This document presents a pattern system called strukt for integrating individual and organizational knowledge work. It aims to develop a software system that plans both weakly structured and structured workflows using a core ontology. The system addresses challenges like adapting workflow instances at runtime without changing models. It uses the Descriptions and Situations pattern from DOLCE to separate workflow models from instances and define contexts. Examples show how structured and weakly structured workflows can be integrated using various patterns. The system was prototyped and its ontological patterns were axiomatized for consistency checking.

1. strukt -
A Pattern System for
Integrating Individual and
Organizational Knowledge
Work
Ansgar Scherp
Daniel Eißing
Steffen Staab
scherp@uni-koblenz.de
ISWC, Bonn, Germany
October 26, 2011

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Scenario: Architectural Office

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Goal and Approach
 Goal
 Software system for planning weakly structured
workflows and
 integrating them with structured workflows
 Solution approach
 Integration by means of a core ontology

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Organizational Knowledge Work
 Knowledge from the point of view of the organization
 Business process modeling [Stahlknecht & Hasenkamp’04]
 Goal: make implicit procedural knowledge explicit
 Optimizing processes by means of analysis and
planning
 Business process [Hammer & Champy ‘03], [Abts & Mülder’11]
 Targeted chain of organizational activities
 Defined start/end, measurable input/output
 Added value to the customers
 Structured workflows

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Individual Knowledge Work
 Knowledge from the point of view of the worker
 Characteristics [Schwarz et al. 2001]
 Dynamic (ad-hoc), complexity, self-organization,
interdisciplinary and communication-oriented,
intervals between repetitions
 Not ammenable to explicit planning
 Repeating elements that are worth to capture
 Weakly structured workflows

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Workflow Models and Instances
Workflow model defines
 Activities, alternatives, and participating roles
 Workflow instantiation is the execution under
 Consideration of current workflow parameters
[Schwarz et al. 2001]

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Requirements
a) Weakly structured
workflows (WsW)
b) Structured Workflows
(SW)
c) Integration of WsW
and SW
d) Models & Instances
e) Tools & Planning of
WsW
(1) Weakly Structured
Workflow Pattern
(2) Structured Workflow &
(3) Transition Pattern
(4) Workflow Integration
Pattern
(5) Workflow Model Pattern
(6) Condition Pattern
(7) Resource Pattern
(8) Status Pattern
(9) Scheduling Pattern

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Challenges
 Adaptation of workflow instances at runtime
 Without the need to adapt the workflow model
 Abstract workflow instances to workflow models
 Put workflow instances into context
 Reification
 Descriptions & Situations (DnS) pattern
provided by DOLCE
 Defines context by means of concepts (roles)

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DnS Example: Building Application
Description defines roles
 StructuralEngineer
 ComputeStatics
 CreateGroundplan
 …
 Situation defines objects
tmueller-1 : NaturalPerson
a-compute-statics-1 : Action
a-create-groundplan-1 : Action
…
 DnS pattern
 Clear separation of workflow
models and workflow instances
 Applicable to structured workflows
and weakly structured workflows
 Ontology design patterns of base on DnS
Source: info-bauntrag.de
classifies

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 Execution of „Planning a building construction“
Example: Structured Workflow
 Structured Workflow Pattern + Transition Pattern
Prepare
Application
File
Application …

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Social roles of
the entities
Entities of the
real world
Example: Structured Workflow
 Execution of „Planning a building construction“
 Structured Workflow Pattern + Transition Pattern

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Example: Structured Workflow
 Integration with weakly structured workflow
 Workflow Integration Pattern

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Example: Weakly Structured Workflow
 Activities for preparing a building application using the
Weakly Structured Workflow Pattern

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Axiomatization in Description Logics
 Consistency checking at design time

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Related Work of
Further: KBPI [Dalmaris et al. 2007], KMDL [Gronau et al. 2008],
sEPK + sBPMN [Hepp et al. 2006], and KMO [Holsapple u. Joshi 2004]

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Prototype

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Summary / Discussions
 Young Talent Award of the Knowledge
Management Group Karlsruhe, Germany
Thank you for your attention!
 Why not a more light-weight solution?
 Looking for a good solution, not minimalistic one
 Probably possible to do it more light-weight
 Is this really a pattern-based ontology?
 Pattern: generic solution to recurring problem
 Pattern system: set of patterns related to each
other and designed to be applied together