by the ADOxx metamodeling platform. The proposal is based on the RDF-semantics variant of OWL and leads to a particular type of hybrid knowledge bases hosted, for proof-of-concept purposes, by the GraphDB system due to its inferencing capabilities. The approach aims for complementarity and integration, providing agile diagrammatic means of creating semantic networks that are amenable to ontology-based reasoning

Enriching Linked Data with Semantics from Domain-Specific Diagrammatic Models

One key driver of the Linked Data paradigm is the ability to lift data graphs from legacy systems by employing various adapters and RDFizers (e.g., D2RQ for relational databases, XLWrap for spreadsheets). Such approaches aim towards removing boundaries of enterprise data silos by opening them to cross-organizational linking within a “Web of Data”. An insufficiently tapped source of machine-readable semantics is the underlying graph nature of diagrammatic conceptual models – a kind of information that is richer compared to what is typically lifted from table schemata, especially when a domain-specific modeling language is employed. The paper advocates an approach to Linked Data enrichment based on a diagrammatic model RDFizer originally developed in the context of the ComVantage FP7 research project. A minimal but illustrative example is provided from which arguments will be generalized, leading to a proposed vision of “conceptual model”-aware information systems

Supporting Customized Design Thinking Using a Metamodel-based Approach

Traditional design methods, based on analytical rationale, often cannot address upcoming challenges e.g., related to the digital business transformation in volatile environments. Analytical rationale assumes a particular result and provides the methods and tools for achieving it. Nowadays, however, the result of a business transformation is often not precisely known nor the ways and means to achieve it. As a result, methods and tools are required that foster creativity while allowing customization to specific requirements or stakeholder needs. This paper proposes customized design thinking processes, realized with a conceptual modelling approach. The approach supports creativity in transformative business design. It shows how numerous design thinking tools can be integrated into a single conceptual modelling approach - supported by a modelling platform. The platform facilitates efficient and flexible design of novel business solutions. The created models moreover serve as a formalized knowledge base that enables knowledge processing and reuse

A Model-Based Approach Towards the Conceptualization of Digital Twins: The Case of the EU-Project COGITO

In agile business ecosystems, digitalization is a key enabler for agility and flexibility. However, digital transformation is often challenging for instance due to unclear definitions and a lack of problem understanding. In this work this complexity is addressed with a model-based approach for conceptualizing digitalization and related meta modelling activities to enable the conceptual integration of diverse concepts. Existing modelling approaches – BPMN and ArchiMate – are leveraged with domain specific considerations that are relevant for the digitalization. The construction use case from the European project COGITO serves as a foundation for ideation and first requirements engineering. Physical experiments in the OMiLAB Innovation Environment are used as an experimental method towards identifying relevant digital twinning concepts, while modelling methods can be seen as an integration platform for physical and digital elements. Key digitalization aspects towards digital twinning are discussed and conceptualized in a meta model

A BPM Lifecycle Plug-in for Modeling Methods Agility

Business Process Management literature has proposed several BPM lifecycles on a level of abstraction that is modeling method -agnostic, i.e. they consider the modeling language and tool support an underlying invariant or technological concern. While remaining on the same abstraction layer, we highlight a method agility requirement observed in commercial BPM consulting projects - concretely, it manifests as change requests for the modeling language or tool, from one lifecycle iteration to the next, leading to situations of model value co-creation as customer demands are assimilated in the modeling method. Based on a conceptualization of such situations, a lifecycle plug-in is proposed in the form of a methodology and associated tool support, allowing for responsive evolution of the adopted modeling method with impact on several lifecycle phases. Historical examples from the evolution of a BPM product are provided to illustrate and classify the demands that motivate the existence of this lifecycle plug-in