Engineering Research Challenges Research Articles

Requirements modeling of Web services-based business processes

PurposeThis paper reviews existing business process (BP) modeling languages that are widely used in the industry as well as recent research work on modeling and analysis of BPs in the service-oriented environment and Internetware-based software paradigm. BPs in such environment are different from traditional BPs due to loose coupling of partner services, dynamic and on-the-fly selection of partners and run-time process adaptability. The unique characteristics of these BPs require formal modeling of the requirements and constraints in each phase of their life cycle, including design phase, implementation and deployment phase and execution phase.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first provides a categorization of typical user requirements in each phase of the BP life cycle. Then a detailed comparison of the selected languages with respect to their requirement modeling and analysis capabilities in each of the identified categories is provided. The paper also discusses new requirements engineering research challenges arising from future software needs and emerging trends in software engineering in the context of Web-services-based BPs and Internetware.FindingsThere is a need to have a framework that provides support for user requirements modeling and analysis for all the phases of BP life cycle in an integrated manner. Such a framework would be useful not only in resolving the inconsistencies between requirements across phases but also in addressing the issues related to BP evolution due to changes in user requirements over time. Moreover, with the Internet of things (IoT) adoption in BPM, there is a need to have an integrated environment that provides support for capturing the resilience requirements of enterprise BPs as well as the mobility constraints of the underlying IoT devices.Originality/valueThis paper reviews existing BP modeling languages and frameworks and discusses the new requirements engineering research challenges arising from future software needs and the emerging trends in BP management in the service-oriented environment and Internetware-based software paradigm.

Toward a science of learning systems: a research agenda for the high-functioning Learning Health System.

Objective The capability to share data, and harness its potential to generate knowledge rapidly and inform decisions, can have transformative effects that improve health. The infrastructure to achieve this goal at scale—marrying technology, process, and policy—is commonly referred to as the Learning Health System (LHS). Achieving an LHS raises numerous scientific challenges.Materials and methods The National Science Foundation convened an invitational workshop to identify the fundamental scientific and engineering research challenges to achieving a national-scale LHS. The workshop was planned by a 12-member committee and ultimately engaged 45 prominent researchers spanning multiple disciplines over 2 days in Washington, DC on 11–12 April 2013.Results The workshop participants collectively identified 106 research questions organized around four system-level requirements that a high-functioning LHS must satisfy. The workshop participants also identified a new cross-disciplinary integrative science of cyber-social ecosystems that will be required to address these challenges.Conclusions The intellectual merit and potential broad impacts of the innovations that will be driven by investments in an LHS are of great potential significance. The specific research questions that emerged from the workshop, alongside the potential for diverse communities to assemble to address them through a ‘new science of learning systems’, create an important agenda for informatics and related disciplines.

AFIS Doctoral Symposium: Systems Engineering Research Challenges in French Universities

AFIS Doctoral Symposium: Systems Engineering Research Challenges in French Universities

AFIS Doctoral Symposium: Systems Engineering Research Challenges in French Universities

This issue is devoted to special coverage of the French Systems Engineering Academia-Industry Forum, organized by AFIS (Association Francaise d'Ingenierie Systeme), the French chapter of INCOSE, with the support of the University of Bordeaux. The forum was held 2-3 December 2010 in Bordeaux, France, with the objective to develop strong relationships between industry and academia. It gathered 120 participants (of which one third were from industry).