PhD Viva Result

I have passed my PhD Viva subject to the usual obligations to make agreed amendments. These amendments are minor but extensive.

I'm relieved and delighted with this result, and these amendments will feed into my blog.

Feedback that I've got from comments and surveys on the blog and websites has been a massive help to me.

Thank you to my PhD team, Tony Solomonides and Ian Beeson, and everyone else who assisted me.

Open Standard Layered Architecture Tools

This diagram examines my thinking for 2009-10. This reflects the need to build up from layers of simpler generic information representation and tools that are generic. For representation of information this is more high level and more customised, less generic from right to left. For modelling this is more high level and less generic from bottom to top. Greater use of computer to human translation increases the modelling capabilities. Good interoperability improves the ease of translation, and the layering of simpler information formats with more complex and less generic layers built on top.

Thus it is possible to build on layers of generic solutions from bottom right, and get as far as possible towards the top left, building re-usable solutions before at some point building a final layer of a more customised less generic solution.

This approach maximises re-use and improves maintenance.

Open Standard Layered Architecture for computer to human translation

This diagram shows a central infrastructure of an open standards layered architecture. This enables interoperability at the Computer to computer layer. This gives advantages to developers for maintenance and re-use. This infrastructure aids translation from computer and developers upwards, to end users. Visualising the model/program structure translated upward from code to a navigable interactive visualisation enables accessibility, thus assisting with modelling and end user programming. This infrastructure that aids computer to computer interoperability thus also aids human to human collaboration. This all aids ease of use and re-use of models/programs also.

So far this translation has been enabled upwards from computer to human. Future research could involve translation from human to computer and interaction to make this an iterative, interactive life-cycle process.

Abstract and Poster - BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) Workshop

BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) Workshop - 16th and 17th November 2010 - Abstract and Poster - Requirements for Phylogenetic Tree Visualisation - A User Driven Approach - Authors: Peter Hale, Tony Solomonides, Ian Beeson, Neil Willey, Karen Bultitude, Darren Reynolds

Abstract: This poster presentation is about potential to provide an interactive visual taxonomy management system. It will be part of our efforts to structure, manage, and enable understanding of complex scientific information to enable scientists to collaborate using a systems approach. The main subject will be editing and display of phylogenic/phylogenetic knowledge, this could make possible new insights. The project will build on the knowledge of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (FHLS) in this biological field, the FHLS Science Communication Unit’s excellent public understanding work and the visualisation, e-science, and information management abilities of the Centre for Complex Cooperative Systems (CCCS) The CCCS team will apply novel end-user programming research to enable the editing, management and representation of biological and environmental information including phylogenetic trees.

UWE has established a computing infrastructure for representation of complex scientific information, has in depth experience in applied scientific research, and on public understanding of science outreach. UWE Computer Science research allows for bringing together related fields of Semantic Web and ontology/taxonomy management, end-user programming, and visualisation and interaction with complex information.

Although web based taxonomies already exist, there are still opportunities to improve the visualisation and interactivity capabilities of taxonomy representation. In addition, Semantic Web techniques can enable automated structuring and management of information.

This research in management, structuring, and visualisation of information will enable visualisation of complex e-science problems to assist in enabling understanding of them, and the CCCS centre has many years of experience in gathering and enabling representations of such problems. This will enable the UWE Science Communication Unit to manage a process of making information managed in this project public. The main scientific information will be based on the work of experienced Faculty of Applied Science (FAS) researchers in Biology and Environmental Sciences. These staff have many years of research experience and much research data to make publicly available, such as phylogenetic information. The taxonomy management system will enable the use of such information and a methodology for its representation and contextualisation in varied interactive ways, according to what is most useful for particular people and types of information. This could be applied to the field of phylogenetic systematic in order to combine biological and environmental approaches and solutions.

UWE has used this technology and approach to visualise engineering product data structures and processes, but there is no reason why this strategy could not be applied to visualisation of phylogenetic taxonomy structures and to the debate on how to classify life forms which is an ontology matter. The use of visualisation via end-user HCI advances and the Semantic Web can widen this debate.

Poster - https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bx_KguSfl6vSZDM2ZGY3ZjMtOTNlZi00YmJjLWI2MWItODJjNWRmYmVmNzNh&hl=en.

Research intelligence - Damming the 'data deluge'

This is an article in the Times Higher Education about an interesting workshop that I'll be attending -

Research intelligence - Damming the 'data deluge'
7 October 2010

By Neha Popat

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=413722&c=2

"A workshop aims to bring design to bear on increasingly complex scientific information. Neha Popat reports

Rapid advances in the technology and methods used in research have undoubtedly yielded great benefits for scientists and society at large.

But the new techniques have also resulted in a surge in both the volume and complexity of the information researchers are expected to analyse.

The challenges of coping with this "data deluge" have been recognised by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. They are working in tandem to address the lack of "visualisation" techniques available to present biological data in a user-friendly way.

David McAllister, the strategy and policy manager at the BBSRC, said visualisation was not just about how information is presented on web pages or other electronic media.

"Rather, it is about how researchers can handle and present their data in ways in which new and better analyses can take place. For example, spreadsheets are a good way to store large amounts of numerical data, but are less good as tools for spotting a particular pattern or trend," he said.

To examine the problem, a workshop to be held jointly by the two research councils next month, titled The Challenges of Visualising Biological Data, will bring biologists together with researchers in other disciplines to discuss the difficulties they face and provide insights into how large and complex datasets can be 'fully exploited'."

I'm looking forward to it and designing a poster for it. It's 16th and 17th November invitation only due to numbers, but I hope to link to whatever is put online.

Peter Hale

BBC News - Who'd Be a Web Scientist? - 29 September 2010

This is a very an interesting BBC article about a Semantic Web conference :-

"Bill Thompson thinks you can treat the web as an object of scientific study.

I've spent two days this week at the Royal Society in London sitting in the front row of their Web Science conference as one of the nominated 'Twitter chairs'.

It may not sound much, but along with Jamillah Knowles from Radio 5 Live's Outriders and Les Carr from the University of Southampton, I had the interesting task of attempting to manage the conversation about the conference taking place on the Twitter social network.

All the while, speakers as distinguished as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Dame Wendy Hall and professors Nigel Shadbolt, Jonathan Zittrain and Manuel Castells speak on stage."

BBC News - Who'd Be a Web Scientist? - 29 September 2010 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11425795

Ways of providing openness in a web age

What interests me is the implications of this report on the need for and ways of providing research information. A change is necessary in order to find ways to involve and inform people in an age of blogs, Wikis, and Web 2.0/3.0 and Semantic Web.

Further it is important then to be able to visualise complex data and uncertainty in combination with text, so that it is understandable and conveys the true meaning. This is a problem that in itself needs research.


CRU climate scientists 'did not withold data' - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10538198.stm

By Richard Black

Environment correspondent, BBC News

Climate e-mails review condemns lack of openness - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2010/07/climate_emails_review_condemns.html

Martin Rosenbaum

Semantic Web Advantages

I think the main advantages of the Semantic Web are structuring of information, leading to adaptability of systems to changes and flexibility for a fast paced fast changing world. This also helps with extensibility of the system and/or of its use by increased numbers and range of types of user/contributor.

User Driven Modelling/Programming - Overall Aims

The aim for this research has for some time been to enable empowerment and indepedence of people creating models/programs within their team from :-

• Changes in the strategy of the organisation or the environment in which it operates.
• Changes in the software environment, e.g. what software the IT services will allow.
• Problems in having time and skills for learning and using computer languages.
• Difficulties in visualising and representing the software created.
• Difficulties in enabling collaboration.
• Inaccessibility of software created, caused by use of proprietary, department only, or specialist software.
• Maintenance problems.
• Mistakes in reuse, caused by lack of visualisation and representation of previous use.

The means for this is development of diagrammatic visualised software over the web as far as possible, where the visualisation matches the structure and therefore enables the collaborion by cutting through uneccessary barriers.

The main possible uses so far are models/problems that suit a tree/network based structure, such as process modelling, business modelling, and scientific taxonomies, and family trees.

European Healthgrids: A glimpse of the future? - Tony Solomonides

Interesting and useful talk :-

European Healthgrids: A glimpse of the future?
Start: 20/04/2010 - 19:00
End: 20/04/2010 - 21:00
Speaker: Tony Solomonides
City of Bristol College, Bristol

Following a number of grid projects for health and biomedical research, Tony Solomonides led the development of the integrated road map for healthgrid research and deployment in the SHARE project. He has since focussed on two open problems in that field: live knowledge management in a healthgrid and automatic privacy and confidentiality negotiation also in a healthgrid. Having set the scene with an outline of projects and the road map, Tony will report on his and his students' work in healthgrids. - http://www.bristol.bcs.org.uk/?q=node/87.

Empowering engineers and others to create software

With my PhD work, there was extensive prototyping of software solutions created and feedback from engineers. At first engineers tended to ask for software that followed the strategy of the business and met its deadlines. What emerged over time though was a desire from engineers to have more control over the software so that they could do this themselves and have input into this strategy. With a top down strategy and inflexible software and rules about what can be used and installed, missing of deadlines, and problems in meeting aims were built into the system, and engineers realised this.

So even in engineering, an industry that by its nature has to be conservative, due to safety needs, it is realised that empowerment is necessary in software development. So there was a need to empower the engineers by provision of collaborative software that could be installed and used as easily as possible and be adaptable. Empowering the engineers to be fully involved in the creation and maintenance of such software, because they're interested in the software and what it can do, was essential to make the use, re-use and maintenance of the software practical. This is necessary because it would not be possible to achieve application of useful software by any top down strategy, with limited involvement of higher managers and software suppliers. Visualisation and modelling of the software by a large range of people can be achieved by use of diagrams to show the problem and software structure, as part of the software and how it is used.

Further feedback was obtained from others via an online survey of a greater cross section of others rather than only engineers. This bore out that people want more control and involvement in software development and use, and that visual editing of the software over the web is the best way to achieve this.

Unified Computing For Engineering, Business and Science

The research undertaken and described here crosses the boundary between engineering and computing. This is achieved by reusing the same approach for computer modelling and engineering modelling, thus applying computing use case and tree based node and object design. This approach is usable for any kind of tree and network based modelling e.g. engineering process modelling, workflow, business process modelling. The approach makes use of nodes linked by equations, or pure taxonomies if equations aren't required, thus making this useful for taxonomies, and useful for representing computing structures, biology, and engineering structure. When these taxonomies are linked up, they can then be used for a colour coded visualised ontology super taxonomy, of sub taxonomies e.g. processes, materials, components (engineering or computer software), resources, and cost rates.

The visualisation represents the structure of the model, and the structure of the problem, creating a unified approach for systematic program and model, computing and engineering, business, and biology structure representation. This makes structured representation much clearer than it can be in a flat structure such as a spreadsheet, and makes auditing and keeping track of changes easier.

This unified approach then enables representation of the problem at a high level of abstraction and if the optional equations are included aids process modelling and decision support. This high level of abstraction and structured representation and visualisation makes errors more obvious and findable, aiding auditing. Semantic Web and Web 2.0/3.0 technologies make this approach feasible for moving this approach from more complex to simple low end computing and networking the approach where useful or necessary.

My INCOSE/Bristol University presentation for 24th March

Downloadable PowerPoint newest version -
http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bx_KguSfl6vSYTg5NTVhYTAtODFkOS00Njc0LTkzZWYtYjQ0NmE4YmRmNTI3.

Downloadable PowerPoint 1997-2003 version -
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bx_KguSfl6vSZjg5ZGYzOTUtZTc0Ny00OGQ5LWE4NzUtN2YwZWY3M2Q3NTg4&hl=en

Abstract

User Driven Modelling and Systematic Interaction for End-User Programming

This talk discusses PhD research (just submitted) into building a systematic infrastructure and capability, and how to solve problems which could hamper this. This approach is based on creation of systems that can be customised to produce other systems and models, and translation from abstract diagrammatic representations to computer representations. The conclusion explains how this approach to modelling and end-user programming enables interoperability, and collaboration, and that this assists with Maintenance, Extensibility, Ease of Use, and Sharing of Information.

Systems Engineering is involved in the analysis of the relating of interdisciplinary research requirements, in both engineering and computing, for this research. Systems engineering is also important in that the application area of modelling, for aerospace (Airbus and Rolls-Royce) has been one where complex engineering products are created, and a systematic approach is needed. Further to this the research has required systematic production of systems that in turn must be usable by a wide range of users to produce and share their customised engineering models.


24/03/2010 - 24/03/201018:30
Bristol Local GroupUniversity of Bristol, venue is TBA.
Systems Research Showcase Following on from last year’s popular event, this event will provide another chance to see some of the latest postgraduate research in the systems arena being conducted in the south west. This event will take place at the University of Bristol.

There is 1 Document for this event, click here to view
To book for this event, please click here.

Translation between models/programs

As well as user to computer translation, an important area of research is similar semi-automated translation between computer programs and models. Much of the structure of programs/models is the same regardless of what particular programming language is used. Making translations of a program/model available on multiple systems by translation from one to the other eases maintenance and re-use and widens availability. Also involving users in such a process would enable sharing and understanding of models/programs, so aiding Decision Support.

A history of end user programming - SiftMedia

SiftMedia have published online this article of mine.

03-Feb-10

A brief history of the evolution of computer programming from the 60s to the present day, by Peter Hale.

- http://www.knowledgeboard.com/item/3058/23/5/3.

User Driven Modelling and Systematic Interaction for End-User Programming

This is the abstract of a talk I'll give to - Systems Research Showcase, INCOSE UK, Bristol Local Group, Wednesday 24th March 2010 - at Bristol University -

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/systemscentre/news/2010/incoseblg.html.

This talk discusses PhD research (just submitted) into building a systematic infrastructure and capability, and how to solve problems which could hamper this. This approach is based on creation of systems that can be customised to produce other systems and models, and translation from abstract diagrammatic representations to computer representations.The conclusion explains how this approach to modelling and end-user programming enables interoperability, and collaboration, and that this assists with Maintenance, Extensibility, Ease of Use, and Sharing of Information.

Systems Engineering is involved in the analysis of the relating of interdisciplinary research requirements, in both engineering and computing, for this research. Systems engineering is also important in that the application area of modelling, for aerospace (Airbus and Rolls-Royce) has been one where complex engineering products are created, and a systematic approach is needed. Further to this the research has required systematic production of systems that in tern must be usuable by a wide range of users to produce and share their customised engineering models.

BBC article - Tim Berners-Lee unveils government data project

This is an interesting article about use of the Semantic Web for Government data -

"Web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee has unveiled his latest venture for the UK government, which offers the public better access to official data.

A new website, data.gov.uk, will offer reams of public sector data, ranging from traffic statistics to crime figures, for private or commercial use.

The target is to kickstart a new wave of services that find novel ways to make use of the information.

Sir Tim was hired by PM Gordon "

Tim Berners-Lee unveils government data project - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8470797.stm - 21 January 2010

British Computer Society Interview -

Sir Tim Berners-Lee talks to BCS
November 2009
In an exclusive interview with the Institute, Sir Tim Berners-Lee spoke about the latest on the semantic web, his view on the advent of artificial life forms on the internet, the biggest barriers to enabling the information society for all, where the mobile web is going and more. - http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.33535.

User driven modelling: Visualisation and systematic interaction for end user programming - SiftMedia

SiftMedia have published online this article of mine.

Article for Knowledge Board - SiftMedia - User driven modelling: Visualisation and systematic interaction for end user programming - http://www.knowledgeboard.com/item/3053/23/5/3.

04-Jan-10
Peter Hale explores to what extent it is possible to improve user-driven collaborative software development through interaction with diagrams and without requiring people to learn computer languages.