Metamodel-based Methodology for Developing Agent-Oriented Systems. In the context of building high quality software, agent technology offers substantial promise. However, its widespread deployment by industry is hampered by the lack of commercially acceptable development methodologies. Here, we expand a metamodel-based process framework (the OPEN Process Framework) to support agent-oriented (AO) software development that will eventually both form a de facto standard for AO methodologies and be ....Metamodel-based Methodology for Developing Agent-Oriented Systems. In the context of building high quality software, agent technology offers substantial promise. However, its widespread deployment by industry is hampered by the lack of commercially acceptable development methodologies. Here, we expand a metamodel-based process framework (the OPEN Process Framework) to support agent-oriented (AO) software development that will eventually both form a de facto standard for AO methodologies and be acceptable for commercial software application development. To create this extension, significant research in AO software engineering is required. Our basis will be the OPF plus elements from existing AO methodologies, notably Tropos and Gaia, whose authors will collaborate actively.Read moreRead less
Design of a Reference Methodology for Extended Enterprise Architecture. Enterprises have nowadays a very critical perception of the actual benefits of Information Technology (IT). Significant investments in IT infrastructures have been made. However, in many cases no monetary benefits could be demonstrated. Enterprises Architectures provide a way to link the business and the IT perspective. This project aims to develop an operational methodology with a solid theoretical foundation for the design ....Design of a Reference Methodology for Extended Enterprise Architecture. Enterprises have nowadays a very critical perception of the actual benefits of Information Technology (IT). Significant investments in IT infrastructures have been made. However, in many cases no monetary benefits could be demonstrated. Enterprises Architectures provide a way to link the business and the IT perspective. This project aims to develop an operational methodology with a solid theoretical foundation for the design of such Enterprise Architectures. The outcomes and the innovation of this project are an extension of the popular Zachman Framework. Integrated modelling techniques proposed within the Architecture of Integrated Information Systems will be used to populate this framework.Read moreRead less
Design and Development of a Web-based Intelligent Multimedia Mining System. Increasing amounts of digital multimedia data in the form of video is being captured and stored. However, even the most advanced storage and retrieval techniques lack the features required to be used singly, or in combination, to fulfil a wide range of user needs and rapid access to multimedia resources, even in a very large video database. The core challenges are indeed to develop efficient, smart and intelligent web-ba ....Design and Development of a Web-based Intelligent Multimedia Mining System. Increasing amounts of digital multimedia data in the form of video is being captured and stored. However, even the most advanced storage and retrieval techniques lack the features required to be used singly, or in combination, to fulfil a wide range of user needs and rapid access to multimedia resources, even in a very large video database. The core challenges are indeed to develop efficient, smart and intelligent web-based multimedia mining in Australia and elsewhere. In this project, we will explore techniques and develop algorithms for content-based multimedia retrieval and mining in multimedia databases.Read moreRead less
Ontologically-based Evaluation, Comparison and Engineering of Integrated Process Modelling Techniques. Integrated process modelling techniques such as UML and ARIS form the conceptual platform for many management and IT projects. Though most IS development tools contain these techniques, anecdotal evidence indicates many shortcomings. This project uses a well-established theory developed in philosophy and applied in information systems domains for the evaluation of these techniques. The expec ....Ontologically-based Evaluation, Comparison and Engineering of Integrated Process Modelling Techniques. Integrated process modelling techniques such as UML and ARIS form the conceptual platform for many management and IT projects. Though most IS development tools contain these techniques, anecdotal evidence indicates many shortcomings. This project uses a well-established theory developed in philosophy and applied in information systems domains for the evaluation of these techniques. The expected outcomes are evaluations of ARIS and UML. Thus, this project contributes to the development of two of the most popular modelling techniques. Based on the theory used and the results of an international empirical study, suggestions for the further development of these techniques will be derived.Read moreRead less
Applying Method Engineering Techniques to the Construction of Agile Methodologies. Agile approaches to software development provide flexibility within the method but provide no assistance for improving the selected method. This second kind of flexibility is important to permit organizations to improve with time. To accomplish such improvement, a method engineering approach is proposed for agile method construction using the OPEN Process Framework, which consists of a metamodel and a collection ....Applying Method Engineering Techniques to the Construction of Agile Methodologies. Agile approaches to software development provide flexibility within the method but provide no assistance for improving the selected method. This second kind of flexibility is important to permit organizations to improve with time. To accomplish such improvement, a method engineering approach is proposed for agile method construction using the OPEN Process Framework, which consists of a metamodel and a collection of method components, stored in a repository. In collaboration with Eagle Datamation International, we will devise methods of constructing an agile method tailored to their business needs and then evaluate it in practice, monitoring as the method evolves and improves.Read moreRead less
Next-Generation Reference Process Models. Business process modelling is a key tool for organisations striving to create efficiencies by leveraging their IT infrastructure. This project will develop techniques for increasing the productivity of business process analysts by allowing them to reuse as much as possible existing models rather than systematically desigining new ones from scratch. Specifically, the project will develop and validate a language for designing highly configurable process mo ....Next-Generation Reference Process Models. Business process modelling is a key tool for organisations striving to create efficiencies by leveraging their IT infrastructure. This project will develop techniques for increasing the productivity of business process analysts by allowing them to reuse as much as possible existing models rather than systematically desigining new ones from scratch. Specifically, the project will develop and validate a language for designing highly configurable process models. This language will enable superior approaches to business process modelling and hence smarter use of information. This will place Australia at the forefront of developments in business process management: a crucial technology in today's global, dynamic and heterogeneous environments.Read moreRead less
Formalising and automating the elicitation and reconciliation of requirements from multiple stakeholders. It is well recognised that requirements specifications are often error-prone and that it is much cheaper to detect and fix these errors early in the software development life cycle than later. A major problem with requirements determination is that each and every stakeholder has his/her own representation of the enterprise reality. This project seeks to take these views and use set-theore ....Formalising and automating the elicitation and reconciliation of requirements from multiple stakeholders. It is well recognised that requirements specifications are often error-prone and that it is much cheaper to detect and fix these errors early in the software development life cycle than later. A major problem with requirements determination is that each and every stakeholder has his/her own representation of the enterprise reality. This project seeks to take these views and use set-theoretical techniques from Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) to automatically generate and compare the underlying conceptual models. A process model based on FCA has been proposed which we will extend and empirically evaluate in this project. The result will be a more rigorous and yet pragmatic approach to requirements engineering which offers the greatest economic leverage.Read moreRead less
A Framework for Supporting Consistent and Reliable Collaborative Business Transactions. Business integration and enterprise computing is at the heart of ICT objectives and initiatives global wide. The project aims to be of unique value to Australian industry and provide a means to achieve excellence in the field of research that promises to shape the future of e-business technology. The research conducted within this project will position Australia as one of the leaders in the business transacti ....A Framework for Supporting Consistent and Reliable Collaborative Business Transactions. Business integration and enterprise computing is at the heart of ICT objectives and initiatives global wide. The project aims to be of unique value to Australian industry and provide a means to achieve excellence in the field of research that promises to shape the future of e-business technology. The research conducted within this project will position Australia as one of the leaders in the business transaction area. The project outcomes in the form of specifications and formal models will provide generic solutions that are applicable to many Australian and international companies involved in distributed computing and e-business technologies. Read moreRead less
Harmonized Messaging - A New Foundation for Automated Process Communication. Process communication, especially in web environments is characterized by complex interactions between heterogeneous and autonomous systems within the enterprise and often between trading partners. An overwhelming number of initiatives and proposals are underway to provide solutions for process specification and communication. However, the focus is often on defining APIs rather than the semantics of the underlying messa ....Harmonized Messaging - A New Foundation for Automated Process Communication. Process communication, especially in web environments is characterized by complex interactions between heterogeneous and autonomous systems within the enterprise and often between trading partners. An overwhelming number of initiatives and proposals are underway to provide solutions for process specification and communication. However, the focus is often on defining APIs rather than the semantics of the underlying message exchange. We see a great potential in changing the current messaging infrastructure to suit its new role in facilitating complex, long running interactions for collaborative processes operating in a decentralized environment. This envisaged next generation of messaging technology will extend its ability to support dynamic business processes in a web-centric environment. Providing a level of harmonisation to multiple messages to form a single custom definable backbone of a newly formed message stream, creates a highly challenging new research direction. There is a strong potential that the project outcomes will present a new way of overcoming well understood difficulties in dealing with multiple communicating processes owned by different partners and executing on disparate systems.Read moreRead less
A New Formal Framework for Service Oriented Process Communication. Cross organizational communication in current business environments is highly dynamic, process driven and web centric. The web services paradigm is emerging as a powerful new technology solution to facilitate complex interactions between heterogeneous and autonomous systems within the enterprise and often between trading partners. Although the industry is inundated with initiatives on web services, most are heavily focussed on th ....A New Formal Framework for Service Oriented Process Communication. Cross organizational communication in current business environments is highly dynamic, process driven and web centric. The web services paradigm is emerging as a powerful new technology solution to facilitate complex interactions between heterogeneous and autonomous systems within the enterprise and often between trading partners. Although the industry is inundated with initiatives on web services, most are heavily focussed on the underlying specification platforms and technology components. We see a great need and potential for developing a formal framework for service oriented process communication. The design of such a formal framework is the focus of this project. Project outcomes not only hold great potential to contribute to fundamental research questions in process specification, validation and ontological evaluation, but will also deliver significant impact on related technologies of messaging middleware, integration platforms and workflow management systems.Read moreRead less