Contributions to digital transformation and mobile application development

This cumulative dissertation presents and discusses research on digital trans-formation in several business areas. It discusses the chances and challenges businesses face when introducing technologies, e.g., mobile applications. Also, the usage of new technology-accelerated business models is investigated from a technology acceptance perspective. With a specific look at technical solutions, this dissertation examines challenges in mobile application development and their processes and presents implications. This dissertation enriches the body of knowledge of mobile app development and the phenomenon of digital transfor-mation, both on a business and individual level. Based on the limitations of the contained paper, a research agenda is derived that lays the foundation for fur-ther tailored investigations in the field of digital transformation as well as mobile application development. Researchers can use this agenda for their further re-search projects.In dieser kumulativen Dissertation werden Forschungsarbeiten zur digitalen Transformation in verschiedenen Geschäftsbereichen vorgestellt und diskutiert. Sie erörtert die Chancen und Herausforderungen, denen sich Unternehmen bei der Einführung von Technologien, z. B. mobilen Anwendungen, gegenüberste-hen. Zusätzlich wird die Nutzung neuartiger Geschäftsmodelle aus der Perspek-tive der Technologieakzeptanz untersucht. Mit einem spezifischen Blick auf tech-nische Lösungen werden in dieser Dissertation Probleme bei der Entwicklung mobiler Anwendungen und deren Prozesse untersucht und Implikationen aufge-zeigt. Diese Dissertation bereichert den Wissensstand zur mobilen Applikations-Entwicklung und zum Phänomen des digitalen Wandels auf Unternehmens- und Individualebene. Basierend auf den Limitationen der enthaltenen Artikel wird eine Forschungsagenda abgeleitet, die die Grundlage für weitere Untersuchungen im Bereich der digitalen Transformation sowie der mobilen Anwendungsentwicklung bildet. Wissenschaftler können diese Agenda für ihre zukünftigen Forschungs-projekte nutzen

Simulation ausgewählter Heuristiken zur Tourenplanung in manuellen Kommissionierstationen

Im Folgenden werden die Auswirkungen des Einsatzes verschiedener Heuristiken zur Tourenplanung in manuellen Kommissionierstationen bei einem Pharmagroßhandel untersucht. Dabei wird nicht nur auf die Läange der Touren eingegangen, sondern zusätzlich die Auswirkung von Ressourcenkonflikten während der Kommissionierung auf die Dauer der Bedienzeiten betrachtet. Nach einer Beschreibung des Systems werden dazu zuerst der Entwurf und die Implementierung eines agentenbasierten Modells dargestellt. Daraufhin werden einige häufig verwendete Heuristiken eingeführt und für den Anwendungsfall evaluiert. Am Schluss steht eine kurze Zusammenfassung und ein Ausblick auf das weitere Vorgehen

Reducing blocking effects in multi-block layouts

Tour planning in multi-block layouts is a common exercise in logistics. In those systems, blocking effects result from conflicting agents competing for resources. Although clearly exceptional in real world applications, most methods of tour planning assume only one active agent, and thus do not consider blocking effects. In this paper we examine heuristic methods of tour planning in multi-block layouts with multiple agents, finding that blocking effects have a significant impact on system performance. We show that methods devised for the mentioned special case do not scale very well when applied to scenarios with multiple agents. We propose a heuristic method which is capable of reducing blocking effects. It generates tours of equal or shorter length than those produced by the other examined methods

Successful Mobile Application Development: Towards a Taxonomy of Domain-Specific Process Models and Methodologies

Mobile applications and mobile application development issues receive an increasing attention for practitioners and academics. The development of mobile applications is connected with a number of domain-specific issues and challenges (e.g., fulfilment of customer requirements or the prevention of high development costs). Consequently, the decision of the most effective process model to develop a mobile application plays a crucial role for software and mobile application development teams. With the help of a structured taxonomy-building methodology, we contribute to the extant literature by creating and presenting a taxonomy for process models and methodologies in software engineering and the mobile application development domain. The taxonomy enrich the existing knowledge base and can help mobile application developers to choose the most suitable process model or methodology. Based on our examination, our results indicate new directions for mobile application research and implications for mobile application development

Reducing blocking effects in multi-block layouts

Tour planning in multi-block layouts is a common exercise in logistics. In those systems, blocking effects result from conflicting agents competing for resources. Although clearly exceptional in real world applications, most methods of tour planning assume only one active agent, and thus do not consider blocking effects. In this paper we examine heuristic methods of tour planning in multi-block layouts with multiple agents, finding that blocking effects have a significant impact on system performance. We show that methods devised for the mentioned special case do not scale very well when applied to scenarios with multiple agents. We propose a heuristic method which is capable of reducing blocking effects. It generates tours of equal or shorter length than those produced by the other examined methods

Requirements for an Open Digital Platform for Interdisciplinary Energy Research and Practice

Energy systems are changing rapidly and energy research is fundamental to enable and optimize this change involving academics, practitioners, and the public. Therefore, an open digital platform to share knowledge and experiences is crucial for the energy sector. We identify and discuss requirements from 36 semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders for a platform based on five essential elements. The competence element enables researchers and developers to find suitable partners for their research and practice projects, and the best practices element delivers ideas to structure cooperative energy research. The repository element helps to find available data and frameworks for energy systems’ simulation and optimizations. Frameworks and models are coupled by using the simulation element. Last, results and contents from the energy community can be published within the transparency element to reach various interested stakeholders. We discuss implications and recommendations as well as further research directions

Monitoring Street Infrastructures with Artificial Intelligence

Sensor-based IoT data is enhancing information gathering methods for urban planning in many ways and, due to the growing data pool provided by these sensors, more and more cities and municipalities are consequently putting the use of artificial intelligence-based (AI) methods on their agenda. One area of urban planning that will benefit significantly from the new possibilities enabled by AI is that of infrastructure monitoring. As the topic of the investment backlog of German road infrastructures increasingly pushes into public discourse, many potential areas for application of such a system are opening up. Given the fact that a large part of the German road infrastructure was planned and built several decades ago, and considering that the traffic volume has increased tremendously since then, the urgency in the development of improved maintenance methods is evident: Today's solutions for infrastructure monitoring are either too labor-intensive, too resource-intensive or too inflexible for the scenario at hand. However, a promising avenue for further research opened up through the advent of mobile communication devices, such as smartphones, incombination with artificial intelligence approaches. This paper describes the methodology applied in the ongoing research project DatEnKoSt, in which these comparatively cheap and sensor-laden devices are used to realize low-cost acquisition methods: Mounting the smartphone in a vehicle, a multi-sensor datastream can be recorded, including, for instance, accelerometer data, GPS coordinates, image or even audio data. From the datastream, features correlated with the road condition can then be extracted, e.g., image processing methods may extract individual cracks from the image data, signal processing can aid analysis of the accelerometer data to determine strength of vibrations, etc.. Using supervised learning methods, thesefeatures may be mapped to standardized profiles of the current state of the infrastructure. Even more,predictive methods can, in addition to a mere monitoring of the current state of the infrastructure, enable new ways to provide more precise forecasts and eventually, leveraging optimization algorithms, automatically derive the right maintenance measures for each given situation. The municipal preservation of traffic routes becomes more efficient and sustainable. The methodology enables the potential for further use in the light of real-time as well as predictive road infrastructure monitoring such as winter road services

Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity: Towards Taxonomy-based Archetypes and Decision Support

Cybersecurity is a critical success factor for more resilient companies, organizations, and societies against cyberattacks. Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cybersecurity solutions have the ability to detect and respond to cyber threats and attacks and other malicious activities. For this purpose, the most important resource is security-relevant data from networks, cloud systems, clients, e-mails, and previous cyberattacks. AI, the key technology, can automatically detect, for example, anomalies and malicious behavior. Consequently, the market for AI-driven cybersecurity solutions is growing significantly. We develop a taxonomy of AI-driven cybersecurity business models by classifying 229 real-world services. Building on that, we derive four specific archetypes using a cluster analysis toward a comprehensive academic knowledge base of business model elements. To reduce complexity and simplify the results of the taxonomy and archetypes, we propose DETRAICS, a decision tree for AI-driven cybersecurity services. Practitioners, decision-makers, and researchers benefit from DETRAICS to select the most suitable AI-driven service

Simulation zur Verbesserung der Logistikprozesse eines Pharmagroßhandels

Gehe Pharma Handel GmbH is one of Germany's biggest pharmaceutical wholesalers. This paper describes the development and application of a simulation software representing their logistic processes, built in cooperation with Gehe's Troisdorf branch. We start with an outline of the Gehe facility, describe the process of implementing and validating the software application, and show some sample results

Simulation ausgewählter Heuristiken zur Tourenplanung in manuellen Kommissionierstationen

Im Folgenden werden die Auswirkungen des Einsatzes verschiedener Heuristiken zur Tourenplanung in manuellen Kommissionierstationen bei einem Pharmagroßhandel untersucht. Dabei wird nicht nur auf die Läange der Touren eingegangen, sondern zusätzlich die Auswirkung von Ressourcenkonflikten während der Kommissionierung auf die Dauer der Bedienzeiten betrachtet. Nach einer Beschreibung des Systems werden dazu zuerst der Entwurf und die Implementierung eines agentenbasierten Modells dargestellt. Daraufhin werden einige häufig verwendete Heuristiken eingeführt und für den Anwendungsfall evaluiert. Am Schluss steht eine kurze Zusammenfassung und ein Ausblick auf das weitere Vorgehen