Developing and Validating Model Web Business Processes with the GEOSS User Requirements Registry Hans-Peter Plag Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA - Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA - The Big Picture - Model Web and Business Processes - The URR and its Data Model - Analyses Functions - Exploring Business Processes in the URR
THE BIG PICTURE
THE BIG PICTURE Plag et al., 2013
THE BIG PICTURE Where are we today?
MODEL WEB AND BUSINESS PROCESSES
MODEL WEB AND BUSINESS PROCESSES
MODEL WEB AND BUSINESS PROCESSES Can we use crowd-sourcing to analyze, define, and validate Business Processes?
URR IN THE GEOSS COMMON INFRASTRUCTURE
Collect, publish, store, and analyze information on user needs PURPOSE OF THE URR Collect, publish, store, and analyze information on user needs Information in the URR is related to business processes
THREE QUESTIONS Can we use the URR to: - identify value-adding business processes? - validate business processes through crowd-sourcing? - promote and disseminate business processes?
URR DATA MODEL What we do: Applications: processes and activities that use Earth observations or derived information to produce new information, arrive at decisions, or execute decisions. Who does it: User Types: generic users who are involved in applications, benefit from these, or contribute to them. What we need to do it, and what we get out of it: Requirements: specifications of observations or derived products.
URR DATA MODEL What we need: Research Needs: research tasks to be performed in order to enable applications that are currently not possible due to a lack of knowledge. Technology Needs: description of technology to carry out needed observations. Infrastructure Needs: description of infrastructure necessary to meet requirements that are currently not met. Capacity Needs: description of capacity building that would enable applications.
URR DATA MODEL What is needed in addition: Auxiliary Registries: References: collects all references to documents Lexicon: collects all terms used in the URR Lexicon and Controlled Vocabularies - definition of acronyms and abbreviations; - keywords; - Earth observation parameters; - units of quantities; - media; - attributes of observations; - potentially: Essential Variables. Lexicon and Controlled Vocabularies may be integrated into a GEOSS-wide Semantic Registry
URR DATA MODEL How do we capture interconnectivity in value chains from Earth observations to societal benefits? Links: connect a source and target entry in two different relations or the same relation. Link concept turned out to be very powerful to capture connectivity between different elements. Allows the construction of value chains (business processes?)and networks of value chains from Earth observations to end users. 16
URR DATA MODEL
URR DATA MODEL
ANALYSES Analysis goals: Gap Analysis - URR to Broker (Query 1): - Gap analysis: which requirements are (not) met? - Prioritization: importance of requirements, applications, user types, … - Relevance: How relevant is this data set? Gap Analysis - URR to Broker (Query 1): - Are there data products that would meet my needs? Prioritization - URR internal: - What user types and applications depend on this requirement? - What data products are needed for this application? - What research is needed to enable this application? Relevance Analysis – GEO Portal to URR (Query 2): - Who is using my data for what?
EXPLORING BUSINESS PROCESSES IN THE URR
EXPLORING BUSINESS PROCESSES IN THE URR
URR DATA MODEL
SUMMARY - The Model Web depends on “business processes” - The URR has a data model and functionality that allows to capture value chains = business processes - URR can be used in two ways: - utilize existing entries to identify and prioritize new business processes - publish business processes and expose these to the (science) community for validation What is needed to facilitate this? - introduce business models as a formal concept in the URR - support deliberations on business processes - added more information on applications that are based on models
THE URR AND ITS USERS