Fabrizio Smith

Ontology-Based Querying of Composite Services

Enterprises are evolving towards advanced forms of cooperation and networking. This kind of tight cooperation requires the creation of global Business Processes (i.e., cross-enterprise composite services) composed starting from a set of existing local processes (exposed, in turn, as services) found in different enterprises. To this end, in this chapter we present an ontology-based approach for querying business process repositories for the retrieval of process fragments to be reused in the composition of new business processes. The proposed solution is based on a synergic use of a business process modelling framework (BPAL) to represent the workflow logic of business processes, and business ontologies, aimed at capturing the semantics of a business scenario. Both components are grounded in logic programming and therefore it is possible to apply effective reasoning methods to query the knowledge base stemming from the fusion of the two.

A Semantic Framework for Knowledge Management in Virtual Innovation Factories

Knowledge management is a crucial aspect for enterprises that want to effectively cope with business innovation. However, the full control of the knowledge asset is often missing due to the lack of precise organizational models, policies, and proper technologies, especially in Virtual Enterprises VEs, which are characterized by heterogeneous partners with different policies, skills and know-how. For such reasons, the need for technologies that enable knowledge sharing, efficient access to knowledge resources, and interoperability is felt as primary. This work proposes a semantics-based infrastructure aimed at supporting effective knowledge management for business innovation in VEs. Knowledge resources are formally represented and stored in a semantic layer, which is exploited by a set of semantic services for enabling efficient retrieval and reasoning capabilities to derive additional knowledge.

Querying semantically enriched business processes

In this paper we present a logic-based approach for querying business process repositories. The proposed solution is based on a synergic use of an ontological framework (OPAL) aimed at capturing the semantics of a business scenario, and a business process modelling framework (BPAL) to represent the workflow logic. Both frameworks are grounded in logic programming and therefore it is possible to apply effective reasoning methods to query the knowledge base stemming from the fusion of the two. A software platform has been developed and the first tests are encouraging.

Towards a method for business process and informal business rules compliance

Business process reengineering (BPR) is a common practice for a continuous improvement of the organization and the operations of an enterprise. An important technique of BPR is based on business rules (BRs). The latter are, in general, represented using natural language and, therefore, carry a certain degree of imprecision and ambiguity; therefore, our first objective is to start from informal BR and disambiguate them by using a question answering method based on a decision table. The introduction of BRs impacts on existing business processes (BPs), requiring often a reengineering intervention. In this paper, we present an approach to BPR based on the systematic use of ontologies and semantic annotations and focused on dependency constraints, a particular kind of BRs. To this end, we propose the synergic use of Business Process Abstract Language, a BP modeling framework to represent BP schemas, and Object Process Actor modeling Language, an ontological framework to capture the semantics of a business scenario. Both the frameworks are grounded in logic, and therefore, it is possible to apply effective reasoning methods to make inferences over a Business Process Knowledge Base stemming from the union of the two above components. Then we propose a query engine allowing for the detection of BPs that are not compliant with the BRs and, more precisely, the specific BP segment where to intervene. The proposed platform has been conceived not to substitute existing BPM tools but to integrate them providing advanced services to support rule‐based BPR activities. Copyright

An open platform for business process modeling and verification

In this paper we present the BPAL platform that includes a logic-based language for business process (BP) modeling and a reasoning mechanism providing support for several tasks. Firstly, the definition of a BP meta-model (MM) consisting of a set of rules that guide the BP designers in their work. Secondly, given a BP, the BPAL platform allows for the automatic verification of the compliance (well-formedness) of a given BP w.r.t. the defined MM. Finally, the execution semantics of a BP is given in term of its instances (referred to as traces) to provide services for i) checking if the actual execution of a BP has been carried out in accordance with the corresponding definition, ii) simulating executions by trace generation. The proposed platform is open since it can easily be enhanced by adding other logic-based modeling, reasoning, and querying functionalities.

Ontology building and maintenance in collaborative virtual environments

The role of ontologies in the enterprise world is constantly increasing, and they are proving even more necessary in distributed production realities, like in extended logistics, industrial districts, or virtual enterprises. In such realities, a common conceptual basis is necessary to compensate the fragmentation inherent in the underlying industrial models. This paper presents an end‐to‐end framework based on an open, collaborative approach for developing and maintaining business domain ontologies. The framework has been achieved within the European Project BIVEE and has been experimented in two industrial realities: the high‐tech sector of robotics and the more traditional one of furniture. Copyright

Collaborative ontology building in virtual innovation factories

The knowledge-intensive nature of business innovation paradigms requires advanced method for managing the informative resources in the scope of an enterprise, especially in a virtual enterprise. In this context, a challenging task is to support the participation of workers to elicit/codify their tacit domain knowledge, providing the means to convert it into a more explicit and processable one. To this end in this paper we present a collaborative ontology building methodology, which allows a community of practice, including knowledge engineers, domain experts, and ontology stakeholders to cooperate for: (i) producing conceptual models and reaching a consensus on their suitability with respect to the application domain at hand; (ii) guaranteeing at the same time a sound formal encoding into a computational ontology. The presented approach adopts standard languages, such as SKOS and OWL, and it is supported by a software platform built upon a semantic wiki. First experiences conducted within the BIVEE project are also reported.

Semi-Automatic Process Composition via Semantics-Enabled Sub-Process Selection and Ranking

In Service Oriented Architectures a Business Process (BP) can be designed as an orchestration of component sub-processes, often exposed as platform-independent and autonomously implemented Web services. In this paper, we propose a methodological framework to support the composition of semantically annotated sub-processes according to advanced semantics-enabled techniques and to rank the proposed solutions on the basis of the cohesion/coupling between retrieved sub-processes.

Selection, ranking and composition of semantically enriched business processes

In Service Oriented Architectures a Business Process can be composed of several subprocesses, often exposed as platform-independent and autonomously implemented Web services. In this paper, we propose a methodological framework to support the selection, ranking and composition of semantically annotated subprocesses coming from distinct Business Process Repositories according to advanced semantics-enabled techniques.

Towards Semantic Collective Awareness Platforms for Business Innovation

Innovation represents the main driver for enterprises to evolve, and very often to survive in the globalized market. In the last decades, innovation in enterprise contexts has seen the introduction of new paradigms leveraging the so-called collective intelligence. Such paradigms have gained momentum thanks to the diffusion of the Internet, and the Web 2.0 in particular, and many supporting platforms have been developed. A critical aspect here regards the availability of tools able to manage the knowledge flow across the whole innovation lifecycle (problem awareness, idea generation, solution implementation), overcoming the fragmentation and heterogeneity of the informative resources of the involved players. With this respect, we propose a Semantics-based Collective Awareness Platform for supporting business innovation activities, in which semantic facilities are provided for a smarter knowledge acquisition and sharing, as well as for supporting solutions to complex problems.