Document Automation Architectures: Updated Survey in Light of Large Language Models

This paper surveys the current state of the art in document automation (DA). The objective of DA is to reduce the manual effort during the generation of documents by automatically creating and integrating input from different sources and assembling documents conforming to defined templates. There have been reviews of commercial solutions of DA, particularly in the legal domain, but to date there has been no comprehensive review of the academic research on DA architectures and technologies. The current survey of DA reviews the academic literature and provides a clearer definition and characterization of DA and its features, identifies state-of-the-art DA architectures and technologies in academic research, and provides ideas that can lead to new research opportunities within the DA field in light of recent advances in generative AI and large language models.Comment: The current paper is the updated version of an earlier survey on document automation [Ahmadi Achachlouei et al. 2021]. Updates in the current paper are as follows: We shortened almost all sections to reduce the size of the main paper (without references) from 28 pages to 10 pages, added a review of selected papers on large language models, removed certain sections and most of diagrams. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2109.1160

Exploring the Effects of ICT on Environmental Sustainability: From Life Cycle Assessment to Complex Systems Modeling

The production and consumption of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services continue to grow worldwide. This trend is accompanied by a corresponding increase in electricity use by ICT, as well as direct environmental impacts of the technology. Yet a more complicated picture of ICT’s effects is emerging. Positive indirect effects on environmental sustainability can be seen in substitution and optimization (enabling effects), and negative indirect effects can be seen in additional demand due to efficiency improvements (rebound effects). A variety of methods can be employed to model and assess these direct and indirect effects of ICT on environmental sustainability. This doctoral thesis explores methods of modeling and assessing environmental effects of ICT, including electronic media. In a series of five studies, three methods were at times applied in case studies and at others analyzed theoretically. These methods include life cycle assessment (LCA) and complex systems modeling approaches, including System Dynamics (SD) and agent-based (AB) modeling. The first two studies employ the LCA approach in a case study of an ICT application, namely, the tablet edition of a Swedish design magazine. The use of tablets has skyrocketed in recent years, and this phenomenon has been little studied to date. Potential environmental impacts of the magazine’s tablet edition were assessed and compared with those of the print edition. The tablet edition’s emerging version (which is marked by a low number of readers and low reading time per copy) resulted in higher potential environmental impacts per reader than did the print edition. However, the mature tablet edition (with a higher number of readers and greater reading time per copy) yielded lower impacts per reader in half the ten impact categories assessed. While previous studies of electronic media have reported that the main life-cycle contributor to environmental impacts is the use phase (which includes operational electricity use as well as the manufacture of the electronic device), the present study did not support those findings in all scenarios studied in this thesis. Rather, this study found that the number of readers played an important role in determining which life-cycle phase had the greatest impacts. For the emerging version, with few readers, content production was the leading driver of environmental impacts. For the mature version, with a higher number of readers, electronic storage and distribution were the major contributors to environmental impacts. Only when there were many readers but low overall use of the tablet device was the use phase the main contributor to environmental impacts of the tablet edition of the magazine. The third study goes beyond direct effects at product- and service-level LCAs, revisiting an SD simulation study originally conducted in 2002 to model indirect environmental effects of ICT in 15 European countries for the period 2000-2020. In the current study, three scenarios of the 2002 study were validated in light of new empirical data from the period 2000–2012. A new scenario was developed to revisit the quantitative and qualitative results of the original study. The results showed, inter alia, that ICT has a stimulating influence on total passenger transport, for it makes it more cost- and time-efficient (rebound effects). The modeling mechanism used to represent this rebound effect is further investigated in the fourth study, which discusses the feedback loops used to model two types of rebound effects in passenger transport (direct economic rebound and time rebound). Finally, the role of systems thinking and modeling in conceptualizing and communicating the dynamics of rebound effects is examined. The aim of the fifth study was to explore the power of systems modeling and simulation to represent nonlinearities of the complex and dynamic systems examined elsewhere in this thesis. That study reviews previous studies that have compared the SD and AB approaches and models, summarizing their purpose, methodology, and results, based on certain criteria for choosing between SD and AB approaches. The transformation procedure used to develop an AB model for purposes of comparison with an SD model is also explored. In conclusion, first-order or direct environmental effects of ICT production, use, and disposal can be assessed employing an LCA method. This method can also be used to assess second-order or enabling effects by comparing ICT applications with conventional alternatives. However, the assessment of enabling effects can benefit from systems modeling methods, which are able to formally describe the drivers of change, as well as the dynamics of complex social, technical, and environmental systems associated with ICT applications. Such systems methods can also be used to model third-order or rebound effects of efficiency improvements by ICT.Den ökande produktionen och konsumtionen av produkter och tjänster inom informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) leder till en ökning av den globala elanvändningen samt direkta miljökonsekvenser kopplade till IKT. Men IKT har även indirekta miljömässiga effekter. Dessa kan vara positiva till exempel genom substitutions- och optimeringseffekter eller negativa genom att till exempel ge upphov till ytterligare efterfrågan på grund av effektivisering (så kallade reboundeffekter). Olika metoder kan användas för att modellera och bedöma både direkta och indirekta effekter av IKT. Syftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka metoder för modellering samt att studera miljöeffekter av IKT och elektronisk media med hjälp av livscykelanalys (LCA) och även modellering av komplexa och dynamiska system, samt simuleringsteknik, så som System Dynamics (SD) och agentbaserad (AB) modellering. Avhandlingen omfattar fem artiklar (artikel I-V). Artikel I &amp; II beskriver resultaten från en fallstudie där miljöeffekter kopplade till en svensk tidskrift studeras med LCA. Tidskriftens version för surfplatta samt motsvarande tryckta version studeras och jämförs. Artikel III går ett steg vidare från produktnivåns LCA. Artikeln återkopplar till en SD simuleringsstudie som ursprungligen genomfördes under 2002. Simuleringsstudien gällde framtida miljöeffekter av IKT i 15 europeiska länder med tidspespektivet 2000-2020. I artikeln valideras tre scenarier från simuleringsstudien med hjälp av nya empiriska data från 2000-2012 och ett nytt scenario modelleras. Kvantitativa och kvalitativa resultat från den ursprungliga studien diskuteras. Till exempel visar artikel III att IKT har en stimulerande effekt på den totala persontrafiken genom att göra den mer kostnads- och tidseffektiv (reboundeffekt). Modelleringsmekanismen som används för att representera denna reboundeffekt diskuteras vidare i artikel IV. Artikeln belyser och diskuterar den återkopplingsslinga (feedback-loop) som används för att modellera två typer av reboundeffekter kopplade till persontrafik (direkt ekonomisk rebound och tidsrelaterad rebound) samt jämför med en tidigare studie. Artikel IV behandlar också den roll systemtänkande och modellering kan spela i konceptualisering och kommunikation av reboundeffekters dynamik. För att ytterligare undersöka systemmodelleringens och simuleringens möjligheter att representera icke-linjära komplexa och dynamiska system (exempel på sådana diskuteras i artikel III och IV), sammanställer artikel V tidigare studier som jämför SD och AB-metoder och -modeller.  Studiernas mål och metod summeras och resultaten med avseende på vilka kriterier som presenteras för att välja mellan SD och AB sammanställs. Även processen för att omvandla en befintlig SD-modell till en AB-modell beskrivs. Avhandlingens slutsats är att LCA och systemmodelleringsmetoder kan vara användbara för att studera IKTs direkta effekter så väl som indirekta effekter på miljön.QC 20150813</p

Environmental Impacts of Electronic Media : A Comparison of a Magazine’s Tablet and Print Editions

The aim of this thesis is to assess potential environmental impacts of electronic media distribution and consumption—from a life cycle perspective—as compared to those of print media. The thesis consists of a cover essay and two papers appended at the end of the thesis. The cover essay summarizes the papers and puts them in context. The main objectives of the thesis are twofold: to assess potential environmental impacts of production and consumption of tablet editions of magazines from a life cycle perspective (Paper I), and to compare potential environmental impacts of a magazine’s print edition with that of its tablet edition (Paper II). The thesis examines the following specific research questions: (1) What are the main environmental impacts of print and tablet editions? (2) Which activities are giving rise to the main environmental impacts of the print and tablet editions? (3) What are the key factors influencing these impacts? (4) What are major data gaps and uncertainties? Based on the present assessment, it is clear that for the print magazine, pulp and paper production is the principal cause of most of the potential environmental impacts. For this reason, the use of recycled paper, rather than virgin fiber, in newsprint production may considerably offset environmental impacts. For the tablet edition, the content production dominates the potential environmental impacts when readers are few. This appears to be the case in an emerging state of the magazine, but with distribution of more media products to smaller groups of people, this may persist for “mature” products as well. As the number of tablet readers grows, more of the environmental impact of the is due to manufacturing of the device and electronic distribution. However, content production may still be a major factor, depending on the specific environmental impacts studied.QC 20130306</p

Environmental Impacts of Electronic Media : A Comparison of a Magazine’s Tablet and Print Editions

The aim of this thesis is to assess potential environmental impacts of electronic media distribution and consumption—from a life cycle perspective—as compared to those of print media. The thesis consists of a cover essay and two papers appended at the end of the thesis. The cover essay summarizes the papers and puts them in context. The main objectives of the thesis are twofold: to assess potential environmental impacts of production and consumption of tablet editions of magazines from a life cycle perspective (Paper I), and to compare potential environmental impacts of a magazine’s print edition with that of its tablet edition (Paper II). The thesis examines the following specific research questions: (1) What are the main environmental impacts of print and tablet editions? (2) Which activities are giving rise to the main environmental impacts of the print and tablet editions? (3) What are the key factors influencing these impacts? (4) What are major data gaps and uncertainties? Based on the present assessment, it is clear that for the print magazine, pulp and paper production is the principal cause of most of the potential environmental impacts. For this reason, the use of recycled paper, rather than virgin fiber, in newsprint production may considerably offset environmental impacts. For the tablet edition, the content production dominates the potential environmental impacts when readers are few. This appears to be the case in an emerging state of the magazine, but with distribution of more media products to smaller groups of people, this may persist for “mature” products as well. As the number of tablet readers grows, more of the environmental impact of the is due to manufacturing of the device and electronic distribution. However, content production may still be a major factor, depending on the specific environmental impacts studied.QC 20130306</p

The Concept of Enterprise Architecture in Academic Research

Background and Purpose – In the last two decades, enterprise architecture (EA) has become a common approach for the management of information systems in organizations. However, the academic development of the field has not paralleled this turn of events. There is considerable divergence among researchers as to the very definition of EA. The present project seeks to clarify the concepts of EA, drawing relevant examples from the academic literature and addressing different perspectives in EA research community. The study aims to reveal the ontological arguments about the nature of EA and the related notions and to take one step towards developing theoretical foundations of the field. Design/methodology/approach –The present project first critically reviews the competing, predominant academic definitions of EA and identifies major research circles in the field. Based on an analysis of recent doctoral dissertations and of key academic publications, it then reviews the perspectives of the various research circles regarding different notions related to the concept of EA. Template analysis (thematic coding) of the data (eleven doctoral dissertations, as well as articles and books cited as the principle references in the dissertations) is performed to critically review and analyze the concept of enterprise architecture. Findings – A critical review of the previous work examining EA research communities in isolation shows that even articles claiming to provide a big picture of the EA research community are ultimately focused on one narrow research circle. In the current project, a novel categorization of the current EA research circles is presented, and their views on the concept of EA and the related notions are discussed

Modelling Rebound Effects in System Dynamics

The induction of demand by increasing the efficiency of a production or consumption process is known as the rebound effect. Feedback loops in System Dynamics can be used to conceptualize the structure of this complex phenomenon and also for communicating model-based insights. In passenger transport, the rebound effect can be induced through increased cost efficiency (direct economic rebound) and/or increase in speed (time rebound). In this paper we review and compare two models on environmental effects of passenger transport—including a model on the role of information and communication technology. We highlight the feedback mechanisms used to deal with the rebound effect (price, efficiency, and time rebound)

Oracle Database, Forms and Reports delivery automatisation

Mūsdienu straujajā un mainīgajā pasaulē informācijas tehnoloģiju (IT) kompāniju klienti vēlas, lai viņu biznesa vajadzības tiktu pēc iespējas ātrāk un ar labu kvalitāti apmierinātas. Ja uzņēmums to nespēj nodrošināt, klients meklēs kādu citu uzņēmumu, kas to spēj un, tādejādi IT kompānija zaudēs potenciālos ienākumus. Viens no veidiem, kā nodrošināt ātruma un kvalitātes pieaugumu, ir, ieviešot IT projektos piegāžu automatizāciju. Darba galvenais mērķis ir izstrādāt risinājumu piegāžu automatizācijai jau esošā projektā. Lai to paveiktu, ir nepieciešams ievākt un izpētīt informāciju par piegāžu automatizāciju un ar to saistītiem procesiem, kā arī izpētīt pieejamos gatavos rīkus. Darba rezultātā ir iegūta informācija par piegāžu automatizāciju, kā arī izstrādāta pirmā versija projekta automatizācijā, izmantojot nepārtrauktās integrācijas serveri un citus rīkus.In today’s fast-paced and changing world customers of information technology (IT) companies want their business needs to be satisfied as soon as possible and with good quality. If the company fails to provide, the client will look for another company that will be able to do it and thus the IT company will lose its’ potential income. One of the ways of ensuring speed and quality improvements is to introduce delivery automation in companies IT projects. The main objective is to develop a solution for delivery automatisation in an existing project. To do this it is necessary to collect and examine information related to delivery automatisation and also related processes, as well as to look into available tools on the market. Thesis result consist of gathered information about delivery automatisation, as well as the developed first version of automatisation in an existing project using continuous integration server and other tools

Carbon and ecological footprints of a magazine : Print vs. tablet editions

Information and communication technology (ICT), in competition with traditional applications, is providingnew ways to access media content. Similar to print media, ICT-based media has environmental benefits andburdens alike. The overall goal of the present study is to assess the potential environmental impacts”’from a lifecycle perspective”’of a print magazine with its electronic version read on tablets. Important goals are to identifywhich activities give rise to the main impacts, in both print and tablet editions, and to identify the key factorsinfluencing the overall environmental impacts, in both editions. Moreover, data gaps and uncertainties areaddressed.The methodology used in the study is life cycle assessment (LCA). The environmental impacts assessedinclude climate change, cumulative energy/exergy demand, metal depletion, photochemical oxidant formation,particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, freshwater/marine eutrophication and fossil depletion.The results indicate that it is hard to compare print and tablet editions of a magazine due to difficulties indefining the function, and that different functional units indicate different preferences in terms of environmentalimpacts. Also, differences between emerging (low number of readers and low reading time per copy) andmature (high number of readers and higher reading time per copy) tablet versions leads to various results in thecomparison between print and tablet versions.The studied tablet version in its emerging stage gives rise to higher potential environmental impacts per readerthan the print version; however with an assumed mature tablet version the impacts are generally lower perreader. This illustrates clearly the importance of the number of readers to spread the environmental impactsover.QC 20130116</p

Using Systems Thinking and System Dynamics Modeling to Understand Rebound Effects

Processes leading to an increase of demand for a resource as a consequence of increasing the efficiency of using this resource in production or consumption are known as (direct) rebound effects. Rebound effects at micro and macro levels tend to offset the reduction in resource consumption enabled by progress in efficiency. Systems thinking and modeling instruments such as causal loop diagrams and System Dynamics can be used to conceptualize the structure of this complex phenomenon and also to communicate model-based insights. In passenger transport, the rebound effect can be invoked by increased cost efficiency (direct economic rebound) and/or increase in speed (time rebound). In this paper we review and compare two existing models on passenger transport—including a model on the role of information and communication technology—with regard to the feedback loops used to conceptualize rebound effects.QC 20150518Methods for sustainability assessments of IC

Simulating the future impact of ICT on environmental sustainability : validating and recalibrating a system dynamics model - Background Data

This report serves as supplementary material to the book chapter “Modeling the Effects of ICT on Environmental Sustainability: Revisiting a System Dynamics Model Developed for the European Commission” (Achachlouei and Hilty 2015) published in the book “ICT Innovations for Sustainability” (Hilty and Aebischer 2015). The current report was referred to in the book chapter whenever the data to be presented exceeded the space provided for the book chapter.QC 20150122</p