When algorithms control the world

This BBC story based on a book by Eli Pariser 'The Filter Bubble', is interesting in how it explores the way algorithms affect our lives in unpredictable ways. An important example of this is the way so much financial trading is done by algorithms with no human interaction, with unpredictable consequences -

When algorithms control the world - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14306146.
23 August 2011

By Jane Wakefield

Technology reporter

"If you were expecting some kind warning when computers finally get smarter than us, then think again.

There will be no soothing HAL 9000-type voice informing us that our human services are now surplus to requirements.

In reality, our electronic overlords are already taking control, and they are doing it in a far more subtle way than science fiction would have us believe.

Their weapon of choice - the algorithm."

Careers in Academia - September - Vitae - Birmingham 13th Sep 2011

This is a useful free careers event for Vitae. Vitae are a very helpful organisation for researchers. I'll copy and paste the details below, from their website. More information and the booking form are available on the website -
http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/53174-382791/Careers-in-Academia---September-.html.

13th Sep 2011

"
This interactive one-day event is aimed at postgraduate researchers and will enable you to:

* review the current higher education environment
* meet with successful academics from a range of disciplines to hear how they advanced their academic career
*understand the balance required between skills, achievements and building your professional profile
*review where you are in your career, where you want to be and how to get there
*ask questions that you've always wanted to but weren't sure who to ask network with fellow researchers
*develop an action plan to strategically manage your career.

The research carried out by the UK's higher education sector is held in extremely high regard by the international community. In producing 8% of the world's scientific papers and 13% of the world's most highly cited works, the UK ranks second only to the USA. The UK's research staff are central to this achievement*.

Like most careers, there are many elements that are required in order to develop a successful academic career and these are not always transparent. This event addresses how to succeed in a competitive and complex research environment and will allow you to think about the pros and cons of different career options available.
"

World wide web celebrates 20th birthday - BBC News

This short video from BBC goes over the invention of the world wide web -

World wide web celebrates 20th birthday - BBC News - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14430076.

6 August 2011

"Exactly 20-years-ago today a modest British scientist launched his new invention. At the time, almost no-one noticed but it has since revolutionised our lives.

Tim Berners-Lee called his new invention the "world-wide-web".

Richard Westcott has been taking a look back at the technology that went on to change the world."

BBC Computing stories - NHS, Sun, Web blocking, IE browser Spoof

These are some interesting computing stories from the BBC website in the last 2 days.

3 August 2011

Pull plug on NHS e-records - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14378346
By Nick Triggle
Health correspondent, BBC News

"Ministers should consider pulling the plug on the central part of the NHS IT programme in England, MPs say.

The Public Accounts Committee said mounting problems with the electronic records system were making the £7bn project 'unworkable'."

3 August 2011

Government drops website blocking

"Plans to block websites that host copyright infringing material are to be dumped by the government.

Business secretary Vince Cable announced the change following a review of the policy by telecoms regulator Ofcom." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14372698

2 August 2011

Data of Sun website users stolen

"Thousands of people who entered competitions on The Sun website have been warned that their personal information may have been stolen.

The paper's publisher, News Group, said the data was taken when the site was hacked on 19 July." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14371738

3 August 2011

Internet Explorer story was bogus

"A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ than people who chose other browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax.

A number of media organisations, including the BBC, reported on the research, put out by Canadian firm ApTiquant." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14389430

My Publications on UWE Research Repository

I've been putting all my publications on to the UWE - University of the West of England, Bristol research repository. I'll list them below in order of publication. The repository makes publications available in Word/PowerPoint and PDF formats -

Hale, P., Scanlan, J., Hill, T., Nour, M., Bru, C., Jocelyn, A., Round, M. and Dunkley, M. (2001) Provision of a web based decision support system for wing box tooling. In: ICE 2001 (International Conference on Concurrent Enterprising), 23rd - 25th June, 2001, Bremen, Germany. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15279/.

Hale, P., Scanlan, J., Bru, C. and Dunkley, M. (2002) Preliminary findings from the DECIDE project. In: 9th International Conference on Concurrent Engineering ISPE/CE2002 Concurrent Engineering Conference, 2002, Cranfield University, UK. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15523/.

Hale, P., Scanlan, J. and Bru, C. (2003) Design and prototyping of knowledge management software for aerospace manufacturing. In: 10th ISPE International Conference on Concurrent Engineering ISPE/CE2003, 26th-30th July, 2003, Madeira, Portugal. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15355/.

Hale, P., Solomonides, T. and Beeson, I. (2009) Enabling diagrammatic de-abstraction and modelling of engineering problems. In: University of the West of England, Bristol, Graduate Conference, 15th June, 2009, Bristol, UK. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15112/.

Hale, P. (2010) User driven modelling and systematic interaction for end-user programming. In: Systems Research Showcase, 24th March, 2010, Bristol, UK. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15113/.

Hale, P., Solomonides, T., Beeson, I., Willey, N., Bultitude, K. and Reynolds, D. (2010) Requirements for phylogenetic tree visualisation: A user driven approach. In: BBSRC/AHRC Workshop on "The Challenges of Visualising Biological Data", 16th-17th November, 2010, Bristol, UK. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15118/.

Hale, P., Solomonides, T. and Beeson, I. (2011) Requirements and software engineering for tree-based visualisation and modelling: A user driven approach. In: Postgraduate Conference for Computing: Applications and Theory (PCCAT 2011), 8th June, 2011, Exeter University, Exeter, UK. - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15077/.

I have a Journal Publication to be accepted subject to amendments and the same for my PhD. When they're published I'll add these to the repository.

Systems Engineering Event, Bristol July 13th

This is an interesting and useful event in Bristol on Wednesday -

"INCOSE UK

The Bristol Local Group Presents
The Final Step - Getting Systems Into Service

Why does the final part of getting a system into service often follow a more protracted path than expected?

This event will look at this important part of the lifecycle from both a systems and a project management perspective to examine some of the pitfalls and issues that can occur, and some of the approaches that are used to mitigate against them. This interactive workshop based event will examine the following questions:

How should systems be engineered to achieve a controlled entry into Service?
How are systems engineered for entry into Service?
What needs to be done to bridge the gap?
Date: Wednesday 13th July – 6.30pm for 7pm till 9pm

Location: Room 1N05, University of the West of England (UWE), Frenchay Campus, Bristol

NON-MEMBERS WELCOME.

This event is free, and refreshments will be provided, however to ensure appropriate catering arrangements can be made please register online at: .
http://www.incoseonline.org.uk/EventBooking/AutoBooking/MainPage.aspx?CatID=Events&EventID=165."

PCCAT Exeter University Conference Paper June 8th 2011

This is the paper and presentation I gave for Postgraduate Conference for Computing: Applications and Theory (PCCAT 2011) - June 8th 2011 - http://www.pccat.ex.ac.uk/index.php?pid=1

The paper is titled - Requirements and software engineering for tree-based visualisation and modelling: A user driven approach

This is the link where I placed it in the University of the West of England Research Repository. The PowerPoint presentation I gave is also there. There are Word and PowerPoint 2007 files and also PDF versions. These are all available from this link - https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/15077/.
This is the abstract -

Abstract

This paper is about potential to provide an interactive visual ontology/taxonomy based modelling system. The research is part of efforts to structure, manage, and enable understanding of complex engineering, business and/or scientific information to enable those involved to collaborate using a systems approach. The aim and objectives are to provide a taxonomy management system to close the link between requirements gathering and end-user modellers. The research is into modelling of product data structures. This research could be adapted to business process modelling, and biology taxonomy visualisation/representation. The modelling system was developed to assist decision support for problems such as wing and engine design. The methodology involves modelling using tree structured ontology based modelling. It is argued that visualising this structure enables improved Maintenance, Extensibility, Ease of Use, and Sharing of Information, and so enables better and more accessible modelling. This is achieved by uniting the software taxonomy structure with the structure of the domain to be modelled and visualised, and using Semantic Web technologies to link this with ontologies and to end-users for visualisation. This research assists with management of development, use, and re-use of software in order to make this an integrated process. The research brings together related fields of Semantic Web, End-User Programming, and Modelling, to assist domain expert end users.

Further information -

I've published my more general thoughts about the benefits of Postgraduate Conferences and Research Repositories to students, in the UK Vitae (organisation for research students and staff) - What's Up Doc Blog - http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/346441/Whats-up-doc-blog-for-postgraduate-researchers.html. I publish my thoughts that are more general to all researchers rather than my specific research to there -this is my post to that blog - http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/346441-406701/Getting-your-Research-Published---PostGraduate-Conferences.html.

Development of the Internet - Timeline

Alexandra L. Hanchar-Martinez emailed me details of his Internet Timeline educational resource. This is a useful resource so I provide the links below -

History Of The Internet Timeline -
Technology Milestones In The Development Of The Internet
Updated June 13th, 2011

http://www.high-speed-internet-access-guide.com/articles/internet-timeline.html -

"As of 2011, the Internet has become an accepted part of everyday life. Despite our daily reliance upon this technological marvel, to many of us, how it came to be is still a mystery. This brief Internet timeline details how the Internet was started, which major technological milestones affected its development, how it is used for communication today, and where the Internet is headed in 2011 and beyond."

Researching this led me also to this teaching resource -

KHS Teacher Resources - http://www.khsteachers.org/.

Exeter University June 8th - PCCAT 2011 Timetable

This is the timetable for the Exeter University PCCAT Conference June 8th (Postgraduate Conference for Computing: Applications and Theory) -

Timetable and travel advice -

Programme (link to PDF doc) and Map - http://www.pccat.ex.ac.uk/on-the-day.php.

Programme (PDF doc) - http://www.pccat.ex.ac.uk/files/programme.pdf.

My talk is scheduled at 2.30 pm - This is -

"Requirements and Software Engineering for Tree-based Visualisation and Modelling - a User Driven Approach
Peter Hale, Tony Solomonides and Ian Beeson
University of the West of England, UWE"

This is my Revised abstract -

Abstract
This paper is about potential to provide an interactive visual ontology/taxonomy based modelling system. The research is part of efforts to structure, manage, and enable understanding of complex engineering, business and/or scientific information to enable those involved to collaborate using a systems approach. The aim and objectives are to provide a taxonomy management system to close the link between requirements gathering and end-user modellers. The research is into modelling of product data structures. This research could be adapted to business process modelling, and biology taxonomy visualisation/representation. The modelling system was developed to assist decision support for problems such as wing and engine design. The methodology involves modelling using tree structured ontology based modelling. It is argued that visualising this structure enables improved Maintenance, Extensibility, Ease of Use, and Sharing of Information, and so enables better and more accessible modelling. This is achieved by uniting the software taxonomy structure with the structure of the domain to be modelled and visualised, and using Semantic Web technologies to link this with ontologies and to end-users for visualisation. This research assists with management of development, use, and re-use of software in order to make this an integrated process. The research brings together related fields of Semantic Web, End-User Programming, and Modelling, to assist domain expert end users.

Vitae - What makes a successful researcher? invitation to take part in a focus group June 15th London

This is a forum organised by Vitae who assist research stuents and staff in their development. Vitae will refund travel expenses for this focus group.

This is the event description and contact details copied and pasted from Vitae :-

The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) is a comprehensive new approach to enhancing the careers of researchers. It was developed through interviews with successful researchers in a range of disciplines. It encourages you to identify your strengths and prioritise your professional development. Divided into four domains and 63 descriptors it covers all the skills and attributes to become a successful researcher. The RDF enables you to consider skills and experiences that will enhance your career prospects and articulate your knowledge, behaviours and attributes to employers. It is not exclusive to people hoping to pursue an academic career (there are some frequently asked questions on the RDF).

The RDF has been incorporated into a 'Professional Development Planner' to allow you to identify the areas you want to develop further, create an action plan and record evidence of your progress. You can use it to help you plan for your long term career ambitions but also to make a feasible short term plan. The planner allows you to set targeted aspirational goals. For each descriptor there are successive phases of ability. Read the phases and decide which phase best describes you currently (with as much evidence as possible). Decide where you would like to be and come up with an action plan with realistic goals and time lines to get you there (using training, experience, practice, networking etc.)

I will be starting a pilot on using the RDF planner next week, culminating in a focus group in London on 15 June. This is a great chance for you to focus on your personal development and get help drawing up your action plan. It is also an opportunity for you to inform the development of a powerful career tool for all researchers in the UK. Your input would be invaluable in ensuring the Researcher Development Framework is an effective personal, professional and career enhancing resource for postgraduate researchers and research staff.

We’ll refund travel expenses for the focus group. Please send me an email at tennie.videler@vitae.ac.uk to take part or get some more information, ideally before 1 June.

Looking forward to seeing some of you on 15 June!

The value of an EngD in Systems – what an EngD did for me

This is a useful event for anyone interested in EngDs or in engineering R and D in general. The event is organised by University of Bristol, involving INCOSE Bristol Group also.

This is the description by INCOSE Bristol group of the event :-

"Want to know more about the Engineering Doctorate in Systems? In a spirit of inclusivity, this INCOSE BLG event forms part of the University of Bristol's Second Annual Research Conference for Engineering Doctorate in Systems, and will include refreshments on arrival, a poster session by 50 Research Engineers, talks from two Research Engineers who have recently completed their EngD courses, and a Q&A session with the Systems Centre staff.

Delegates wishing to attend the main University of Bristol event can find more information here: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/eng-systems-centre/events/2011/conference-engd.html. The University of Bristol has kindly reserved 20 places for delegates who usually attend INCOSE BLG meetings, but these are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration for the main event needs to be done directly with the University of Bristol, not INCOSE UK. "
Date: Tuesday 24th May – 5.30pm for 6pm till 8pm

Location:Room 1.01-1.01a, Merchant Venturers Building, University of Bristol, Woodlands Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB.

NON-MEMBERS WELCOME.

This event is free, and refreshments will be provided, however to ensure appropriate catering arrangements can be made please register online at: http://www.incoseonline.org.uk/EventBooking/AutoBooking/MainPage.aspx?CatID=Events&EventID=187."

Computer Software, Users and Trust

I'm at the What's up Doc Research Blogging training event today and very much enjoying it - http://www1.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/346441/Whats-up-doc-blog-for-postgraduate-researchers.html.

I wrote this post on the train from Bristol to Birmingham, I've just been working on my PhD changes and on an NVQ 2 in business admin. I often undertake vocational training to keep my research focused. The combination of the PhD changes, Communications Unit I just finished, and the What's up Doc? event hashelped me generate this post.

Communication is the key to successful computing, so this involves person to person, person to computer, and computer to person communication.

For some tasks the person does not need to know how the computer is doing the tasks. Feedback is still very important. For example when applying formatting to a document a person does not need to know how the computer processes this, only how it's applied. Just like in person to person communication what is needed is trust. The software provides feedback illustrating what has been done. The person then trusts that what he or she has intended has been done. A failure of trust may occur when formatting on screen and in print preview looks a certain way and the printout looks different. That loss of trust affects the quality of user interaction for the task, the application such as the word processor, and the persons' trust in computers and computer applications.

For modelling and calculation, the user seeing the results is not enough to establish trust. When taught maths at school we were taught 'show your working'. We could get follow through marks even if our result was wrong, because exactly where the mistake happened could be seen. The same is true for computer systems, they must show the whole calculation chain. The more complex the calculation, then the more effort is needed to ensure good representation, visualisation, and interaction with the calculation including the 'workings'. This must be done in an audit trail that is developed with the users in mind. Then as users have different needs it should be possible to choose different visualisations. More advanced users may want to create and edit their own model and visualisation. This is where the end-user programming/modelling comes in.

The user needs to be able to interact with the way models/calculations are performed to create and edit them, and choose how they display. The more this can be achieved via diagrammatic programming skills such as drag and drop, then the wider the range of people that can model/program this way.

For written information also, trust is required, this is often called 'provenance' in science for example, who is the source? and can they be trusted. Wikipedia documents show an audit trail of changes. A more structured and visualised view of sources and provenance helps a user track these sources and establishes trust in the document writers (if the trust is deserved), the document, and the document management system. Semantic Web based systems based on RDF (Resource Description Framework) can track these relationships of provenance/trust. Visualising and enabling of user interaction with this would enable trust built on greater user interaction.

Users aren't stupid, so developers should always enable the maximum interaction that is necessary and useful, then trust the user to get it right, but leave them a way of backing out when they make a mistake.

What's up doc? Blog Training Day - Attending May 12th - Birmingham

I'm delighted to have been accepted for this event, and looking forward to going on May 12th. It's a good opportunity for me.

I'll include the details below -

"Blog Training Day - a few places still left!

12 May 2011, Birmingham

'What's up doc?' is a new blog which provides a forum for postgraduate researchers to share experience, give information and tips on matters relevant to them in a fun, yet informed way.

As part of the launch we will run a free blog training day in Birmingham on 12 May. Apart from learning what makes a good blog post, we will also explore how to increase your online profile. To apply:

post an example of an article on the
'What's up doc?' blog
send an email outlining why you want to be involved, what discipline your research is in and what you would do to champion 'What's up doc?' to tennie.videler@vitae.ac.uk before 9 May.
We will select applicants based on this and reimburse reasonable travel expenses. Places are limited.

http://www.vitae.ac.uk/whatsupdoc"

The Human Semantic Web - Further Reflection

The web is a useful environment for enabling people to add their knowledge in both a less structured Web 2.0 way (development of less structured but interactive web tools/programs), and a more structured Semantic Web way. The greater interaction in the Web 2.0 approach at least makes it more likely that Semantic disagreements will be spotted, but it takes the structuring in the Semantic Web approach to then show the meaning of terms more clearly and unambiguously so that agreement or disagreement about and mapping of terms can be reached. This then makes possible Naeve’s (2005) ‘Semantic Collaboration’ through and also defining the ‘Human Semantic Web’ that Naeve advocates. This then enables moving on from the Web being an environment only for simple tasks to one where sophisticated programs and models could be run that enable calculation and decision support.

This combination in approaches of enabling greater human interaction, and more definition of semantics can be illustrated by adapting the table displayed in my previous post.

Table - Language and Tool Mapping - Further Development



















Thus Increased Semantic Structuring and Collaboration from right to left, combined with Increased Human Interaction from bottom to top makes it more possible to undertake modelling and programming because the information is then well mapped and structured, and made available for visualisation and human interaction. On reflection AJAX/Web 2.0 technology spans more than one part of this diagram depending on the emphasis of whether to structure it and/or enable greater interaction. To reach the top left of the diagram requires layered use of technology as per the diagram developed by Berners-Lee (2000) and also McGuinness (2003). This layering of technology is needed in order to translate from the computer centred representations in the bottom right to the human centred representations and modelling in the top left. Human centred representations are too abstract for computers and computer centred representations are too abstract for humans. Therefore the technologies in the top left are not superior to those below and to the right as they need to be built on those technologies. Further there is more than one way to reach the top left, e.g. along the diagonal arrow from Naeve’s (2005) Semantic Isolation through Semantic Coexistence to Semantic Collaboration, or by moving up then left, or left then up. Following the diagonal arrow based on Naeve’s analysis is best for planning and building such a project from the start, but the other forms of navigation might be the best way to build on an existing project that has already been moving in a particular direction, that is not on this diagonal arrow.

References

Berners-Lee, T., (2000) Semantic Web on XML – Slide 10 - http://www.w3.org/2000/Talks/1206-xml2k-tbl/slide10-0.html

McGuinness, D. L., 2003. Ontologies Come of Age. In: Dieter Fensel, Jim Hendler, Henry Lieberman, and Wolfgang Wahlster, ed. Spinning the Semantic Web: Bringing the World Wide Web to Its Full Potential. MIT Press, 2003.

Naeve, A., 2005, The Human Semantic Web – Shifting from Knowledge Push to Knowledge Pull. International Journal of Semantic Web and Information Systems (IJSWIS), Vol 1(3) (July-September 2005) pp 1-30.

Naeve - http://kmr.nada.kth.se/wiki/Amb/HomePage

The Human Semantic Web

My thoughts on the work of Naeve http://kmr.nada.kth.se/wiki/Amb/HomePage and Enoksson on the Human Semantic Web and implementation of Concept Maps.

Enoksson (2006) explains the advantages for extensibility of an open standard language, he used RDF for Conceptual Browsing on the Semantic Web. Enoksson (2006) models things with concept maps that break an overall ontology down into concept sub-ontologies/taxonomies.

Naeve (2005) argue that “combining the human semantics of UML with the machine semantics of RDF enables more efficient and user-friendly forms of human-computer interaction.” Using UML for production of ontologies is as advocated by Baclawski et al. (2001) and Kogut et al. (2002), and Enoksson (2006). Naeve (2005) examines this strong separation between types (classes), and instances (objects) and considers this to be a weakness, which he rectifies for ULM (Unified Language Modeling) developed from UML.

Naeve (2005) gives an example of the need for “semantic mapping” between different words with the same meaning such as ‘author’ in one ontology and ‘creator’ in another ontology in order to establish interoperability and machine readability.

The Table below shows tools, technologies, and languages that can assist in this, and where they are based in a hierarchy from low level information centred interaction to high level user centred interaction (bottom to top), and computing focused to human focused representation (right to left). The Table also shows how each tool fits in with Naeve’s (2005) analysis based on “characteristics of the three different semantic stages” of “Semantic Isolation, Semantic Coexistence, and Semantic Collaboration” :-

Table - Language and Tool Mapping















Naeve (2005) describes Semantic Isolation where databases are available but hidden behind web portals, though the portals advertise their address. Semantic Coexistence is achieved by databases being structured in such a way that it is possible to search them without having to know their location. Naeve gives the example of RDF Schema - RDF(S), this standardises the structuring of the information across RDF(S) databases. RDF(S) provides standardised elements for the description of ontologies, so assisting to enable Semantic mapping. Semantic mapping enables Semantic Coexistence due to Semantic mapping enabling agreement on terms. For the table above the argument presented is that high level user centred interaction (bottom to top), and computing focused to human focused representation (right to left), enable Semantic Coexistence. The tools in the top left are built from those below and to the right of them so the Semantic Coexistence is built from Berners Lee’s (2000) Layered Architecture. Naeve (2005) argues the need for semantics that are understandable to humans as well as machines. That is an important objective of the research outlined in my thesis as without semantics that are understandable to humans, it is not possible for non programmer domain experts to undertake collaborative modelling. Naeve (2005) discusses a bottom up approach where there is a set process of deciding what can be agreed on, what cannot, and on documenting both.

Naeve (2005) argues that where knowledge is tacit it is vital to keep track of the individuals or groups who have this tacit knowledge, and that also the ‘Human Semantic Web’ can help elevate tacit knowledge to explicit.

References

Baclawski, K., Mieczyslaw, K., Kogut, P., Hart, L., Smith, J., Holmes, W., Letkowski, J., Aronson, M., 2001. Extending UML to Support Ontology Engineering for the Semantic Web. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on The Unified Modeling Language, Modeling Languages, Concepts, and Tools, pp 342-360.

Berners-Lee, T., (2000) Semantic Web on XML – Slide 10
http://www.w3.org/2000/Talks/1206-xml2k-tbl/slide1-0.html

Enoksson, N. (2006) Serverside Solution for Conceptual Browsing on the Semantic Web. MSc. Dissertation, Stockholm University.

Kogut, P., Cranefield, S., Hart, L., Dutra, M., Baclawski, K., Kokar, M., Smith, J., 2002. UML for Ontology Development. The Knowledge Engineering Review Vol 17(1) pp 61-64.

Naeve, A., 2005, The Human Semantic Web – Shifting from Knowledge Push to Knowledge Pull. International Journal of Semantic Web and Information Systems (IJSWIS), Vol 1(3) (July-September 2005) pp 1-30.

How Ontology and Modelling Tools were chosen for my PhD

The modelling tool Vanguard System was chosen because it handles Units and uncertainty well something that was necessary for the DATUM project with Rolls-Royce as partners (Scanlan et. al, 2006). The same advantage was the case for the PhD because of the need for extensibility such as risk and uncertainty modelling. Other advantages of Vanguard System were ease of installation and use, ease of linking to spreadsheets and databases, facilities for web enabling of models, and the ease with which formulae can be entered and linked with a high level programming language where necessary (similar to spreadsheets but with a tree based user interface). Experimentation with Protégé showed it was possible to translate the Protégé tree into a Vanguard System tree. This fit in well with the stepped translation to be developed. The open standard nature of Protégé made it possible to use this software without being locked in to it. Tools such as TopBraid Composer can provide additional higher level functionality such as an improved user interface and more tools for user interaction and modelling by end-users so is future work.
There was a need for the DATUM project and for the PhD to minimise programming, so Jena was not used, but Leavers' (2008) MSc project used this effectively, and there was regular contact with the developers of ACUITy (Aragones et. al., 2006), to examine how that more software centred approach was used. Given more time that approach could have been used. Metatomix M3t4 was also used effectively as a high level tool to interact with Jena. So results of research with Jena and/or ACUITy and m3t4 would have shown similar results to the approach of using Protégé and Vanguard System.
These types of tools improve with research and development each year so reproducing this research is becoming easier. New ways of modelling at high level with involvement of end-users is thus practical.

References

Jena - A Semantic Web Framework for Java [online]. Available from: http://jena.sourceforge.net/ [Accessed 21 April 2011].

Leaver, N. (2008) Using RDF as an Enabling Technology. MSc. Dissertation, University of the West of England, Bristol.

Metatomix M3t4 Dashboard [online]. Available from: http://wiki.m3t4.com/homepage.action [Accessed 21 April 2011].

Protégé Welcome to Protégé [online]. Available from: http://protege.stanford.edu/
[Accessed 21 April 2011].

Scanlan, J., Rao, A., Bru, C., Hale, P., Marsh, R., 2006. DATUM Project: Cost Estimating Environment for Support of Aerospace Design Decision Making. Journal of Aircraft, 43(4).

TopBraid Composer, The Complete Semantic Modeling Toolset [online]. Available from: http://www.topquadrant.com/products/TB_Composer.html [Accessed 21 April 2011].

Vanguard System [online]. Available from: http://www.vanguardsw.com/solutions/application/modeling-and-simulation/
[Accessed 21 April 2011].

What's up doc? Join the blog for postgraduate researchers - My case for an invite

This relates to my previous post of April 7th about the research blogging event in Birmingham next month. I've posted to their blog and emailed them to make my case for inclusion. This is my post to their 'What's up doc?' blog - Postgraduate Conference for Computing: Applications and Theory (PCCAT 2011). The post itself is about a different event, a computing Conference at Exeter University and the abstract of my paper for that.

What's up doc? Join the blog for postgraduate researchers

Below are details of an interesting event about blogs for and by researchers :-

'What's up doc?' is a new blog which provides a forum for postgraduate researchers to share experience, give information and tips on matters relevant to them in a fun, yet informed way.

It replaces GRADBritain, which has been a popular online magazine written by and for postgraduate researchers studying in the UK.

As part of the launch we will run a free blog training day in Birmingham on 12 May. Apart from learning what makes a good blog post, we will also explore how to increase your online profile. To apply:

* post an example of an article on the 'What's up doc?' blog

* send an email outlining why you want to be involved, what discipline your research is in and what you would do to champion 'What's up doc?' to tennie.videler@vitae.ac.uk before 25 April.

We will select applicants based on this and reimburse reasonable travel expenses. Places are limited.

Systems Research Showcase - Bristol, UK, 30th March

I presented at this event last year. This is a good event for anyone wanting to find out about the latest doctoral level research in Systems Engineering.

The details are below :-

"The Bristol Local Group Presents
Systems Research Showcase
Once again, the Industrial Doctorate Centre at the University of Bristol invites you to its Knowledge Exchange Suite in Woodlands Road to see a cross section of systems research activities being undertaken by the region's universities.

This is an opportunity for researchers to see the work of others in similar fields, and for practitioners to discuss the application of systems research with those currently immersed in its investigation and use.

Date: Wednesday 30th March – 6.30pm for 7pm till 9pm

Location: Knowledge Exchange Suite, Ground Floor, Merchant Venturers Building University of Bristol, Woodlands Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB.

NON-MEMBERS WELCOME.

This event is free, and refreshments will be provided, however to ensure appropriate catering arrangements can be made please register online at: www.incoseonline.org.uk/EventBooking/AutoBooking/MainPage.aspx?CatID=Events&EventID=163. "

Postgraduate Conference for Computing: Applications and Theory (PCCAT 2011)

I have submitted a paper to this conference at Exeter University in June. These are the details of the conference - http://www.pccat.ex.ac.uk/ -

"Home Page
Welcome to the website of the second Postgraduate Conference for Computing: Applications and Theory (PCCAT 2011). Following the great success of PCCAT 2010, we are pleased to announce that the University of Exeter will host PCCAT on 8th June 2011.

PCCAT 2010 proved a great success, both in terms of networking and introducing the vital world of conferencing to postgraduate students.

We are inviting the submission of abstracts, which if accepted will be extended into either a short paper or a poster for presentation on the day. More details can be found on the Submissions Page

In the new year, we will be inviting interested parties to join the paper review panel, which will be responsible for reviewing and providing feedback for short papers. If this is something you feel you would be interested in, please contact us (details of how to contact the committee are here

We hope to see you at PCCAT 2011, and look forward to hearing from you.


Max Dupenois and David Walker
(PCCAT 2011 Programme Chairs)"

This is my Abstract for the paper -

"Abstract: This paper is about potential to provide an interactive visual taxonomy management system. It has been and is part of efforts to structure, manage, and enable understanding of complex engineering, business and/or scientific information to enable those involved to collaborate using a systems approach. The aim and objectives are to close the link between requirements gathering and end-user modellers. The main subject will be editing and display of product data structures (already implemented), business process modelling, and discussion of possible application to phylogenic/phylogenetic (biology taxonomy) knowledge. Modelling in all these areas could make possible new insights. This approach could also be used for public understanding work and visualisation, e-science, and information management. The aim is to apply novel end-user programming research to enable the editing, management, and representation of anything tree/taxonomy based by uniting the software taxonomy structure with the taxonomy structure of the domain to be modelled and visualised, and using Semantic Web technologies to link this with overall ontologies then to end-users for visualisation.

The purpose of this work is to ease management of development use, and re-use of software and make this a continuous integrated process.

To achieve the above aim what is necessary is to establish or link to a computing infrastructure for representation of complex, engineering, business, and scientific information. This kind of Computer Science/Software Engineering research allows for bringing together related fields of Semantic Web and ontology/taxonomy management, end-user programming, and visualisation and interaction with complex information. Then management of software development with and for such professionals can be eased and all be involved via the web.

Further, the structure and accessibility of Semantic Web technologies may also assist with broadening this approach to accessibility for people with various disabilities, and also for environmental modelling."