Tomasz Sitek

Intelligent Knowledge-Based Model for IT Support Organization Evolution

The goal of the paper is building the knowledge-based model for predicting the state of the IT support organization. These organizations are facing the problem of their transformation. The complexity of the processes, the difficulty adjusting the operations and limited ability to control the evolution implies the need of the solutions supporting the decision-makers to make the change happen. The solutions are based on systems gathering and processing the knowledge, built in the research units for the support of business organizations. The paper is the example of the applying this research for the banking sector. The result of the research is the intelligent, knowledge-based system used for the assessment of the organization and support the evolution of the organizations based on fuzzy modeling and mechanisms of reasoning using uncertain and incomplete knowledge and classification according to the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) model. The sources of the knowledge are the authors’ experiences in managing the IT support organization in the banking sector. The paper presents the results in two areas. One of them is the financial sector, for which we propose the prognostic model for the IT support organization. The second is the selection of reasoning in social systems with uncertain and incomplete knowledge. In the paper we present the mechanisms of reasoning based on the knowledge and data in the research in the evolution of the IT support organization in the financial institution. The publication contains the description of the assumptions of the experiment, the experiment itself, the analysis of its results and conclusions.

Ontology of the Design Pattern Language for Smart Cities Systems

The paper presents the definition of the design pattern language of Smart Cities in the form of an ontology. Since the implementation of a Smart City system is difficult, expensive and closely linked with the problems concerning a given city, the knowledge acquired during a single implementation is extremely valuable. The language we defined supports the management of such knowledge as it allows for the expression of a solution which, based on best practices recorded in the form of design patterns, is also tailored to the requirements of the city seeking to implement the Smart City solution. The formal/ontological structure of the language in turn allows the automatic management of the properties of a solution recorded in this way. This final feature of the introduced language is extremely important in the decision-making process regarding the choice of a particular solution by the relevant authorities. The work is divided into five main parts. In the first part we discuss the implementation issue of the integration bus using the example of the IOC. In the next part we talk about the validity of using semantic technologies in order to expand the spectrum of potential implementations. Then we discuss the ontological implementation of the Smart City pattern language which we created, a language which allows for both the saving of requirements and the validation of solutions specified in it. We also present an example of usage, which at the same time serves as a validation of the language in real-life conditions. In the last part we discuss certain aspects of the pattern language and the possible ways to develop research related to it.

Implementation of Business Processes in Smart Cities Technology

The goal of the paper is to present the results of studies concerning the development of a method of implementation of business processes in Smart Cities systems. The method has been developed during studies carried out within the building of a Smart Cities system for Gdansk, and is based on basic development project management mechanisms drawing from best practices, and in particular from the RUP methodology and business-oriented development principles, where the role of business process modeling is crucial for the implementation of functionalities of IT systems.

Experience-Driven Model of Decision-Making Processes in Project Teams

This article presents a model of decision-making processes in project teams. Project teams constitute a specific type of organization appointed to implement a project. Decisions made by project teams result from the methods of project management and best management practices. The authors have undertaken the task of formalizing these processes using the classical method of constructing decision trees. It has been established that this method cannot be fully exploited because the decision-making paths need changing (the decision tree must be dynamically generated after every decision). Therefore, the authors applied a method for collecting experiences, the Set of Experience Knowledge Structure (SOEKS), to support the structure of a decision tree. This method was used to support decision-making processes regarding the selection of methods and technologies of project management and to classify the location decisions resulting from exceeding levels of particulate matter.

IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE IN AN IT ORGANIZATION - THE CONCEPT OF AN EVALUATION MODEL

Abstract This paper presents the issue of assessing the validity and effectiveness of implementing a Business Intelligence system in an IT Support Organization. This entity provides IT services to external clients involving, in particular, the storage and processing of large amounts of data. The vast amount of realized projects and also incidents reported in connection with those projects prevented effective decisions from being made without the support of dedicated technologies. The authors present the problems encountered by the studied entity and describe the tool that was selected to improve the situation. The aim of this study is to measure and describe the key processes in the organization on the basis of prepared aggregated measures, first prior to the implementation of the BI system and then a year after its implementation. The evaluation model developed by the authors allowed the assessment of the key aspects of the company’s operation over 2 years. It thus helped decision makers to establish whether the decision to implement the Business Intelligence system was correct or not.

Model of an Integration Bus of Data and Ontologies of Smart Cities Processes

This paper presents a model of an integration bus used in the design of Smart Cities system architectures. The model of such a bus becomes necessary when designing high-level architectures, within which the silo processes of the organization should be seen from the perspective of its ontology. For such a bus to be used by any city, a generic solution was proposed which can be implemented as a whole or in part depending on the requirements posed by those cities with respect to the construction of such buses. The work is divided into four main parts. The first part presents a model of high-level architectural design processes, using ontologies and a data integration bus, which constitutes the generalized experiences of the authors drawn from the design processes of Smart Cities systems. The second part contains a description of the environment in which Smart Cities systems are developed, illustrated with two guidelines and the implementation processes of these guidelines. In the third part, two components of that environment are identified: the data integration bus and the ontologies of city processes. This is done to demonstrate how Smart Cities systems are designed and to show the processes of the permeation of data and the ontologies of city processes in the creation of a high-level architecture. The fourth section contains a description of how the proposed model is applied in the construction of a common integration bus for data and ontologies. The paper summary presents recommendations concerning the applicability of the proposed model.

Smart Cities System Design Method Based on Case Based Reasoning

The objective of this paper is to present the results of research carried out to develop a design method for Smart Cities systems. The method is based on the analysis of design cases of Smart Cities systems in cities, the selection of the city appropriate to the requirements for implementation and application. The Case Based Reasoning method was used to develop the proposed design methodology, along with mechanisms of the conversion of project processes and roles to Rational Unified Processes RUP. The prerequisite for the proposed method is that the enterprise manager must be knowledgeable about high-level Smart Cities system architecture and the design framework applied. The authors, being themselves knowledgeable about architecture of this kind and about project environments which implement KPI models, propose a generic solution applicable to any environments and system architectures.

High-Level Model for the Design of KPIs for Smart Cities Systems

The main goal of the paper is to build a high-level model for the design of KPIs. Currently, the development and processes of cities have been checked by KPI indicators. The authors realized that there is a limited usability of KPIs for both the users and IT specialists who are preparing them. Another observation was that the process of the implementation of Smart Cities systems is very complicated. Due to this the concept of a trigger for organizational-technological changes in the design and implementation of Smart Cities was proposed. A dedicated Model for City Development (MCD) was presented. The paper consists of four main parts. First the structures of both city and business organizations were presented. Based on that, in the second part, the processes existing in cities and business organizations were presented to show how different they are. The third part presents the role of KPIs and their limitations with the example of the IOC. The last part consists of the presentation of the model and its verification based on two city decision-making examples. The proposed design model presented herein takes into account both the city indicators and their aggregate versions for the needs of city models.

Designing Aggregate KPIs as a Method of Implementing Decision-Making Processes in the Management of Smart Cities

The aim of the paper is to present a concept of measuring the performance of city management processes by use of a concept of aggregate KPIs. In the management of organizations and, as a consequence of the use of a common design framework also in the management of cities, silo KPIs are commonly used to show the statuses of the processes of organizations/cities. Thus the question arises as to what extent aggregate KPIs, as proposed in the paper, can be used in the management processes of smart cities in place of the silo ones typical for organizations. The work is divided into four main parts. The first presents the problems of managing smart cities to introduce the reader to the problems of measuring processes and the need for aggregated measurements. The second section discusses KPIs and their place and role in management processes. The third part contains a description of the model of aggregate KPIs to support measurements of the status of city processes. In the fourth section the developed model is verified, demonstrating its applicability for city management processes. The summary includes a recommendation for the use of aggregate KPIs in the city.