As Information Systems researchers, developers and practitioners, we use models every day but we seldom stop and think about our use of models. As discussed by Herbert Simon in his seminal The Sciences of the Artificial (1996), models are crucial for developing, using or researching any artificial artifact. The purpose of this seminar is to discuss the use of models in Information Systems (IS). How do we use them? When and why do we use them? What makes a good model?
A model is often formally defined as a ‘representation, generally in miniature, to show the construction or appearance of something’. As a representation, the model, therefore, fulfills a key function in research and development of IS systems because it promotes understanding of what it represents. Understanding is critical given the inherent complexity of modern Information Systems. The Information Systems aspects that are described by models range from data, technology infrastructure, applications and software to strategic models.
Please join us for the 2018 AISSAC seminar on modeling in IS research and development.
Modeling in Information Systems Research and Development
2018 Annual Seminar of the Southern African Chapter of the Association for Information Systems (AISSAC)
26th September 2018
Venue: Nelson Mandela University Conference Center, North Campus
Registration: 8:00-8:30
THEME OF THE SEMINAR
As Information Systems researchers, developers and practitioners, we use models every day but we seldom stop and think about our use of models. As discussed by Herbert Simon in his seminal The Sciences of the Artificial (1996), models are crucial for developing, using or researching any artificial artifact. The purpose of this seminar is to discuss the use of models in Information Systems (IS). How do we use them? When and why do we use them? What makes a good model?
A model is often formally defined as a ‘representation, generally in miniature, to show the construction or appearance of something’. As a representation, the model, therefore, fulfills a key function in research and development of IS systems because it promotes understanding of what it represents. Understanding is critical given the inherent complexity of modern Information Systems. The Information Systems aspects that are described by models range from data, technology infrastructure, applications and software to strategic models.
Please join us for the 2018 AISSAC seminar on modeling in IS research and development.
Bibliography
Simon, H. A. 1996. The Sciences of the Artificial, (3rd edition.), Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME
Time |
Speaker |
Topic |
8:00 - 8:30 |
ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION |
|
8:30 - 8:40 |
Jan Mentz |
WELCOME AND OFFICIAL OPENING |
8:40 - 9:30 |
Dr Quentin Williams (Research Manager CSIR Meraka) |
Model-based AI |
9:30 - 10:20 |
Prof. Dr Dimitris Karagiannis (Head of Research Group in Knowledge Engineering, University of Vienna) |
Modeling and Metamodelling platforms |
10:20 - 11:00 |
Dr Dominik Bork |
Advanced Modelling Support through Meta-modelling platforms (ADOxx). |
11h00 – 11h30 |
TEA/COFFEE |
|
11:30 - 12:00 |
Dr Dominik Bork |
WORKSHOP / DEMONSTRATION OMiLAB Metamodelling Tools PART 1: |
12:00 - 12:15 |
Dr Dominik Bork |
Demonstration Q&A |
12:15 - 12:40 |
Dr Dominik Bork |
WORKSHOP / DEMONSTRATION OMiLAB Metamodelling Tools PART 2: |
12:40 - 13:00 |
Dr Marita Turpin |
Teaching modeling and problem-solving to the first year IS Students |
13:00 - 14:00 |
LUNCH |
|
14:00 – 15:00 |
FACILITATOR: Prof. Jan Kroeze |
PANEL DISCUSSION TOPIC: The Africanisation of the Information Systems Syllabus. |
15:00 - 16:00 |
Prof Emma Coleman |
AISSAC AGM
|
16:00 - 16:30 |
TEA/COFFEE |
|
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr Quentin Williams is the Strategic Research Manager of the CSIR Meraka Institute. He completed a BEng in electronic engineering at Stellenbosch University, followed by a PhD in engineering from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom with emphasis on using medical image analyses to understand cardiac disease.
After completing his Phd, Dr Williams started working at the CSIR in March 2006. He was initially involved in setting up a research team and focus for the CSIR Meraka Institute's "Intelligent Environments for Independent Living" group. Here his work concentrated on using machine intelligence techniques in technologies that aid persons with disabilities. In particular, focus on both the adoption of technology in difficult market neglect areas, as well as the development of intention detection algorithms based on statistically artificial intelligence techniques. He was a key technical lead in the development of the National ICT research, development and innovation (RDI) implementation Roadmap for the Department of Science and Technology (DST) adopted by the South African cabinet in 2013. He was instrumental in the established of a Data Science, Analytics and Visualisation group in which 50 vacation students annually and 7 Masters Students are currently focusing on visual analytics; distributed and streaming machine learning; optimisation and data implementation platforms. He is also a founder member of the Center for Al Research (CAIR), currently a DST distributed center of excellence (http://cair.za.net/).
Advanced Modelling Support through Meta-modelling platforms (ADOxx)
o. Univ.-Prof. Dr.Dimitris Karagiannis
Head of Research Group in Knowledge Engineering, University of Vienna
Prof. Dr Dimitris Karagiannis is a full professor at the Department of Knowledge Engineering, in the Institute Computer Science and Business Informatics, at the University of Vienna, Austria. He is also managing director of BOC GmbH. His fields of expertise include Business Process Management and Artificial Intelligence.
He has been a participant and an evaluator in a number of European Union projects including REFINE, RACE, COMETT and LRE. He has also participated in United Nations Development Program projects. Currently, he is the project manager of ADVISOR (ESPRIT, 4th framework. project) and of PROMOTE (IST, 5th framework project).
In 1995 he founded BOC GmbH. With BOC he primarily works with the financial services-banks, insurance companies and public administration sectors, focusing on process optimisation and utilisation of knowledge assets.
Dr Dominik Bork
Dr Dominik Bork currently works at the Research Group Knowledge Engineering, University of Vienna. Dominik does research in Information Systems (Business Informatics), Information Science and Higher Education. His most recent publications focus on the specification of modeling languages, consistency in multi-view models, enterprise architecture management, and business process management.
OMiLAB - www.omilab.org
The Open Models (OMi) Laboratory is a dedicated research and experimentation space for the conceptualization, development, and deployment of modeling methods and the models designed with them. Both a physical and virtual place, it is equipped with tools to explore method creation and design, experiment with method engineering and deploy software tools for modeling. ADOxx is a meta-modeling development and configuration platform for implementing modeling tools. The NRF funded a collaborative project with the University of Vienna, the University of Pretoria and OMiLAB to develop an Enterprise Architecture modeling environment using ADOxx, Archimate and TOGAF. In this keynote session, we will present some of the research findings.