Modelling in the Large. Business modelling supports a variety of approaches, which are currently of significant interest for Australian organisations. This includes business process management, risk management or Enterprise Architecture design. The trend to centralised and integrated business modelling leads to projects with a high number of models, modellers, users, and modelling purposes. This phenomenon is called modelling in the large. The proposed research project explores the major issues ....Modelling in the Large. Business modelling supports a variety of approaches, which are currently of significant interest for Australian organisations. This includes business process management, risk management or Enterprise Architecture design. The trend to centralised and integrated business modelling leads to projects with a high number of models, modellers, users, and modelling purposes. This phenomenon is called modelling in the large. The proposed research project explores the major issues within these projects and develops improved modelling techniques and project management approaches for large modelling initiatives. The outcomes will streamline the design, integration, maintenance and communication of models with a focus on Enterprise Systems.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
Improving the Effectiveness of Conceptual Model Validation Work. Errors or omissions in conceptual models often lead to significant problems when information systems are being built. Prior research has shown the cost of fixing the consequences of such errors or omissions grows exponentially as a function of how late they are discovered. Thus, significant economic benefits arise if they are identified early in the system development process. The project outcomes will facilitate early prevention ....Improving the Effectiveness of Conceptual Model Validation Work. Errors or omissions in conceptual models often lead to significant problems when information systems are being built. Prior research has shown the cost of fixing the consequences of such errors or omissions grows exponentially as a function of how late they are discovered. Thus, significant economic benefits arise if they are identified early in the system development process. The project outcomes will facilitate early prevention and detection of errors of omissions in conceptual models. They will also contribute to attainment of the national priority goal of smart information use through improved data management.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
A Methodology for Designing Information Systems based on Situational Theories of Agency. Information systems (IS) are part of work systems that are goal-directed. Existing methodologies for designing IS implicitly assume that goal-directed behaviour is enabled by deliberation upon abstract models (the 'thinker' metaphor). Recent work in robotics and artificial intelligence has tested an alternative theory of goal-directed behaviour that emphasises reactive responses to situations (the 'routine' ....A Methodology for Designing Information Systems based on Situational Theories of Agency. Information systems (IS) are part of work systems that are goal-directed. Existing methodologies for designing IS implicitly assume that goal-directed behaviour is enabled by deliberation upon abstract models (the 'thinker' metaphor). Recent work in robotics and artificial intelligence has tested an alternative theory of goal-directed behaviour that emphasises reactive responses to situations (the 'routine' metaphor). We will refine and test a new IS design methodology based on this situational theory and show that it can produce effective IS designs, applicable to time-constrained routine operational domains, which are radically different from those produced using existing methodologies.Read moreRead less
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
Components for Active Knowledge Portals. Businesses require people to collaborate and share knowledge in their work processes especially when they are in different locations. Such collaboration emerges by dynamically creating parallel and disconnected collaborative tasks that must be coordinated to meet organizational goals. This project will define the semantics of such emerging processes in the context of software digital workspaces that support them. It will then identify ways of constructing ....Components for Active Knowledge Portals. Businesses require people to collaborate and share knowledge in their work processes especially when they are in different locations. Such collaboration emerges by dynamically creating parallel and disconnected collaborative tasks that must be coordinated to meet organizational goals. This project will define the semantics of such emerging processes in the context of software digital workspaces that support them. It will then identify ways of constructing and using workspaces by creating active knowledge portals to support emerging processes. These portals will include software agents that are sensitive to the business context and help coordinate tasks within the emerging process.Read moreRead less
Non-intrusive human activity sensing with radio signals. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework for sensing and detecting human activities based on wireless radio signals. The framework advances the state-of-the-art by discovering the fundamental theory, and defining a set of principles to guide practical system design. The framework will be validated and its scientific merit demonstrated through building several applications such as contactless human activity detection and vital s ....Non-intrusive human activity sensing with radio signals. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework for sensing and detecting human activities based on wireless radio signals. The framework advances the state-of-the-art by discovering the fundamental theory, and defining a set of principles to guide practical system design. The framework will be validated and its scientific merit demonstrated through building several applications such as contactless human activity detection and vital signs monitoring. This should benefit existing hospital and clinical patient services and promote home-care and self-care services at nationwide.Read moreRead less
Practical methodologies for agent-oritented conceptual modelling. Conceptual modelling involves using knowledge representation techniques to support the requirements engineering phase of the software life-cycle. Agent-oriented conceptual modelling is a relatively new technique that offers significant benefits in modelling complex organisational information systems. However, several problems need to be addressed with current agent-oriented conceptual modelling languages and methodologies. In the ....Practical methodologies for agent-oritented conceptual modelling. Conceptual modelling involves using knowledge representation techniques to support the requirements engineering phase of the software life-cycle. Agent-oriented conceptual modelling is a relatively new technique that offers significant benefits in modelling complex organisational information systems. However, several problems need to be addressed with current agent-oriented conceptual modelling languages and methodologies. In the context of a PhD dissertation, this project will develop an improved agent-oriented conceptual modelling framework and related requirements elicitation techniques drawing on advances in Artificial intelligenct, Requireents Engineering and Organisational Semiotics. The practical deliverables of this project will address the needs of a large complex government organisation.Read moreRead less
Cost-aware business process management. The project aims to inform business process management (BPM) with the latest insights from the field of management accounting in order to make BPM systems cost-aware. By incorporating the cost dimension, organisations can obtain an accurate and immediate overview of the true cost of their processes and make cost-informed decisions.