Evolutionary information and decision support systems: An integration based on ontologies1

Abstract

In order to use information stored in different repositories, it is necessary to improve the automatization process of decision-making. As a result, it would be necessary to share data. One of the main motivations of our emphasis on Semantic Views building is the possibility of sharing and reusing knowledge between the Information System, the Decision Support System and other external repositories. In this paper, we will try to show that Ontologies can be used in practice as a Semantic View. We also discuss some of the limitations of the Ontology described using Description Logics in a complex domain and the limitations which we have discovered when the intrinsic evolutionary aspects of Information Systems and Decision Support Systems must be modeled. Another important problem is how a change in such systems may produce a propagation of changes which affect the levels of the system (data) and the metasystem (data structure). For this purpose, we propose a specialized ontology based on the Object-Oriented Approach. Subsequently, we have obtained some equivalent heterogeneous graphs and these can be used to represent change propagation in the IS, DSS and Semantic Views. Most of the problems mentioned will be exemplified by means of a concrete case: a DSS for risk operations in financial institutions, the class structure of which is outlined. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.