Ana Regina Rocha

A Systematic Approach for Building Ontologies

Currently, there is a considerable body of experience in building ontologies. Nevertheless, knowledge acquisition using ontologies is still a research issue. The goal of this paper is to take a further step towards a systematic approach for building ontologies. An approach for engineering ontologies is presented with a case study. This approach incorporates the best features of the existing methods and proposes other features, such as the use of a graphical language for expressing ontologies, an axiom classification and some guidelines for ontology capture, formalization, evaluation and documentation. An ontology development process model is also discussed, showing how to proceed in the development of ontologies.

Brazilian software process reference model and assessment method

This paper presents the MR-MPS Process Reference Model and the MA-MPS Process Assessment Method. They were created according to the Brazilian reality in the MPS.BR Project, aiming at improving software process mainly in small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). They are compatible with CMMISM and conformant with ISO/IEC 15504 and ISO/IEC 12207. This paper describes three MPS documents: a general guide, an assessment guide and an acquisition guide. The initial project outcomes are presented. The MPS Model has a great potential to be replicated in other countries with similar characteristics related to the software industry.

Implementing Software Process Improvement Initiatives in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises in Brazil

Appropriate process implementation approaches are fundamental for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to obtain the most of software process improvement (SPI) benefits. COPPE/UFRJ has been providing SPI consultancy services to the Brazilian software industry for more than two decades. In order to cope with factors that have influence on SPI success, we developed an approach to implement SPI initiatives based on the Brazilian software process model (named MPS model) through the adoption of a SPI strategy (named SPI-KM) and the support of a process-centered software engineering environment named Taba Workstation. This paper presents the work conducted in a group of Brazilian SMEs aiming to deploy the MPS model based initiatives using the SPI-KM strategy supported by the Taba Workstation. We also discuss the lessons learned from implementing SPI in this group of SMEs and also other lessons collected throughout previous SPI experiences.

A methodology for identifying critical success factors that influence software process improvement initiatives: an application in the Brazilian software industry

Continuous improvement of software development capability is fundamental for organizations to thrive in competitive markets. Nevertheless, Software Process Improvement (SPI) initiatives have demonstrated limited results because SPI managers usually fail to cope with factors that have influence on the success of SPI. In this paper, we present the results of a multistrategy approach aiming to identify critical success factors (CSF) that have influence on SPI. The study results were confirmed by the literature review. The CSF were identified through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses of the results of a survey we conducted with SPI practitioners involved in Brazilian software industry experiences. We also identified the relationships of major factors that emerged from the survey. We expect that the major CSF presented in this paper can be used by SPI managers in the definition of SPI strategies aiming to enhance SPI initiatives success.

Domain-oriented software development environment

Abstract During software development, one of the most critical activities for software engineers is the correct description and identification of product requirements. This activity involves understanding the problem, which is essential to allow one to define a solution for it. To do this, it is important not only to understand the tasks routinely performed which are part of the problem, but more importantly to understand the domain in which the system will take place. Believing that the use of domain knowledge during software development can be very useful to support software development activities, we define the concept of “Domain-Oriented Software Development Environment” (DOSDE). This kind of environment readies knowledge about a specific domain in a symbolic representation (a domain ontology). It also considers a library of potential tasks from the domain to support problem understanding. This paper presents the main concepts of DOSDE, its features, examples of implementation, and how one can use its embedded knowledge, on a domain and its tasks, to assist in the software development activities.

Applying ISO 9001: 2000, MPS.BR and CMMI to Achieve Software Process Maturity: BL Informatica's Pathway

Customer satisfaction, quality improvement and rework reduction are known to be the most important benefits obtained through deployment of software process maturity models and standards within an organization. Since 2003 BL Informatica has been motivated and has established and maintained its software processes based on international standards (like ISO 9001:2000) and maturity models (like MPS.BR and CMMI). In spite of the lack of financial and human resources, the organization achieved satisfactory results. This paper describes BL Infomaticas software processes improvement plan, lessons learned, difficulties and benefits that where collected during the execution of the improvement plan. It also presents quantitative results that demonstrate the return on investment during these years.

Taba workstation: supporting software process deployment based on CMMI and MR-MPS.BR

Deployment of software processes based on reference models is a knowledge-intensive task, i.e., a great amount of technical knowledge must be applied in order to guarantee conformance and adherence of processes deployed to the reference models adopted. Moreover, software process deployers have to deal with organizational and individual cultural problems on a regular basis, for instance, resistances to organizational changes. Therefore, the success of software process deployment within an organization or organizational unit depends on both technical and social aspects of the software process deployment strategy definition and execution. This paper presents the Toba Workstation, an enterprise-oriented Process-centered Software Engineering Environment (PSEE) constituted of an integrated set of tools to support software process deployment based on the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the Reference Model for Brazilian Software Process Improvement (MR-MPS.BR). Software process appraisals demonstrated that the Taba Workstation constitutes one of the most important organizational assets to facilitate the success of software process deployment initiatives and to overcome the inherent difficulties.

Knowledge Acquisition and Communities of Practice: An Approach to Convert Individual Knowledge into Multi-organizational Knowledge

The implementation of knowledge management mechanisms to convert individual knowledge into organizational knowledge is important to guarantee business success in the global and dynamic economy. Besides that, there is a trend in the software industry to create a consistent body of software process knowledge across different organizations through the conversion of organizational knowledge into multi- organizational knowledge. Since software organizations do not execute software processes in the same way, the creation of such body of knowledge is a difficult task. This work presents a knowledge acquisition approach aimed to acquire organization members’ knowledge and store it in a software process community of practice repository accessible through a Web-based system. The application and evaluation of knowledge captured in the context of a specific organization, and reuse of such knowledge in different contexts provides the means for converting organizational knowledge into multi-organizational knowledge.

Supporting the Definition of Software Processes at Consulting Organizations via Software Process Lines

Software Process Consulting Organizations (SPCOs) support other organizations to define, deploy, and improve their software processes. Usually they are requested to define similar processes to different organizations, leading to some process reuse opportunities. Software Process Lines (SPLs) are reusable process architectures that model similarities and variabilities among processes, and could be of great value for SPCOs to derive multiple processes based on the same original SPL. This paper presents a reuse-based software process definition approach that aims at making it easier for consulting organizations to define reusable processes. We describe the main concepts related to a SPL, and how to define and use them in this context. We also present a supporting tool to define SPLs and derive defined processes. Finally, we present a usage experience of the approach in the context of a SPCO in Brazil.

Modeling task knowledge to support software development

One of the main reasons why the development of software does not meet the clients need is the lack of understanding of the softwares real objective, and consequently, the tasks it should perform and how they should be performed. With this assumption, we have defined a structure to represent the task knowledge which supports software engineers in understanding problems starting from the understanding of the tasks which comprise these problems. This structure combines task ontologies and problem solving methods, providing the developer with the necessary task knowledge to guide him throughout the development process. This article shows how task knowledge is defined and used to help the development of software, presenting as an example, use cases modeling.