Knowledge-based Cyberinfrastructures for Decision Making in Real-World Domains
Shubhanan V. Deshpande · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · 2011
Contemporary domain software such as gaming, training and simulation software successfully captures objects and interactions in the corresponding real-world domains to enable learning and decision-making.However, such systems are designed, developed and operated in isolation, despite the fact that they have objects and interactions that are strikingly similar in the real world.Their features do not exploit commonality, and hence, are a result of independent characterization of a subset of underlying reality.Such disjoint domain modeling has lead to specialized, but isolated software features that ought to be connected as the domains in real world intrinsically are.In this thesis, we propose a cyberinfrastructure framework that allows domain objects, interactions and decisions, and derived knowledge to be inter-related using shared upper ontology.This allows multiple simulation, gaming, and collaboration features to be composed and utilized in new ways to lead to decisions and learning that is more consistent with the real-world.The research enables specialized, dispersed communities of practice to easily leverage knowledge from other related real-world collaborations and solutions, while they continue to collaborate in their own domains of interest.This thesis motivates and develops a framework that is used for connecting real-world domain software at multiple levels -from the domain model to implementation constructs.It implements a reference architecture prototype and applications that illustrate making the tacit knowledge explicit for sharing and reusability.It also sets directions and some leads for the future research.* Community of Practice: A group of people with shared interest, skill or profession [41] Now, not only do the communities of practice need to communicate within and across, but they also need to put their work together.To support such advanced collaboration, we need to co-relate the domains of interest and the work-products together, and enable sharing and re-use of knowledge or other resources.Consequently, the next generation software has to cope with a great deal of knowledge exchange and synthesis, while simultaneously maintaining traceability amongst interaction work-products (user decisions and knowledge), across the geographical space and time [4].Software applications to enable some such aspects, and help decision making ability do exist.For example, Facebook for networking and communication, knowledge based AI systems, virtual simulations and games like Second Life, GeoGame and other strategy games, Record Management Systems like Customer Record Management or Patient Record Management systems, and so on.However, comprehensively supporting real-world human (inter)actions and understanding the behavioral patterns consistent with real-world constraints cannot be addressed by such disjoint partial solutions.