Computer Aided Planning, Engineering and

Management for Smart Services and Enterprises

Amjad Umar, Ph.D.

Harrisburg University (eBusiness/eGovt)
University of Pennsylvania (Telecom Engg)
United Nations (Chief Architect-eNabler Project)
Fulbright Senior Specialist (ICT)
umar@amjadumar.com , 717-901-5141

Copyright: Amjad Umar, 2013

 Introduction
Different definitions of smart systems exist
Different projects with different areas of focus are appearing
(technical only, social only, few mixtures)
Most projects are focusing on developed countries
Our Project (part of UN eNabler & Infopoverty):
Main Criteria : Detect, Adjust, Learn (DAL)

Main Focus: developing not developed countries

Adopt a Systems View: People, Processes, Technologies

Examples: Smart cities, smart community centers, smart

health information exchanges in developing countries
Goal: Computer Aided Consulting for Smart Systems
Helps to make decisions based on cost/benefit analysis
 What are Smart Systems
Smart Systems Detect
Detect (D) a problem

Adjust (A) accordingly

Learn Adjust
Learn (L) to prevent in future

Example: Environmental Protection Service with DAL:

Detect pollution concentration in city streets

(automatic alarms when the radiation level rises to a

certain level).
Adjust the system to shut down some sources

Learn what caused the pollution to prevent in the

future and predict future pollutions instead of just

detecting (predictive versus reactive mode)
People, Processes & Technologies Debate
Systems View (people, processes, technology) is
crucial instead of technologies only People
DAL features can be supported by people,
processes, or technologies
Tradeoffs necessary

Low technologies: compensate through smart

people and processes

Processes Technologies
Smart technology available: less smarts

needed in people and processes Main Idea:

-Smart People: well
In developing countries, smart technologies may Trained
not be available - Smart Processes:
Question: is it smart to build an automated smart BPR, BPI, BPM
system in Nepal that lays off 200 people (is it - Smart Technologies:
better to build smarts in people & processes?) Indiv, plus bundles
Approaches to Build a Smart System:
A system consists of:
Individual Components
Communication mechanisms System
between components
Components may be technology or Component Component

human components
Building a Smart System
Components are smart (DAL)
Interactions between components
are smart (e.g., healing networks)
Small systems have few components,
e.g., a small sales department
Large systems consist of many
systems (systems of systems), e.g.,
 Tradeoffs for Building Smart Systems
Building a Smart System
Components are smart (DAL) Q4: Very
Interactions between components
Q1 Smart
are smart (e.g., healing networks) Smart System
Evaluating Smart Systems Interactions
Very Smart System has: Q2 Q3
Large no of smart components

Large no. of smart interactions

Smart Components
Cost/Benefit Analysis
What are the costs of being Smart
What are the benefits
Which quadrant is best (Q1,,,Q4)
Need technical analysis
 Technical Architecture Pattern of a Smart System Based on SOA

Enterprise App1 App2 App3

Service
Bus (ESB)

Broker ( Integration Hub) Directory, Security &

Administrative Services

App4 App5

Some applications provide smart services (e.g., red)

= Adapter that are invoked through well defined interfaces
Adapters are used for message and protocol translations
= Service Interface A Broker (Hub) provides smart communications between
various service providers and consumers
Many commercial Simple (email, FTP) is not smart
ESBs (Mule, Biztalk, An ESB provides Directory, Security, smart routing
Websphere, etc.) & Administrative Services
 Small to Large and Complex Systems (e.g., Cities)

Org Unit A Org Unit B

Private
Private Process
Network
Process
(private or public)
Public Public Private
Private Data/Process
Process Data/Process Process

Private Private
Process Process

Within a Department People, Processes & Technologies Issues

Within a Company Governance (policies, procedures)
Between Companies Information Exchange
Between Countries Technical Architectures
 Technical Pattern for Large Scale Systems (e.g. City)
Agency1 Agency 2 Agency3

Broker: B2B Integration Bus (BIB)

Value Added
= Private Process Component (VAC) = Public Proces
= Connector for BIB
VAC = Smart capabilities for BIB
Each Agency may have its own smart capabilities (e.g., Agency 2)
BIB has Smarts for interagency exchanges
 An Example: Smart Health Information Exchange
Health Information Exchange (HIE): Has many agencies that
provide healthcare services
Individual service providers may not be smart
Interaction (Collaboration Mechanism) between the
agencies is Smart: In case of an emergency, it:
detects a problem (large number of injuries)

adjusts and finds the most suitable agency (e.g., the

closest hospital with capabilities for head injuries)

Learns how to do it better the next time

One agency may have internal smarts (e.g., detects, adjusts

and learns in emergency situations)
In developing countries, the needed smarts may be
implemented through smart people and processes
 SPACE Methodology
User logs on to the SPACE Planner & then:
P0: Specifies a country (e.g., Nigeria)
P1: Specifies a service e.g., Telemedicine

P5: Specialized Advisors & Games

and decides service delivery options
(simple vs sophisticated, city vs state
level, level of web and mobility use)
P2: SPACE advisors collaborate with
each other to generate strategic plans &
architectures
P3: Additional advisors generate
implementation plans and details
P4: Additional advisors develop
governance and management guidelines
P5: Specialized advisors, games and
simulations for additional insights BIG DATA
Computer Aided Consulting Environment for Smart Systems
SPACE (Strategic Planning, Architecture, Controls & Education)

One Stop Shop to cover the entire Learn-Plan-Do-Check (LPDC) cycle

Simulates a team of experts that collaborate with each other to solve problems
User selects a country/region, a service, and the experts generate strategic
plans, requirement docs, RFPs, proj management views & prototype sketch
Consists of patterns, games and an extensive ePlanner for the LPDC cycle
Features are being added to support Smart systems
Decision Support Tool
Learn Plan

Learning Planning
Games Games
Knowledge
Repositories &
Start Patterns

Management Implementation
Games Games Pattern=
Check Core
ePlanner Do Knowledge
 Simple to Large and Complex
S3: Large S4: Extra Large
- HIE between Providers - HIE between Providers
Many in USA in EU
- B2B Services - B2B Services in Africa
(Orgs, Owners)

- Interagency Services - Interagency Services in

Providers

in Macedonia Macedonia & PA

S2: Medium
S1: Simple
- Initiatives (MDGs)
- HIE (Health
- Departments, Offices
Information Exchange)
- Digital Community
in a Hospital System
Centers
- eLearning in Libya
- Smart Villages
One - Food Safety in Nepal
- Smart Cities :

One Many (Bundles)

Services
 SPACE Server
Inference Engine Plans,
Strategic Architectures,
Planning PM Guidelines
Gamification Advisors Architecture
& Integration
Advisors Project Advisors
Users Management
Sample
Advisors Solution

Pattern Repositories
Technology
Business Patterns Patterns Management and Regional
Patterns
Healthcare Services
Application Patterns Project Management
Education Services Quality Patterns
Network Patterns
Public Safety Services UNPAN eReadiness
Security Patterns WEF Network Readiness Index
Public Welfare Services World Bank Open Data
Architecture &
Transportation Services Integration Patterns ITU Data Sources
COTS (Commercial-Off-The-
Agriculture Services Solution Patterns Shelf) Database
 Current Status and Future Directions
Currently: Operational System with all functioning components (shown)
Future: More BIG DATA, More Capabilities (SIDS, SDG, governance)
Note: 1 + 1 > 3 due to collaborating advisors/games around patterns

Processing
BIG DATA &
Patterns Repository Reports
Intelligent Advisors (12 that cover
Business Patterns
30 Advisors
10 sectors LPDC Cycle)
Strategic level
100+ services
Specialized/detailed
Technology Patterns
Network patterns
Handling Bundles
Integration Patterns
Enterprise Wide
Security Patterns
B2B and Interagency Solutions
Management Patterns
Project management (Web portals
Games (20 that cover LPDC) Mobile Portals)
Governance (?)
Country Patterns
Smart Features (Basic)
150 Countries
Possible Project Areas (Short List)
Sample R&D Projects for Students and/or Government Officials
Exploration of Big Data for Strategic Planning
Use of Computer Aided Planning for Smart Rwanda
Smart Decision Support for Smart Services
Rapid Deployment of ICT Services in Developing Countries
Health and Human Services through Computer Aided Planning
From Big Data to Big Knowledge Exploring Patterns
Gamification for Training Healthcare Staff and Patients
Business Gamification Through Patterns

Further Study:
Go to the Space website (www.space4ict.com) - to Planner Section
Visit the Planner Learning Corner: Stage 0 to Stage4
 Research/Applied Project Topics (UN-Based)
UN-SIDS Projects : ICT for small/Smart islands see www.space4ict.com/sids
Combining BIG Data with BI: Intelligent Decision Support for Smart Enterprises
Pursuing different research directions based on the Beijing Conference on Big Data
(Oct 2014). visit http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/events/2014/Beijing/default.asp
Exploring/utilizing UN Statistics Department (UNSD) Data Sources:
UN Data website (http://data.un.org/) to explore 25 databases on topics such as
crime, food, health and tourism. Also can look at country wide statistics, an
API is also available.
Additional Big Data Sources: World Bank Open Data institute
UN-DOS Student Projects to Explore
Data visualisation techniques for (big data of) trade statistics "comtrade labs"
http://comtrade.un.org/labs/).
Data visualization challenges on UN unite website:

https://unite.un.org/ideas/content/patterns-and-trends-queries-users-un-
comtrade-database
https://unite.un.org/ideas/content/harmonised-system-correlation-tables
Strengthening Computer Aided Advisory Services through BIG DATA

Mixtures and Other potential New areas

 Key Academic References
Adams, J., et al, Patterns for e-Business: A Strategy for Reuse, IBM Press, October 2001.
Alexander, C., The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press, 1979
Dada, D., The Failure of e-Government in Developing Countries, EJIDSC, Vol 26, no. 7,
2006, link: http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/viewFile/277/176.
Gamma, E., et al, Design Patterns, Addison Wesley, 1994.
Rosenfeld, E., After all this. Why Do Projects Fail?,
http://www.adaptivepartners.com/projfailb.htm.
Umar, A., Computer Aided Consulting for Developing Countries, IEEE International
Technology Management Conference, Hague, June 2013.
Umar, A., Computer Aided Planning, Engineering and Management of IT Services,
IEEE International Technology Management Conference, Dallas, June 2012.
Umar, A., and Zordan, A., Enterprise Ontologies for Planning and Integration of
eBusiness, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, May 2009, Vol. 56, No. 2,
pp. 352-371.
Umar, A., Intelligent Decision Support for Architectures and Integration of Next
Generation Enterprises , Informatica, V. 31, No. 14, pp. 141-150., 2007
Weblink1: Standish Group Chaos Report, published annually by the Standish Group
(www.standishgroup.com), last accessed: Feb 9, 2014
 Thank
You

Amjad Umar, Ph.D.

umar@amjadumar.com

717-901-5141