Special Sessions
 
 

SPECIAL SESSIONS' LIST

Embedded Systems and Business Models , chaired by R. Arnaudov (Bulgaria)

Human-Centered Information Systems Modeling , chaired by J. Cordeiro (Portugal)

Intelligent Algorithms for Real-Time Information Systems Support , chaired by L. Doukovska (Bulgaria)

Business Models and Information Systems for Sustainable Development , chaired by M. Van Sinderen (The Netherlands)

Engineering Secure Business Information Systems , chaired by R. Neisse (Italy)

 

Special Session 1: Embedded Systems and Business Models

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Chair:
Rumen Arnaudov
Technical University - Sofia
Bulgaria

Scope
Embedded systems concern devices, such as industrial controllers, portable in-house devices, monitoring devices, card readers, modules that exercise process control, and so on. We can often consider such devices as components of complex information systems - the current developments in energy management systems for example, point to a need for information on many parameters which in turn relate to a number of possible actions, and this is as well the case in healthcare monitoring and smart home systems. Hence, relating embedded systems to corresponsing information systems is relevant to the current developments in complex technology processes. Even though embedded systems are supposed to solve specific tasks, their increasing applicability is pushing towards unification - new integral approaches are being worked out currently, as well as interfaces and standards. This facilitates device optimization and their mass production which leads to minituatizatin of devices and brings their price down. At the same time, there are more and more examples of sophisticated embedded systems whose performance is crucial for the operation of technical devices, such as cars and multimedia systems. There are as well emerging theories concerning embedded systems control. The special session on Embedded Systems and Businedd Models focuses on the role of business models for the understanding and engineering embedded systems. Business models can be of useful help when specifying the requirements that concern the functionality of such embedded systems. This points to two questions: (i) How can we approach existing embedded systems through business modeling in support of an ANALYSIS on their role within the 'big system'; (ii) How can we use business models for generating ideas that concern the DESIGN of embedded systems.

 

Special Session 2: Human-Centered Information Systems Modeling

Chair:
Jose Cordeiro
Polytechnic Institute of Setubal
Portugal

Scope
The Special Session on Human-Centered Information Systems Modeling (HCISM) aims to become a forum for both researchers and practitioners to present and discuss novel approaches to model organizations and processes by taking into account individual and social aspects supported by theories and ideas from social sciences. Examples of these theories are Activity Theory, Speech-Act Theory, Organizational Semiotics, Structuration Theory, Actor-Network Theory among others. The real challenge is to enhance Computerized Information Systems solutions by incorporating key notions and ideas from those theories in the models, analysis, designs and implementations produced. Papers may address theories, methods, frameworks, techniques, modeling notations, applications or tools.

 

Special Session 3: Intelligent Algorithms for Real-Time Information Systems Support

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Chair:
Lyubka Doukovska
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgaria

Scope
In the recent years the information technologies are becoming the most perspective and fast developing field which occupies a large share of the modern scientific and business application developments. Information System is an academic discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study. The history of information systems coincides with the history of computer science that began long before the modern discipline of computer science emerged in the twentieth century. Each information system operates in a mutually connected environment. Observing the influence of the input data on the system's behavior and taking into account its development logic allows for an application of appropriate intelligent algorithms in order to provide the desired system output. Information systems have unique possibilities to interpret various research cases from different business and technological models. Computer Information Systems are often the science field of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software & hardware designs, their applications, and their impact. Real-time information systems find application in the field of control systems, flight control, avionics, defense systems, vision and robotics, pervasive and in various other systems.

 

Special Session 4: Business Models and Information Systems for Sustainable Development

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Chair:
Marten van Sinderen
University of Twente
The Netherlands

Scope
It is increasingly recognized that business models and information systems can contribute to solving major sustainable development challenges. At the business level, business processes specify how companies achieve their goals and realize a value proposition to their customers. Sustainable development at this level implies that not only economical aspects are taken into consideration when designing business processes, but social and environmental aspects as well. At the technical level, information systems (partially) automate the business processes. The design of information systems should then be optimized not only for delivering economic value, but also for providing social and environmental benefits. Examples of areas where business models and information systems can be applied for sustainable development include smart energy grids, energy-efficient buildings and spaces for public use, energy-positive neighborhoods, and low carbon mobility and freight transport.

 

Special Session 5: Engineering Secure Business Information Systems

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Chair:
Ricardo Neisse
European Commission Joint Research Center
Italy

Scope
The objective of this special session is to promote the interaction between the security engineering and the software design research communities. This interaction is wanted in order to facilitate the mutual learning between these research communities and to increase the adoption of state-of-the-art security engineering approaches by the software design community. One of the biggest challenges in the design of secure business information systems is to efficiently address the relevant business security concerns considering the growing complexity of these systems. Especially from this complexity handling perspective, the security engineering community has much to learn from the software design community.Furthermore, plenty of the existing approaches for security engineering propose solutions that do not consider the current reality of software design approaches,leading to low adoption of these security solutions. The software design community should ideally adopt and integrate these security engineering solutions in their software design methodologies from the very beginning. Considering this special session objective we invite researchers and practitioners from the security engineering community to submit their contributions focusing on the integration and support to business modeling and software design.