Semantic Knowledge management for new product development
The proposal is to develop a system that would exploit semantics embedded in information objects and ICT-based processes to enable the definition, building and facilitation of the supply of relevant information to project teams and to collect relevant experience from them in order to enrich already existing databases of an organisation's competence centres.
The technology used would exploit semantics embedded in information objects, and ICT based processes, and rely on formal policies to manage user access as well as audit trails in support of dynamic virtual organisations. Research advances will be embedded within the system using computer-tractable knowledge in support of dynamic data and application integration, automation and interoperation of business processes, automated diagnosis and problem-solving.
A three-year program is intended to:
· research the subject of collaborative design and the ontological organisation of the enterprise know-how and information so as to enable using semantic technologies for its sharing;
· formulate the system usage concept and procedures;
· design and develop a prototype of the system;
· run it as a controlled pilot experiment at the premises of the end-user industries involved.
The system would enable to support project knowledge management, so that:
· project phases are defined in terms of what needs to be done, by which functional organization (competence centres), and using which specific information.
· the parameters by which this information would be judged as relevant to a given project phase and to a specific functional organization involved with this phase are defined.
· the information architecture relevant to the above mentioned parameters is built.
· the methods to operate such a system so that users are rewarded with the first information introduced into the system are defined.
· the project around the system is organized so as to use it as a support to the developers and not as a burden to them.
· the parametric definition of the functional organizations as suppliers of expertises is done.
· the system will accumulate good practices, lessons learned and any other form of knowledge along the project development.
The work to be carried out by partners is as follows:
1. Participation in the articulation of requirement for such a system to support the existing new product introduction process within end user partner organisations, from conceptual definition, design and development, all the way to the building of a prototype to be run as a controlled experiment at the partners’ premises.
2. Researching the process of New Product Development so as to characterise its components in a parametric descriptive array that would enable the mechanisation of a semantic knowledge management system. Research will assess the requirements and limitations of the ontology of the parameters as well as the reasoning needed for their analysis.
3. Substantiating a recommended system architecture, breakdown of subsystems, definition of interface between the system and other typical databases, specifying an adequate operating system, and designing and building the system and a friendly user interface.
Three groups of partners are needed (including one coordinator):
1. Industrial end users for the proposed solution,
2. Research institutes and Universities with established experience in the area of semantic knowledge management, to supply the academic and research capability needed to take the state of the art in this field forward.
3. Technology providers with established experience in the design and development of systems using semantic technologies to design, develop, and build the prototype of the system proposed, as a solution enabling its controlled experiment before going into manufacturing.
Type of Partner sought:
Technology developer
Technology supplier
Technology user
Deadline for Expressions of Interest: 24/02/2008