a semantic-web-based decision support system for specific degree programs

A Semantic-web-based Decision Support

System for Specific Degree Programs

International Symposium on

Knowledge Engineering for Decision Support Systems,

Cairo, Dec 2015

Vera G. Meister

International Symposium on Decision Support Systems · Cairo · December 2015

Agenda

Introduction

BISE* Domain Description

Problem Definition

Approach to a Solution

• Description of Alterative Approaches

• Design of the System Architecture

• BISE Schema Graph

Proof of Concept

Further Work

* BISE stands for Business & Information Systems Engineering

Vera G. Meister · A Semantic-web-based Decision Support System for Specific Degree Programs Dec-15

International Symposium on Decision Support Systems · Cairo · December 2015 Page

Merging due to Bologna Process

3

System of Higher Education in DACH*

Two Types of Institutions

Vera G. Meister · A Semantic-web-based Decision Support System for Specific Degree Programs

* DACH means the German-speaking regions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Traditional Universities

some founded centuries ago

clear focus on fundamental

research

strongly theory-loaded degree

courses

Universities of Applied Sciences

founded during the last 40 years

focus on applied research

practically-relevant and theoretically-founded teaching

Dec-15


BISE Degree Courses at UAS in DACH

Relevant Professional Associations and State Institutions

Vera G. Meister · A Semantic-web-based Decision Support System for Specific Degree Programs

Association for BISE Degree Courses at UAS

Subdivision of the Society of Computer Sciences

German Agency for Labor

Dec-15


BISE Domain Description

Three Main Pillars of Business & Information Systems Engineering

Business Administration

Computer Science

Information Systems


International Symposium on Decision Support Systems · Cairo · December 2015 Page

12%

32%

35%

10%

12%

ZHAW Zürich

6

Different Focuses on different UAS

23%

20%41%

7%

9%

FH Brandenburg

28%

25%

33%

8%6%

FH Flensburg

30%

12%39%

10%

9%

OTH Regensburg

26%

18%39%

7%

10%

FH Köln

28%

19%36%

8%

8%

HS Fulda

Computer

Science

Business Administration Information Systems

Formal Methods Others

24%

13%

44%

7%

12%

FH Technikum Wien

39%

26%

22%

7%7%

FOM



Job Profiles for Computer Scientists


Informatics

to design, build, install, supervise, or to investigate hardware and software

solutions or complex IT systems

Consulting

to analyze IT systems; to advise users and customers; to distribute IT products

and services

Administration

to set up and maintain IT networks; to coordinate and organize the IT of

enterprises and organizations; to administer IT systems and Web applications; to

configure and administer databases

SW Engineering

to design, develop and program software

IT Management

to direct IT projects, IT departments, or IT workgroups; to develop and

implement IT strategies; to be responsible for IT governance


Matching between Pillars and Job Profiles

For Graduates in Business & Information Systems Engineering


Computer

Science

Business

Administation

Information

Systems

Consulting

IT Administration

IT Management

Informatics

Software

Engineering


Problem Definition: Stakeholder Needs


BISE degree course: We want our course offers be found and to

be comparable with other degree courses with respect to their structure and content.

Prospective BISE student: I want to study BISE and I want to

know which universities of applied sciences offer such courses and what are their focuses.

Faculty member: I want to contact a colleague from a university

of applied sciences in the federal state XY who is also teaching in a degree course of BISE.

Enterprise/Organization: For the reinforcement of our project

team we are looking for interns / graduates BISE with particular qualifications.

Project sponsor/Centre of knowledge transfer: In the context of

a tender for innovation transfer to regional business we are looking for universities of applied sciences with competences in BISE.


Existing Platforms


More than 50 platforms are around

Most important: “University compass” sponsored by the German Rectors'

Conference (GRC), based on central relational database. Allows to search for:

• general type of degree course (bachelor or master);

• formal course characteristics, like teaching language, start date, and accreditation;

• general study subject via inserting a search term and selecting categories;

• organizational formats, like full time, part time, double degree, extra occupational;

• geographical features, like place, ZIP code, and state;

• access criteria for persons without high school diploma, e. g. multi-annual

professional experience, non-academic examinations;

• institutional type of the university: private or public, traditional university or

university of applied sciences.

What is missing: subject specific information about degree courses

None of this platforms offers structured open data.


Approach to a Solution

Three Alternative Approaches:

All based on Semantic Web Technology and a BISE ontology

1. Data shall be extracted from the central relational database of the GRC.

They shall be transformed to RDF and semantically enriched based on

BISE ontology. A specific search application allows flexible analysis.

2. Interested universities or departments annotate the web content of their

degree course pages based on the BISE ontology. A web service crawles

regularly the data and stores it in a triple store. The search application is

designed like in variant 1.

3. A Web crawler goes regularly through all openly available websites and

documents. Using a natural language processing component the crawled

content shall be analyzed and the extracted data stored according to the

BISE ontology (Big Data approach) - search application like in variant 1.



Federation of Decentralized Data

EduGraph

HSFu

THB

OTHR

Extractor

StudySearch

Triple Store

SPARQL Endpoint

BISE schema

RESTAPI

other services



BISE Schema Graph

BISEDegree Program

BISEPillar

Qualitative

Value

• Informatics• Consulting• Administration• SW Engineering• IT Management

BISE_Ma BISE_BaPlace

College or

University

Service• Computer Science• Business Admin.• Bus. Inf. Systems

location

provider valueReference

BISE JobProfile

url

geo, dbp-url

url RSZ, CP

RankingitemReviewed

ratingValue

jobMarketShare



Proof of Concept

Annotation of Web Content

of exemplary, locally stored BISE degree courses websites,

implemented immediately within the HTML code

RDF Data Extraction

via distillation and conversion of RDF data including quality control

(led to improvements in annotation)

Data Federation

Federation of distilled data within a semantic server and merge

with the BISE schema data

Data Analysis

Development and test of basic SPARQL queries

HSFuOTHR

THB



PoC: Annotation of Web Content

THB



Destillate of the Degree Course Website

Focus at UAS Brandenburg:

Information Systems

Prepares for Job Profiles:

Consulting Informatics

CSc 23%

BA 20%IS 41%

FM 7% Oth 9%

UAS Brandenburg



Test of Examplary Query


Question:

Which degree programs prepare graduates

for a career as an IT consultant?

Answer:

BISE Bachelor at UAS Brandenburg BISE Bachelor at UAS Fulda


Further Work

1. Technical Development and Implementation

Project work in the context of a master course

„Development of Semantic Applications“ – as of February 2016

2. Acquisition of Pilot Partners

based on the AKWI network

3. Development of Tutorials

for CMS editors in universities

4. Field Test and Publication

in autumn 2016


Fachbereich Wirtschaft

Thank you for your attention!

Vera G. Meister

[email protected]