1. Carl-Fredrik Sørensen
Adaptive Mobile Work Processes in Context-Rich, Heterogeneous Environments
Carl-Fredrik Sørensen
IDI NTNU
Welcome:
Opponents: Professor Warboys, Professor Ciancarini, Professor Nygård
Adviser: Professor Conradi
Colleagues
Relatives and Friends
Other spectators
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 1 -

2. Outline Introduction Main Contribution RQ Contributions
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3. Background Instrumentation of our (working) environment
Augmented artefacts
Sensors with communication capability
Actuators
Wireless communication
Instrumentation of our devices
Location, time
Dynamics
Environment affects the behaviour/actions of people and their activities
Activities and presence of people affect the environment
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 3 -

4. Motivation Support work in pervasive, mobile computing environments
Safety
Establish safe working conditions (to perform activity)
Reestablish safe conditions (by performing activity)
Reactiveness
Perform activities to react to environmental changes
Planning
Environment decides activity sequence
Collaboration
Coordination
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 4 -

5. Research Questions
Investigate what is the nature of mobile work and how does this nature relate to supporting technology.
How can concepts and frameworks be developed and used to understand and specify how mobile work processes can be supported?
How can such concepts and frameworks be used to support the development of mobile work support systems?
Investigate how workflow and context information can be modelled and utilised in mobile, heterogeneous and dynamic working environments supporting different organisational forms.
Investigate how to support processes in different organisational contexts.
Investigate and evaluate how and which technologies can be used to create an infrastructure to provide support of mobile work processes.
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 5 -

6. Contributions (1)
A novel research field investigating and supporting context-aware work processes for mobile workers.
Requirements to context-aware workflow are discussed and elaborated;
Implications of context-aware workflow transitions are investigated;
The WfMC workflow reference model is proposed extended with a new interface to support context-awareness;
An adaptive, mobile work process support system has been developed and tested in mobile settings.
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 6 -

7. Contributions (2)
A characterisation framework for mobile work to help to understand and find requirements for mobile work processes.
Different properties related to mobility and mobility support are used to understand and define requirements to support these properties.
Requirements indicators have been suggested as way to define task complexity related to different properties.
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 7 -

8. Contributions (3)
A three-level process model to support work at different organisational levels.
A study of two types of mobile workers to identify needs for mobile information and services to help develop (mobile) technology to support mobile work processes.
A context-aware middleware for mobile ad hoc environments to support context-aware, mobile (smart) work processes.
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 8 -

9. Main Contribution
Adaptive Mobile Work Processes in Context-Rich, Heterogeneous Environments
Introduces the notion of ”smart”, ”sentient” work process, adapting work process to the actual work environment (context)
Pervasive environments ”define” work processes
Supporting situated actions, situated planning (activity theory approach).
Technology:
Context-aware workflow/work process support.
Middleware for mobile ad hoc environments (MANET).
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide - 9 -

10. Mobile work Two different categories based on context-sensitivity:
Work in a mobile environment: Work processes performed in a mobile environment independent of context information extracted from the physical environment. Mobility not necessary to accomplish the process goals.
Mobile work: Work processes performed in a mobile environment dependent of context information extracted from the physical environment. Mobility necessary to accomplish the process goals.
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide

11. Using Context information in Workflow systems
How can context affect activities?
Context/context changes as pre-conditions to start/stop of activity
Provide rules for how and what to do in a process
Provide alternative process paths
Trigger new activities
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide

12. Workflow as Actuator in a Pervasive Computing Environment (1)
Physical work activities - actuations
Change the physical environment (post-condition)
Provide pre-conditions to new activities
Prepare the environment for a certain activity
Establish pre-conditions to perform activities
Safety
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide

13. Problem areas (1)
Specification of contextual pre/post-conditions related to process goal
Specification of environmental behaviour related to activity (adaptation)
Planning, specification, and performance of activities in concert with the current environmental context
(Automatic) Definition of activities based on process goal, environmental context and change of context
Solving contextual inconsistency in a multi-user process
Scheduling of activities as reaction to contextual changes
Environmental changes may open new paths to process goal.
Synchronisation of environmental context and activity
IDI, 23. Novemberr Slide

14. Problem areas (2)
State transitions and process enactment when disconnected from central workflow server.
Ad hoc activities based on environmental context.
Ad hoc collaboration between environment and users, user to user.
Ad hoc workflow enactment in a mobile computing environment.
Dynamically specifying other digital actors as participants in activities.
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15. IDI, 23. Novemberr. 2004 http://www. mowahs. com/
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16. IDI, 23. Novemberr. 2004 http://www. mowahs. com/
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