Towards an ontology-based platform-independent framework for developing KBE systems in the aerospace industry

Aerospace engineering is considered to be one of the most complex and advanced branches of engineering. The use of knowledge based engineering (KBE) technologies has played a major role in automating routine design activities in view of supporting the cost-effective and timely development of a product. However, technologies employed within KBE systems are usually platform-specific. The nature of these platform-specific models has significantly limited knowledge abstraction and reusability in KBE systems. This research paper presents a novel approach that illustrates the use of platform-independent knowledge models for the development of KBE systems in the aerospace industry. The use of semantic technologies through the definition of generic-purposed ontologies has been employed to support the notion of independent knowledge models that strengthens knowledge reusability in KBE systems. This approach has been validated qualitatively through experts’ opinion and its benefit realised in the abstraction, reusability and maintainability of KBE systems

A cost engine system for estimating whole-life cycle cost of long-term digital preservation activities

This research paper presents a cost engine system that estimates the whole life cycle cost of long-term digital preservation (LTDP) activities using cloud-based technologies. A qualitative research methodology has been employed and the activity based costing (ABC) technique has been used to develop the cost model. The unified modelling language (UML) notation and the object oriented paradigm (OOP) are utilised to design the architecture of the software system. In addition, the service oriented architecture (SOA) style has been used to deploy the function of the cost engine as a web service in order to ensure its accessibility over the web. The cost engine is a module that is part of a larger digital preservation system and has been validated qualitatively through experts’ opinion. Its benefits are realised in the accurate and detailed estimation of cost for companies wishing to employ LTDP activities

Towards a framework for predicting whole life-cycle cost for long-term digital preservation

Estimating the costs for the whole lifecycle of long-term digital preservation (LTDP) activities ena-bles decision makers to choose carefully what data to preserve, duration of preservation and type of preservation techniques best applied for their information. To address this need, a framework is de-veloped to generate a cost model that will estimate costs for long-term digital preservation activities using storage in the cloud and taking into consideration the impact of mitigating uncertainties, espe-cially obsolescence issues on future costs. This cost estimating framework is part of the European pro-ject entitled ‘Enabling kNowledge Sustainability Usability and Recovery for Economic value’ which aims to provide a total long-term digital preservation solution for companies and public sector organi-sations interested in keeping their digital information alive for the long-term within the healthcare, fi-nancial and the clinical trials business sectors

Cost modelling for cloud computing utilisation in long term digital preservation

The rapid increase in volume of digital information can cause concern among organisations regarding manageability, costs and security of their information in the long-term. As cloud computing technology is often used for digital preservation purposes and is still evolving, there is difficulty in determining its long-term costs. This paper presents the development of a generic cost model for public and private clouds utilisation in long term digital preservation (LTDP), considering the impact of uncertainties and obsolescence issues. The cost model consists of rules and assumptions and was built using a combination of activity based and parametric cost estimation techniques. After generation of cost breakdown structures for both clouds, uncertainties and obsolescence were categorised. To quantify impacts of uncertainties on cost, three-point estimate technique was employed and Monte Carlo simulation was applied to generate the probability distribution on each cost driver. A decision support cost estimation tool with dashboard representation of results was developed

Semantic Knowledge Based Approach for Product Maintenance Support

The purpose of this paper is to use semantic technology to represent the knowledge for product maintenance . Companies are begining to understand the importance of utilising an effective approach to manage existing knowledge in order to increase their intellectual capital. However, one of the main constraints that have hindered the solution in resolving technical problems has been the efficient access to knowledge and expertise. Therefore, there is need for enhancing the management and maintenance of knowledge through a semantic based approach. This research project adopts a qualitative research approach and a five-phase research programme methodology. This research project has highlighted that semantic technology enhances the reusability, flexibility and maintainability of knowledge and its management

Towards a Semantic Knowledge Life Cycle Approach for Aerospace Design Engineering

The efficient and effective management of knowledge is becoming increasingly important within the aerospace design engineering sector due to the complexity of product development. Semantic technology is becoming mainstream technology and is being applied by many disciplines for the management of complex knowledge. However, there is a lack of a semantic knowledge life cycle to support the semantic knowledge management discipline. This paper presents a systematic knowledge life cycle (KLC) for supporting the semantic knowledge management discipline with a particular emphasis on the importance of structuring knowledge. The semantic KLC comprises eight stages namely: (1) Understand the domain (2) Structure (3) Enrich vocabulary (4) Capture (5) Represent (6) Interpret the „know how‟ (7) Share (8) KBE system. This research project adopts a qualitative approach and a five-phased research methodology. An illustrative scenario within the aerospace engineering industry for producing gas turbine systems is used to demonstrate the practicality and applicability of the proposed approach. The semantic KLC supports a shared agreement of meaning and understanding between design and manufacturing engin

ENSURE: Long term digital preservation of Health Care, Clinical Trial and Financial data: Paper - iPres 2013 - Lisbon

This paper presents the initial results of the ENSURE (Enabling kNowledge Sustainability, Usability and Recovery for Economic value) project, which focuses on the challenges associated with the long-term preservation of data produced by organisations in the health care, clinical trials and financial sectors. In particular the project has looked at the economic implications of long-term preservation for business, how to maintain the accessibility and confidentiality of sensitive information in a changing environment, and how to detect and respond to such environmental changes. The project has developed a prototype system, which is based around a lifecycle manager and makes use of ontologies to identify and trigger necessary transformations of the data objects in order to ensure their long-term usability. It also uses cloud technology for its flexibility, expansibility, and low start-up costs. This paper presents one of the use cases: the health care as a way to illustrate some of the challenges addressed by the ENSURE system

ENSURE: Long term digital preservation of Health Care, Clinical Trial and Financial data

Godkänd; 2013; 20131121 (froran)EU FP7 project ENSURE: Enabling kNowledge Sustainability Usability and Recovery for Economic valu