integracja informacyjnych systemów zarządzania z

ADAM PIASECKIWOJCIECH GÓRKA

mgr ANNA SZYMOCHACentrum Elektryfikacji i Automatyzacji Górnictwa EMAG

z wykorzystaniem technik semantycznych

Integration of IT management systems with the use of semantic techniques

e-

tów

a-

i-o

e-w-

ó

The new approach to the issues of organization management sets a lot of store to dynamic changes which occur in the organization’s environment and force the or-ganization to withdraw from the operation schemes used so far. In order to ensure efficient co-operation of the organization’s departments it is required to apply, among others, state-of-the-art technologies which allow to integrate the heterogenic IT environment. Therefore it is useful to integrate the data in such a manner to allow the full use of knowledge contained in these data. It is also useful to unite different elements into a whole in the operation process in order to make the operation ra-tional and optimal. Semantic integration of IT systems seems to be a good solution. Basically, semantic integration comes down to working out a common terminology for labeling and determining the data which can be used by different applications.

1. – INFORMATYCZNE SYSTEMY ZA

a-

a-

r-

n-

formacyjnymi [14]. To system informacyjny powo-

1. INTRODUCTION – IT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

In today’s world, information is one of the most

important assets of the organization. Due to the

specifics of organizations which function on the

market nowadays, information is inseparably related

to information systems [14]. This is the information

MECHANIZACJA I AUTOMATYZACJA GÓRNICTWA4

j-

r-

ania [4].

o-

ikowi tego

r

odpowiednich procedur i modeli. W wyniku uzyskania

tych informacji po

nkretny sys

k-

4

ó

5].

System zarz

a-

y-

zji, organizowanie, przewodzenie, tj. kierowanie

i-

zacji (ludzkie, finansowe, rzeczowe, i informacyjne)

cia celu

w sposób sprawny i skuteczny [2].

(ang.

management computer system) obejmuje swym zakre-

i przetwarzaniu informacji oraz wyznaczaniu decyzji

uterów [9]. Liczba

p-

niu zintegro

z natury systemem informacyjnym. Obecnie, ze

osowanie informatyki, istotna

technicznym systemu komputerowego lub sieci kom-

pute Informatyczny

System Za 14].

2. INTEGRACJA SYSTEMÓW INFORMATYCZNYCH

a

uciecz

o-

mórek organi

a-

mach konsorcjów czy korporacji wymaga znacz

cych zmian w zakresie ich struktury, ale przede

wszystkim wykorzystania nowoczesnych technolo-

eterogenicznego

iska informatycznego.

system which is responsible for providing the user

with a tool to undertake deliberate actions, and the

quality of the information system decides about the

quality of the management process [4]. The infor-

mation system can be described as a multi-level

structure which allows the user of the system to trans-

form certain input information to the desired output

information by means of proper procedures and mod-

els. As a result of obtaining this information, certain

decisions are made. Therefore, a concrete infor-

mation system can be analyzed as an element of a

decision chain, functioning in the management sys-

tem [4], and being a specific nervous system of the

organization which unites into one whole the ele-

ments of the management system [5]. The manage-

ment system in the organization is defined as a set of

operations which comprise a full cycle of the man-

agement process, that is: planning and decision mak-

ing, organizing, managing, i.e. being in charge of the

personnel and having control over the organization’s

assets (human, financial, material and information) –

these operations are also carried out with a view to

achieve certain goals efficiently [2].

The concept of the management computer system

comprises the management functions related to col-

lecting and processing information as well as to

determining the decisions carried out by means of

computers [9]. The number and intensity of connec-

tions between the elements decides about the degree

of the system integration. The management system

is, due to its nature, an information system. Now,

due to the wide use of information technology, the

important part of the system is the one which func-

tions in the technological environment of a comput-

er system or network. This part is referred to as the

Management Computer System [14].

2. INTEGRATION OF IT SYSTEMS

In the new approach to organization management

issues, special attention is paid to dynamic changes

which occur in the organization’s environment and

force the organization to withdraw from the operation

schemes used so far. In order to ensure efficient co-

operation between the organization’s departments

and between organizations functioning within consor-

tiums or corporations, it is necessary to introduce

significant changes in these organizations’ structures

but, first of all, it is vital to make use of state-of-the-

art technologies which allow to integrate the hetero-

genic IT environment.

5

Integrowanie systemów informatycznych – z punk-

– polega na

o-

spodarczych i

jego otoczenia [11]. Ter

6]:

r-

macyjnych zorientowanych na wspomaganie po-

a-

,

e-

konstrukcji, doskonaleniu procesów gospodarczych

dla wspo

,

tworzenie architektury systemu wspomagania de-

a-

k-

tury systemu wspomagania decyzji: koncepcji biz-

nesu (strategii biznesowej), procesów gospodar-

,

rstwa,

a-

a-

anych

o-

syntaktycznej, semantycznej jak i technicznej [14].

e-

y-

zyjnych,

poziomach zarz

r-

stwa,

u-

o-

gistyka, produkcja itd.,

wprowadzeniu ich do systemu w miejscu powsta-

wania,

kontrolowanie kosztów w oparciu o ich pomiar

w miejscu powstawania,

o-

gnozy zarówno krótko-

w ramach wykonywanych

prac przed

o-

bów danych [14].

a

systemu jest efektywne wykorzystanie wszyst-

From the point of view of management, the inte-

gration of IT systems is the desire to capture the

organization’s business processes and environment

in a complex manner [11]. The term integration may

also mean [6]:

integration of the management system and deci-

sion-supporting information systems which have

already shown certain integration levels,

business integration which comes down to map-

ping, reconstruction and improvement of business

processes with a view to support goals, tasks and

critical factors of the organization’s success,

developing the architecture of a decision-

supporting system. Here integration means the

connection of three levels of the decision-

supporting system architecture: business strategy,

business processes and the system of utilities,

integration of software which automates particular

business functions of the organization,

removing the gap between the IT system and the

management system.

It is said that IT systems are integrated if it is pos-

sible to have the transfer of data and signals be-

tween these systems. In order to achieve this, it is

necessary to meet the conditions of syntactic, se-

mantic and technical coherence [14].

It is worth mentioning the advantages resulting

from the use of integrated management systems.

The most important are the following:

better-quality support of decision processes,

providing information to the organization‘s man-

agers in a multi-sectional manner and on many

management levels;

providing communication channels to all key de-

partments of the organization, such as: finances,

logistics, production, etc.

increasing the credibility of information by enter-

ing it into the system in the place where it is gen-

erated,

monitoring the costs based on their measurements

in the place where they are generated,

budget simulations and financial analyses, short-

and long-term prognoses,

managing the stream of materials, raw materials,

semi-finished products, and services within the

organization’s operations,

mechanisms ensuring the security of data assets

[14].

A very important element in the proper functioning

of the system is the effective use of all applicable

modules by the organization. It is necessary to reme-


anizacji.

e

ne. Wprowadzenie niepopraw-

d-

ne przetworzenie w r-

14].

e-

mów informatycznych

a-

o

egracja aplikacji, która

d-

mienne aplikacje [11].

e-

erech zasadniczych obszarów:

informacyjnego, decyzyjnego,

a-

r-

ganiza

integracji dyscyplin naukowych dla przeprowadzania

zmian oraz wprowadzania innowacji w organizacji.

i-

is

a

10].

w

w a-

W dobie wszechobecnego Internetu i zalewu in-

w zegól-

emów informatycznych [11],

,

a-

e

w rozwi zaniach po

sieci. Upowszechnienie Internetu jako medium

umo i-

wanie informacji, jest obe

o-

tech

naukowych i biznesowych.

member that the modules of each system are closely

connected with one another. If wrong information is

entered into one module, it will cause its wrong pro-

cessing in the other module, and the final information

will be distorted [14].

The practice has demonstrated that physical inte-

gration of IT systems – based on communication

between IT systems, data exchange by means of in-

terfaces, computer networks and communication

protocols – allowed to achieve only a limited integra-

tion level. A higher level is provided by such an inte-

gration of applications which is based on common

data use by different applications [11].

The major issues related to IT systems integration

in organizations focus on four basic areas:

integration of different subsystems: operation, in-

formation, decision making,

integration of the technical approach with the busi-

ness approach in the organization’s operations,

integration of humans with tools used for decision

making and organization management,

integration of scientific branches to make certain

changes and introduction of innovative solutions to

the organization.

The authors of the present article found one defini-

tion of integration particularly valuable – integration

as an action with a view to create a new whole whose

elements have certain relations with one another and

are connected, to a suitable extent, with the whole

[10]. The objective of integration understood in such

a manner can be the connection of different elements

into a bigger whole in the operation process in order

to make this operation rational and optimal.

With the omnipresent Internet and flood of infor-

mation, coming not only from the organization itself

but also from the outside environment, one aspect of

the so called full integration of IT systems is particu-

larly interesting [11], i.e. the one related to a uniform

definition of data exchanged within the organization.

Here, it seems perfect to make use of semantic tech-

niques whose origin can be found in solutions from

the global network. The fact that the Internet has

become the most common medium of communica-

tion as well as information search and exchange, is

now one of the major factors stimulating quick eco-

nomic growth, improvement of services, develop-

ment of new technologies, and exchange of experi-

ences in both research and business environments.

The standards which supported the global network in

the initial stage of its development assumed that the

network would provide access to information and

data files so that other users of the network could

7

a-

ania

y-

tkowników sieci.

i wymagania, kt

Konieczny jest taki sposób publi-

o-

a -mail lub

kompletny opis osoby m

amu poczty elektronicznej.

Odpowiedni sposób publikowana informacji pozwo-

– agentom, na automatycz-

ne ich wykorzystanie – odnalezienie odpowiedniej

informacji, zinterpretowanie jej lub porównanie

u-

o

, takich jak:

t-

a-

n-

o-

z

i-

sach internetowych.

n-

wypracowanie odpowiednich standardów znaczenia

wymienianych informacji – wypracowanie wspól-

nkretnych

dwóch integrowanych systemów – naj ie

jest wykorzystywana przy kolejnych integracjach,

standaryzacji. Np. integracja systemu informatycz-

nego hurtowni z systemem informatycznym sklepu

wymienianych danych (np. schematu plików XML).

a-

pisane w standardowy sposób, system informatycz-

zabiegów programistycznych.

o-

wych. Dynamiczny rozwój architektury zorientowa-

8] (SOA, ang. Service Oriented Archi-tecture r

podobne cz

take advantage of them. Soon, however, new de-

mands and requirements appeared for which the ex-

isting standards and solutions are not enough. It is

necessary to find such a way of information publish-

ing which could be easily and automatically used by

different programs, e.g. so that a “properly” formu-

lated e-mail address or complete description of

a person could be easily recorded in the address book

of a mail program. A proper way of information pub-

lishing would also allow program agents to use this

information automatically – to find a proper piece of

information, interpret it or compare with another, and

finally undertake an action based on this information.

A program agent could, for example, look for hotel

accommodation according to the set criteria and book

it for a certain day. When the action is based on the

meaning of data which make up the information,

there are many advantages related:

possibility to adapt the contents to the user’s pref-

erences. Today’s Internet sites give access to ser-

vices irrespective of the user’s preferences or use

their own solutions to achieve this. The lack of

a standard description of the user’s preferences

does not enable to develop standard solutions

which could be used by different Internet sites.

easier integration on the level of data exchange

between systems. Now, when IT systems are be-

ing integrated, it is necessary to work out proper

standards of meaning of the exchanged data – to

work out common concepts. Such standardization

refers to two particular systems which are being

integrated – most frequently it is not used at suc-

cessive integration projects, as there is no pattern

which would determine a certain framework of

such standardization. For example, in order to in-

tegrate an IT system of a warehouse with the one

of a retail shop it is necessary to determine the

format of the exchanged data each time (e.g. the

schema of XML files). If the information about

the products in the warehouse had been recorded

in a standard manner, the IT system of the shop

could download these data without any extra ac-

tions with respect to the programming.

easier identification and search for network ser-

vices. The dynamic development of service-

oriented architecture (SOA) [8] increases the popu-

larity of network services. Many available services

carry out similar operations or make use of similar

data. Therefore it is necessary to find a solution

which would allow easy search for network ser-

vices depending on their possibilities. It is equally

important to apply mechanisms enabling easy adap-

tation of different types of exchanged data.


a-

e

i

typów wymienianych danych.

i-

y-

liwe jest odpo

e

– poj

codziennym

– onto-

0F

1, kompu-

z ontologii,

a-

nych opisanych tymi poj ciami.

3. WPROWADZENIE DO FORMALNEJ REPREZENTACJI WIEDZY

i-

o-

rzeczywi

o-

go i ustandaryzowanego spo-

W 1997 roku Organizacja World Wide Web Consor-

tium (W3C) [16

o-

urce Description Framework (RDF) [17], który

W3C.

RDF po

subject o

(predicate) i obiektu (object a-

adowy fakt:

Henryk Sienkiewicz napi ,

<Potop>.

1 jeden

a-i [2].

In order to fulfill the above objectives it is neces-

sary, to a large extent, to define concepts, hierar-

chies and relations between these concepts which

will be commonly recognized and used. Based on

the defined network of concepts it is possible to

properly classify data and to search for them easily.

The network of concepts determines also, to a cer-

tain extent and context, the reality – every-day con-

cepts and relations between them. Thus it becomes

a description of reality – an ontology1F

1. Thanks to

the standardization of the ontology recording, com-

puters and software which use the ontology con-

cepts can, to some extend, “understand” the reality

and, simultaneously, make better use of data de-

scribed by these concepts.

3. INTRODUCTION TO FORMALKNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION

Ontology is a section of philosophy which seeks to

describe the structure of reality. As understood by

philosophy, ontology allows to explain dependencies

between entities, characteristics of the entities, etc.,

with the purpose to describe the surrounding reality.

In order to be able to understand a given section of

reality, computers require a formal and standardized

way of describing data meaning, i.e. ontology. In

1997 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) [16] be-

gan the standardization process for ontology descrip-

tion by publishing Resource Description Framework

(RDF) [17]. This standard became W3C’s official

standard in 1999. RDF allows to record triples of

concepts in a simple way. Each triple is a subject-

predicate-object expression. Such recording forms

a network of definitions (each object can be a subject

in a different triple).

Sample fact:

Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote Potop,

can be described as a triple

<Henryk Sienkiewicz> < wrote >

<Potop>.

1

The term “ontology” is taken from philosophy: one of the

basic areas of philosophy, the philosophical study of the na-

ture of being, existence or reality in general, as well as of the

basic categories of being and their relations [2].

9

opisu

<He

<Ogniem i Mieczem>,

<Potop> <opisuje> <Wojna Polsko

Szwedzka>,

<1655>,

<Wojna Polsko Szwedzka> <koniec>

<1660>.

ny w 2004 roku

o specyfi -S) [18]. RDF-S

- – klas,

i-

label) i jego opisu (com-ment) Au-

tor>, < >, <Fakt historyczny>

rmie trójek:

<Henryk Sienkiewicz> <subclass>

<Autor>,

<Ogniem i Mieczem> <subclass> <Po-

<Potop> <su

<Wojna Polsko Szwedzka> <subclass>

<Fakt historyczny>.

Kolejnym etapem rozbudowy standardów sieci se-

y-

ków przeznaczonych do zapisu ontologii. Organizacja

Web Ontology Language) [17 o-

a-

ozwala na

n

–wprost.

i

z

Standardy opisu ontologii pozwa sanie

Podsta-

wowym mechanizmem wykorzystywanym przez RDF

do identyfikacji podmiotu, predykatu i obiektu jest URI

(ang. Uniform Resource Identifier) [8].

This fact can be supplemented by successive ones

which describe other novels by Henryk Sienkiewicz

and, additionally, describe the contents of these novels.

<Henryk Sienkiewicz> <wrote>

<Henryk Sienkiewicz> < wrote >

<Ogniem i Mieczem>,

<Potop> <describes> <Polish-

Swedish war>,

<Polish-Swedish war> <beginning>

<1655>,

<Polish-Swedish war> <end> <1660>.

The RDF standard was updated in 2004 with the

RDF Schema (RDF-S) specification [18]. RDF-S

introduced the possibility to build meta-concepts:

classes, sub-classes, features. It also launched a stan-

dard way of defining the name of the concept (label)

and its description (comment). Thus it is possible to

introduce the classes <Author>, <Novel>, <His-

toric fact> and mark them as triples too:

<Henryk Sienkiewicz> <subclass>

<Author>,

<Ogniem i Mieczem> <subclass>

<Novel>,

<Potop> <subclass> <Novel>,

<Polish-Swedish war> <subclass>

<Historical fact>.

The next stage in the development of semantic

networks standards was greater expressiveness of

languages for ontology notation. W3C published the

OWL (Web Ontology Language) standard [17]. It

allows, among others, to express the number of con-

cept sets, to show how one concept belongs to or

differs from the other, to identify necessary and suffi-

cient conditions for a given concept. Greater expres-

siveness of the language allows to verify concepts

added to the ontology and to search out certain facts

and features indirectly. Additionally, this language

makes it possible to integrate two ontologies by

means of associating their identical concepts. Ontol-

ogy description standards allow to describe concepts

and the network of links between concepts. The basic

mechanism used by RDF to identify the subject,

predicate and object is the Uniform Resource Identi-

fier (URI) [8].


4. SEMANTYCZNA INTEGRACJA SYSTEMÓW INFORMATYCZNYCH

Wiele cennych danych przechowywanych jest

obecnie w relacyjnych bazach danych. Wiele z tych

danych opisuje podobne elementy (produkty, osoby

itp.) z ró

o-

n-

tyczna integracja systemów informatycznych. Se-

mantyczna integracja systemów informatycznych

a-

z poszczególnych systemów informatycznych. Dla

uzu

Semantyczna integracja motywowana jest uprosz-

znaczenia danych i ukrytej semantyki nie zapisanej

a-

dowe zalety wykorzystania sieci semantycznych

7]:

identyfikacji zasobów sieciowych. Z jednej strony

specyficznych dla danej dziedziny ontologii; z dru-

, a-

cje o klientach, produktach itp.

a-

o-

k-

relacji

i innymi elementami a-

o-

o-

o-

o-

e ;

cechy zarówno telefonów, jak i palm

o-

pem jest zatem smartfonem.

i-

o-

we o-

4. SEMANTIC INTEGRATION OF IT SYSTEMS

Many valuable data are now stored in relational data

bases. Many of these data describe similar elements

(products, people, etc.) from different points of view.

It would be useful to integrate these data in such

a manner which would allow to fully use the

knowledge these data contain. Semantic integration of

IT systems seems to be a good solution here. Semantic

integration of IT systems is based on working out

a common terminology for labeling and determining

the data which can be used by different applications.

Under the labeled concepts there can be data from

particular IT systems. For a single element it is possi-

ble to access data from different IT systems, this way

the information about the single element is supple-

mented.

The motivation for semantic integration is to sim-

plify the access to data and to enable to read the data

meaning and the hidden semantics which is not rec-

orded directly in the relations of the data base. Sam-

ple advantages of the semantic networks use in the

access to data bases are the following [7]:

based on the RDF and OWL languages, URI is

used to identify network assets. It enables, on one

hand, to refer to the ontologies which are external

or specific for the given domain, and, on the other

hand, to synchronize the data with different sys-

tems, e.g. those collecting information about cli-

ents, products, etc.

OWL allows to define “more intensive” properties

and relations. The object properties can be defined

as symmetric, functional, inverse, transitive. Object

properties are suitable to describe complex rela-

tions between products or between products and

other elements that make up the information about

a product.

OWL expressiveness allows to determine logical

classes (intersection, union, complement) which

enables to automatically classify the position of the

product. For example, the category of a new prod-

uct can be determined as an intersection of two

others – this is the case with smart phones which

have characteristics of both telephones and palm-

tops. Each product which is simultaneously a tele-

phone and a palmtop is therefore a smart phone.

the limitations in the OWL language allow to de-

fine dynamic categories which have not been pre-

sent in the previously prepared hierarchy of catego-

11

r

wprowadzania zapytania. a-

egorie.

z-

iwe jest zdefiniowanie kategorii „produkty

a-

o-

zycje nale

OWL.

Zagadnienie semantycznej integracji baz danych

pojedyn

ontologii oraz

aniu

znych

polega na dodaniu komponentu –

wykorzystaniem pro

d

nazewnictwo danych zapisane w ontologii.

Pierwsz zez

dokumenty RDF, , odno-

ementów. Drugim

(tzw. SPARQL endpoint) [13

Odpy-

pnionych w sieci lub

5. BADANIA OPARTE NA STUDIUMPRZYPADKU

rki

organizacyjne odpowiedzialne za koordynowanie

o-

wietrze. Koordynacja ta jest wymuszona poprzez ko-

o-

z-

a

oszczególnych

mediów tak, by nie e-

klarowanych poziomów mocy. W przypadku energii

e-

Za-

daniem dyspozytora jest w razie

ries and are determined by the users when the ques-

tion is entered. The restrictions can demonstrate com-

plex and potentially changing categories. For ex-

ample, applying a restriction about a minimum

number, it is possible to define the“ outdated prod-

ucts” category which contains all products replaced

by at least one other product. The items belonging

to dynamic categories can be obtained by means of

the OWL ontology reasoning.

The issue of semantic integration of data bases can

be divided into two stages: making accessible the

data of a single data base by means of a defined on-

tology and making use of one or many sources of the

data accessed in this manner for a concrete business

operation. Giving access to semantic data is based on

adding a component – a tool which will enable to

search and browse the data recorded in the data base

by communicating with the use of the HTTP protocol

and by using the questions which take into account

the data namespace recorded in the ontology.

In the realm of making semantic data accessible

there have been two standard methods developed so

far. The first one is making the data accessible

through RDF documents, available under URL ad-

dresses, related to the described elements. The second

method is giving access to SPARQL interfaces (the

so called SPARQL endpoint) [13] which allow to

send questions in the SPARQL language (by means

of the HTTP protocol) and getting an answer limited

to the data the question was about. Thus, data search-

ing and browsing can be carried out by reading RDF

files available in the net or by sending questions to

the SPARQL interface.

5. RESEARCH BASED ON CASE STUDY

In the mining companies there are special depart-

ments responsible for co-ordinating the level of con-

sumption of particular media, such as electric power,

heat, water, and compressed air. This co-ordination is

forced by the necessity to inform the suppliers in

advance about the level of the consumption which, in

turn, is related to the necessity to prepare suitable

orders. The consumption of particular media is con-

trolled on a daily basis so that the previously declared

levels of consumption should not be exceeded. In the

case of electric power there are systems which collect

data from the mines on-line and present current con-

sumption values. The task of the supervisor is to co-

ordinate proper operations in the case of a breakdown


r

jszenie

a-

r-

ycie itp.).

i-

ó

konieczne jest cykliczne (mimo, a-

kolek-

cjonowanie danych,

lnych,

o dane, – jest to potencjalne

e

brak jest synchronizacji w przypadku niektórych

ania

danych do raportów (czasami pracownicy ko

alony czas).

Koncepcja realizacji uniwersalnej warstwy danych

rys. 1 o-

wadze

danych. Warstwa ta oparta na danych relacyjnych

l-

wnia

prz

do-

datkowych relacji, hierarchii opisów danych, nieist-

o-

niecznym jest jednak zapewnienie do tych danych

dczytu”.

typu TripleStore [15

i a

Dodatkowo w ramach systemu i-

cych z takiej warstwy danych: inteligentnych formu-

j-

r

klientami wspólnej warstwy danych.

a-

i import danych do popularnych formatów (pliki

Microsoft Office, pliki CSV, pliki XML), przegl

danie danych itp.

– when more power is consumed by a certain mine,

the others should consume less.

The supervisors also have to make reports about the

power consumption and submit them to the compa-

ny’s management. These reports are usually prepared

based on the data related to energy consumption

(volume ordered for the given month, real consump-

tion, etc.). Periodically, it is also necessary to make

reports based on other data (e.g. number of employ-

ees during a shift), coming from other sources. To-

day’s solutions work from the organizational point of

view, still in most cases:

it is necessary for the supervisors to collect data at

regular intervals (though this process is not very

time-consuming),

the data are saved in calculation sheets thus there

is no easy access to archived data,

it happens that the employees of coal mines are

asked for data they have already submitted – this

is a potential source of data incoherence,

there is no synchronization in the case of some

data (those which are to be corrected on the daily

basis),

it is necessary to watch the deadline for data col-

lection to the reports (sometimes the employees

do not prepare the reports on time).

The idea of a universal data base is presented in

Fig. 1. It assumes a common layer for all data

sources. This layer, based on relational data mapped

on the basis of the ontology, will ensure a common

format of the data. Such a solution ensures transpar-

ent access to data coming from different sources and

enables to define extra relations and data descrip-

tions hierarchies which do not exist in relational

bases. Still, the necessary condition is to provide

“read-only” access to these data.

The data sources configured in this manner are

supplemented by a TripleStore base [15] which also

allows to save data. It ensures the possibility to save

indispensable new data.

Additionally, the system enables to develop dedi-

cated applications which use such data layers: smart

forms, reports module (in the form of a calculation

sheet), interim reports module. The applications are

clients of the common data layer.

The data layer was supplemented with a tool

which allows to manage the data by their export and

import to popular formats (Microsoft Office files,

CSV files, XML files), to browse the data, etc.

13

Rys. 1. Koncepcja realizacji uniwersalnej warstwy danych

Fig. 1. The concept of universal data layer

Source: Authors’ own study

odpowiednimi etykietami ontologii SKOS [12].

kluczowymi [3].

y typów da-

nych zdefiniowanych w warstwie danych.

Ontologies which describe data can also be labeled

by the SKOS ontology labels [12]. This way it is

possible to search for proper data types with the use

of certain key words [3]. This functionality can be

useful in the case of a large number of data types

defined in the data layer.


6. WYNIKI PRZEPROWADZONYCH

sieci semantycznych, a w dalszym etapie integracji

danych

publikowanie plików RDF pod odpowiednimi ad-

resami URL,

wady i zalety.

kacja danych, jako pliki

e-

n-

tów. Publikowanie dokumentów RDF dobrze funk-

r-

netowy jest wzbogacony o dane publikowane, jako

sieci semantyczne. Pomaga to w integracji syste-

nstancji

danych i pobieraniu pewnych parametrów tych da-

nych. Np. opublikowane dane z systemu typu Wiki-

pedia po

pewne fragmenty

tam fakty do pewnych operacji. W tym przypadku

nie jest to jednak wyszukiwanie danych w oparciu

o-

inny serwis (inny system).

Publikowanie danych poprzez interfejs SPARQL

pozwala na pobieranie danych zgodnie z zadanym

e-

o-

i-

wyszukiwania danych przede wszystkim pod

r-

fejs SPARQL a-

a-

st

wyniki zg n-

tkowych komponentów (np. serwera

Tomcat wraz z odpowiednim oprogramowaniem).

e-

stosowanie interfej-

su SPARQL.

n-

udo-

6. RESULTS OF CONDUCTED RESEARCH

The conducted research points at two possible so-

lutions in the range of publishing data bases as se-

mantic networks and, in the further integration

stage, the data contained in these bases:

publishing RDF files under suitable URL address-

es,

giving access to the SPARQL interface.

Each of these solutions has certain advantages and

disadvantages.

The former solution is, first of all, simple. The

publication of data as RDF files is easy to carry out

and does not overload the existing environment with

a big number of extra components. The publication

of RDF documents functions very well in a model

where an Internet site is supplemented with data

published as semantic networks. This helps to inte-

grate the systems with respect to the access to par-

ticular data instances and to download certain pa-

rameters of these data. For example, the published

data from a Wikipedia-type system allow other sys-

tems to use certain fragments of the existing records

and the facts recorded there for certain operations.

In this case, this is not the data search based on

defined conditions but the access to the data pub-

lished by a different site (other system) through

a suitable reference.

The publication of data through the SPARQL in-

terface allows to download the data according to the

question asked in the SPARQL language. It is pos-

sible to download the data with the use of conditions

and navigations between them. It seems that this

way of data publishing may improve the data search

in terms of its efficiency.

On the other hand, the SPARQL interface has to be

supported by software which would interpret the

questions, then map them into questions to the data

base, and finally return the results according to the

specification. This requires to install extra compo-

nents (e.g. a Tomcat server with proper software).

In the case of conditional search and download of

a certain group of data (particularly a big volume of

data), it is recommended to use the SPARQL inter-

face.

Applications that can be executed

The integration of data sources by means of seman-

tic networks can be the basis to make the functioning

of the existing systems and applications more effi-

15

Rys. 2

Fig. 2. Possible use of semantic integration in the organization

Source: Authors’ own study


wy nowych, na bazie informacji przekrojowych

h-

nik semantycznych. W ramach prac nad tym zagad-

nie

mo liwych do zrealizowania (rys. 2):

–

ó-

wspólnej „prze-

strzeni danych”.

– prze-

po

y-

e-

r-

tów).

Korporacyjne bazy wiedzy typu Wiki – baza

wiedzy oparta na Wikipedii wraz z mechanizmem

o-

e-

d

anych.

Podpowiedzi w formularzach – usprawnienie

a-

cowników opartej na kryteriach przechowywa-

1].

7. PODSUMOWANIE

Zintegrowane systemy informatyczne uznawane

m-

pute

i ilo

y

e-

monitoro

bizne

z otoczeniem. Zintegrowane systemy informatycz-

u-

ryzacji procesów biznesowych, modyfikacji struk-

tury organizacyjnej, procesów decydowania i ko-

muni 11].

cient, or to develop new systems and applications

based on the cross-sectional and collective infor-

mation obtained thanks to the use of semantic tech-

niques. Within the research on this issue, several

applications were identified that are possible to

execute (Fig. 2):

Reports module – a module based on data col-

lected from semantically accessible data bases.

The module can work on the basis of SPARQL

questions which download data from the common

“data space”.

Metadata browser –. a browser based on ontolo-

gies defined in the given corporation or organiza-

tion. If the organization has many different

sources of data, systems, etc. in which different

data are stored, it may be useful to save them and

to improve their search and browsing. Such

a browser can also be a tool to make questions in

other modules (e.g. in the reports module).

Wiki-type corporation knowledge bases –

a knowledge base based on Wikipedia along with

a mechanism which allows to browse and search

data sources (available as semantic networks) and

to place certain field values in the text so that the

text could change dynamically depending on the

values in the attached data sources.

Hints in forms – improving the existing forms by

hints based on data defined in different internal

systems of the organization, e.g. the hints of em-

ployees’ lists or a more specified list of employees

based on criteria stored in different IT systems

[1].

7. CONCLUSIONS

Integrated IT systems are recognized as the highest

level in the computer applications development. They

provide new information both in terms of its quality

and quantity. The integration results in more complex

solutions for strategic and operational management.

The integration changes and facilitates planning,

supervision, monitoring, execution of production and

business processes, as well as the organization’s rela-

tions with the environment. Additionally, integrated

IT systems have a significant potential for the re-

structuring of business processes, modification of

organizational structure, as well as decision-making

and communication processes [11].

17

n-

o-

anych

od klasycznego pode

z

owanie

dziedziny zastosowania. W niniejszym artykule

y-

a-

t-

kim w przypadku syste

onego problemu

nie je

roz

rmatycznych

i-

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important to note that the technology can be applied,

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based (relational data bases, XML) and shows the

potential of the semantic techniques.

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