DOCSLIB.ORG

Theoretical Background

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Theoretical Background AvaliaçãoInformation Architecture da Teoria and deEnterprise Sistemas Ontologies NormalizadosAn Enterprise Ontology naApproach Implementação for Defining the Enterprise Information de SI EvolutivosArchitecture Bernardo Silva Gomes André Filipe Saraiva Varela (Licenciado em Engenharia Informática e de Computadores) Dissertation for the degree of Master in Information Systems and Computer Engineering Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática e de Computadores Jury Chair: Prof. José Tribolet Júri Presidente AAdviser: definir Prof. André Vasconcelos Orientador Prof. Doutor Carlos Nuno da Cruz Ribeiro Co-Orientador Prof.Co- DoutorAdviser: André Prof. Pedro Ferreira Sousa Ferrão Couto e Vasconcelos Co-Orientador Empresarial Eng. Gonçalo Caseiro Vogal Prof.Vowel António: Prof. Manuel Artur Caetano Ferreira Rito da Silva November 2011 Julho 2011 Abstract The role played by information in organizations is becoming increasingly important, since it is becoming clear its relevance as a basic background for Enterprise Architecture design and engineering. This is materialized in the Information Architecture, which represents the main information support for organizations, depicting and defining how is information defined and related among their environment. This architecture needs to be stable and consistent, since it is the main focus when organizations develop and manage their Information Systems. The way that this architecture is defined is still not well defined, since there are no major methodologies to apply. These architectures are actually developed taking in consideration the particular requirements for each organization, meaning that there are reference methodologies to be followed. The Portuguese Public Administration, being aware of that fact, wants to be well prepared regarding the information context, having a consistent Information Architecture to be used as a reference. Our work was initially framed in the development of such a Reference Information Architecture for the Portuguese Public Administration. However, and due to the lack of concrete methodologies to define the Information Architecture, we re-assigned our objectives in order to address this particular problem. Basing our approach on the Enterprise Ontologies theme, and using DEMO methodology as a starting point, we propose a methodology for defining the Enterprise Information Architecture. This methodology includes some major steps, including (1) applying the DEMO methodology in order to obtain its State Model, (2) applying two different mapping schemas (including ORM to UML mapping), in order to transform that State Model into an UML model, and (3) applying some complementary steps to adjust that UML model to an Information Architecture model. The proposed methodology is applied and discussed using two study cases. The first one is based in the related literature, and the second is framed in the Portuguese Public Administration context, in particular with the Balcão Perdi a Carteira service. Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, Information Architecture, Information Entities, Attributes, Relationships, Enterprise Ontologies, DEMO, Transactions, Data Modeling Mapping ii Resumo O papel da informação nas organizações tem-se vindo a tornar cada vez mais importante, devido ao facto da sua importância enquanto suporte fundamental para o desenho e engenharia da Arquitectura Empresarial. Tal facto é concretizado na Arquitectura de Informação, a qual representa o principal suporte de informação para as organizações, definindo e detalhando como é que esta informação definida e está relacionada no contexto do seu ambiente. Esta arquitectura necessita de ser estável e consistente, dado que é o principal foco de referencia no desenvolvimento e manutenção dos Sistemas de Informação. A forma como esta arquitectura é desenvolvida ainda não está claramente definida, uma vez que não existem metodologias para aplicar. Estas arquitecturas são actualmente desenvolvidas tendo em conta os requisitos particulares de cada organização, o que evidencia a falta de metodologias de referência a serem seguidas. A Administração Pública Portuguesa considera também este um factor determinante, pelo que quer garantir que está adequadamente preparada no contexto informacional, pretendendo ter uma Arquitectura Informacional de Referência. O nosso trabalho estava inicialmente enquadrado no desenvolvimento desta arquitectura de referência. No entanto, e dada a falta de metodologias concretas para a definição da Arquitectura Informacional, os objectivos foram revistos no sentido de abordar este problema. Baseando a nossa abordagem nas Ontologias Empresariais, e usando a metodologia DEMO como ponto de partida, propõe-se uma metodologia para a definição da Arquitectura Informacional. A metodologia proposta inclui alguns passos fundamentais, entre os quais se inclui (1) a aplicação da metodologia DEMO até se obter o State Model, (2) aplicar dois mapeamentos específicos (incluindo um mapeamento entre ORM e UML), de forma a transformar o State Model num modelo UML, e por último (3) a aplicação de passos complementares de forme a ajustar este modelo UML para um modelo de uma Arquitectura Informacional. A metodologia proposta é aplicada e discutida com base em dois casos de estudo. O primeiro é baseado num exemplo da literatura relacionada, enquanto que o segundo está contextualizado no seio da Administração Pública Portuguesa, em particular com o serviço Balcão Perdi a Carteira. Palavras-chave: Arquitectura Empresarial, Arquitectura Informacional, Entidades Informacionais, Atributos, Relações, Ontologias Empresariais, DEMO, Transacções, Mapeamento de Modelos de Dados iii Acknowledgments The process that is expressed in this dissertation was, for sure, the most challenging project I have faced so far in my life. It has been an year full of experiences. The results of this work would not be possible without the support of a numerous set of people that supported me during this trip. I want to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. André Vasconcelos, who gave me the opportunity to develop a work in such an interesting theme. I want to thank him for the innumerous meetings, the excess of emails and questions, and essentially for his patience and knowledge, which allowed me to find the best way to achieve the objectives. I thank him for everything. I thank my co-supervisor, Prof. Pedro Sousa, who also gave me an accurate support in critical stages of this dissertation. His advises were essential, and I thank him for that. I am also grateful to Prof. José Tribolet, who helped me understanding some key concepts for this dissertation. His endless knowledge allowed me to define my dissertation. I thank him for helping me defining the path to follow. I also need to thank to Prof. Artur Caetano and Prof. Jan Dietz, who both helped me in crucial moments of my dissertation, giving the necessary pointers to be able to move forward. I thank them for their availability to help. I also thank to AMA, especially to Eng. Maria João Marques, for their support. I thank them for the opportunity to have a consistent enterprise environment in which I was allowed to test my solution. I also thank them for their 100% availability during this process. I thank my colleagues, who accompanied me since my first day at university. I especially thank Emanuel, Johanson, Francisco, Alexandre Oliveira, João Cabral, Bruno Félix, Pedro Magalhães, Pedro Figueiredo, Alexandre Reis, and João Lima. I would never have reached this point without them, and I am in debt to all of them. I also thank to my long time friends, who have always supported me. I thank them for being there, and making this process much easier. I thank my family, especially my mother Hortense and my father Raul, for giving me the conditions and the opportunity to get to the end of this course. I also thank my brothers, grandparents, uncles and cousins, for all their support. Finally, I thank Mónica to whom I dedicate this thesis. I thank her for all the passed years, the endless patience, support and motivation. I thank her for ‘being there’ every single day, allowing me to reach the finish line. iv Table of Contents List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................................ x List of Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................................... xi Notation .................................................................................................................................................................. xii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Motivation .................................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Document Structure ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Summary .....................................................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Design Principles for the Information Architecture of a SMET Education Digital Library
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 459 837 IR 058 373 AUTHOR Dong, Andy; Agogino, Alice M. TITLE Design Principles for the Information Architecture of a SMET Education Digital Library. SPONS AGENCY National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA. PUB DATE 2001-06-00 NOTE 10p.; In: Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (1st, Roanoke, Virginia, June 24-28, 2001). For entire proceedings, see IR 058 348. Figures may not reproduce well. Also funded by National SMETE Digital Library Program. CONTRACT DUE-0085878 AVAILABLE FROM Association for Computing Machinery, 1515 Broadway, New York NY 10036. Tel: 800-342-6626 (Toll Free); Tel: 212-626-0500; e-mail: [email protected]. For full text: http://wwwl.acm.org/pubs/contents/proceedings/d1/379437/. PUB TYPE Reports - Research (143) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Computer System Design; *Design Requirements; Education; Educational Media; Educational Resources; Educational Technology; *Electronic Libraries; Information Systems; *Instructional Design; Instructional Materials ABSTRACT This implementation paper introduces principles for the information architecture of an educational digital library, principles that address the distinction between designing digital libraries for education and designing digital libraries for information retrieval in general. Design is a key element of any successful product. Good designers and their designs put technology into the hands of the user, making the product's focus comprehensible and tangible through design. As straightforward as this may appear, the design of learning technologies is often masked by the enabling technology. In fact, they often lack an explicitly stated instructional design methodology. While the technologies are important hurdles to overcome, the report advocates learning systems that empower education-driven experiences rather than technology-driven experiences.
    [Show full text]
  • Studying Social Tagging and Folksonomy: a Review and Framework
    Studying Social Tagging and Folksonomy: A Review and Framework Item Type Journal Article (On-line/Unpaginated) Authors Trant, Jennifer Citation Studying Social Tagging and Folksonomy: A Review and Framework 2009-01, 10(1) Journal of Digital Information Journal Journal of Digital Information Download date 02/10/2021 03:25:18 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/105375 Trant, Jennifer (2009) Studying Social Tagging and Folksonomy: A Review and Framework. Journal of Digital Information 10(1). Studying Social Tagging and Folksonomy: A Review and Framework J. Trant, University of Toronto / Archives & Museum Informatics 158 Lee Ave, Toronto, ON Canada M4E 2P3 jtrant [at] archimuse.com Abstract This paper reviews research into social tagging and folksonomy (as reflected in about 180 sources published through December 2007). Methods of researching the contribution of social tagging and folksonomy are described, and outstanding research questions are presented. This is a new area of research, where theoretical perspectives and relevant research methods are only now being defined. This paper provides a framework for the study of folksonomy, tagging and social tagging systems. Three broad approaches are identified, focusing first, on the folksonomy itself (and the role of tags in indexing and retrieval); secondly, on tagging (and the behaviour of users); and thirdly, on the nature of social tagging systems (as socio-technical frameworks). Keywords: Social tagging, folksonomy, tagging, literature review, research review 1. Introduction User-generated keywords – tags – have been suggested as a lightweight way of enhancing descriptions of on-line information resources, and improving their access through broader indexing. “Social Tagging” refers to the practice of publicly labeling or categorizing resources in a shared, on-line environment.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Information Architecture in Designing a Third-Generation Library Web Site
    The Role of Information Architecture in Designing a Third-Generation Library Web Site Jennifer Duncan and Wendy Holliday Library Web sites have evolved over the past decade, from simple pages with a few links to complex sites that provide direct access to hundreds of different resources. In many cases, this evolution occurs with little overall planning, often resulting in Web sites that are hard to manage and difficult for users to navigate.This article outlines the process of using Information Architecture (IA) to redesign a third-generation library Web site from the ground up.The result was a much more usable and cohesive library Web site that meets the needs of a broad range of users. n 2003, the Utah State Univer- had graphically redesigned the Web site sity (USU) Library anticipated a few times, the underlying structure the third major redesign of remained intact. The first and second their Web site. The original levels received a graphic makeover but re- design of the site simply provided basic mained mapped to years of accumulated information about library resources and pages that were not organized coherently. services. Like many library Web sites, it As Louis Rosenfeld, a pioneer in the field had grown over the years in both size and of Information Architecture, suggests, scope. By 2003, the site included several this is a common problem in the current hundred pages and provided access to electronic information environment: hundreds of electronic resources. It had grown without overall planning and it Increased scope, volume, and for- included several different graphic looks, mat types result in great content with “legacy” pages from previous de- ambiguity, muddier information signs existing alongside newer content.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Information Architecture to Evaluate Digital Libraries, the Reference Librarian, 51, 124-134
    FAU Institutional Repository http://purl.fcla.edu/fau/fauir This paper was submitted by the faculty of FAU Libraries. Notice: ©2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an electronic version of an article which is published and may be cited as: Parandjuk, J. C. (2010). Using Information Architecture to Evaluate Digital Libraries, The Reference Librarian, 51, 124-134. doi:10.1080/027638709 The Reference Librarian is available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02763870903579737 The Reference Librarian, 51:124–134, 2010 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0276-3877 print/1541-1117 online DOI: 10.1080/02763870903579737 WREF0276-38771541-1117The Reference Librarian,Librarian Vol. 51, No. 2, Feb 2009: pp. 0–0 Using Information Architecture to Evaluate Digital Libraries UsingJ. C. Parandjuk Information Architecture to Evaluate Digital Libraries JOANNE C. PARANDJUK Florida Atlantic University Libraries, Boca Raton, FL Information users face increasing amounts of digital content, some of which is held in digital library collections. Academic librarians have the dual challenge of organizing online library content and instructing users in how to find, evaluate, and use digital information. Information architecture supports evolving library services by bringing best practice principles to digital collection development. Information architects organize content with a user-centered, customer oriented approach that benefits library users in resource discovery. The Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM),
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1 Web Basics and Overview
    Chapter 1 Web Basics and Overview The Web is an Internet-based distributed information system. Anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can easily retrieve information by giving a Web address or by simply clicking a mouse button. The Web is a great way to disseminate information and making it available 24/7. Information can also be collected from Web users and customers through online forms. Maintainers and administrators can control and update Web content from anywhere on the Web. All these make the Web a powerful tool for mass communication, e-business and e-commerce. Compared with TV, radio, news papers, and magazines, putting the word out on the Web is relatively simple and inexpensive. But a website is much more than such one-way communication media. It can be a virtual o±ce or store that is always open and supported by workers from anywhere. Web service companies o®er free Web space and tools to generate simple personal or even business Web pages. But, well-designed and professionally implemented websites are much more involved. Even then, expertly produced websites are still much more cost-e®ective than other means of mass communication. For business and commerce, the cost of a website is negligible when compared to building and operating a brick-and-mortar o±ce or store. Once in-place, a website is a store that never closes and that is very attractive. People take great pains in building an o±ce or store to project the right image and to serve the needs 7 8 CHAPTER 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Ontologies for Enterprise Architecture Model Alignment
    Using Ontologies for Enterprise Architecture Model Alignment Gon¸caloAntunes1, Artur Caetano1;2, Marzieh Bakhshandeh1, Rudolf Mayer3, and Jos´eBorbinha1;2 1 Instituto Superior T´ecnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal, 2 Information Systems Group, INESC-ID, Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000-029 Lisboa, Portugal, 3 SBA Research, Favoritenstraße 16, 1040 Wien, Austria {goncalo.antunes,artur.caetano}@ist.utl.pt Abstract. One of the primary goals of enterprise architecture aligning the business with the underlying support systems. An architecture de- scription encompasses an heterogeneous spectrum of domains, such as business processes, application components, metrics, people and tech- nological infrastructure. Views express the domain elements and their relationships from the perspective of specific concerns relevant to the system stakeholders. Thus, each view needs to be expressed in the de- scription language that best suits its concerns. However, enterprise ar- chitecture languages often specify meta-models that cross-cut distinct architectural domains. This hinders extensibility and adds complexity to the language. Ob the other hand, describing each domain through a specialized language and then integrating the multiple languages raises challenges at the level of traceability and consistency. This paper pro- poses using ontologies to integrate different enterprise architecture do- mains and to analyse the resulting models. This goal is realized through a core domain-independent language that is extended by several domain- specific languages, each focussing on a set of specific concerns. The ap- proach contributes to the alignment of the different domains while en- suring traceability and model consistency. The proposal is demonstrated through an evaluation scenario that employs ArchiMate as the domain- independent language extended with a set of domain-specific languages.
    [Show full text]
  • D-3.1 (D-B.1) the Network of Information: Architecture and Applications
    Objective FP7-ICT-2009-5-257448/D-3.1 Future Networks Project 257448 “SAIL – Scalable and Adaptable Internet Solutions” D-3.1 (D-B.1) The Network of Information: Architecture and Applications Date of preparation: 11-07-31 Revision: 1.0 Start date of Project: 10-08-01 Duration: 13-01-31 Project Coordinator: Thomas Edwall Ericsson AB Document: FP7-ICT-2009-5-257448-SAIL/D-3.1 Date: July 31, 2011 Security: Public Status: Final version Version: 1.0 Document Properties Document Number: D-3.1 Document Title: The Network of Information: Architecture and Applications Document Responsible: Dirk Kutscher (NEC) Document Editor: Petteri P¨oyh¨onen (NSN), Ove Strandberg (NSN) Bengt Ahlgren (SICS), Matteo D. Ambrosio (TI), Erik Axelsson (KTH), Lars Brown (KTH), Christian Dannewitz (UPB), Zoran Despotovic (DoCoMo), Anders E. Eriksson (EAB), Stephen Farrell (TCD), Jelena Frtunikj (DoCoMo), Massimo Gallo (FT), Bj¨orn Gr¨onvall (SICS), Claudio Imbrenda (NEC), Bruno Kauffmann (FT), Dirk Kutscher (NEC), Authors: Anders Lindgren (SICS), Henrik Lundqvist (DoCoMo), Aidan Lynch (TCD), Luca Muscariello (FT), B¨orje Ohlman (EAB), Jean Francois Peltier (FT), Karl-Ake Persson (EAB), Petteri P¨oyh¨onen (NSN), Ove Strandberg (NSN), Patrick Truong (FT), Janne Tuononen (NSN), Vinicio Vercellone (TI), Stefan Weber (TCD) Target Dissemination Level: PU Status of the Document: Final version Version: 1.0 Production Properties: Reviewers: Pedro Aranda (TID), Bj¨orn Levin (SICS) Document History: Revision Date Issued by Description 1.0 2011-07-31 Petteri P¨oyh¨onen Final version Disclaimer: This document has been produced in the context of the SAIL Project. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2010–2013) under grant agreement n◦ 257448.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Architecture: a Brief Introduction
    Information Architecture: A brief introduction Samantha Bailey http://baileysorts.com 12/03/03 For the record I’m a librarian who works in digital information spaces. Currently: Vice President, Information Architecture for Wachovia.com (Wachovia Bank) Pioneer in IA: First employee of Argus Associates, spent 5 years there developing their operation & methodology MILS from University of Michigan, 1996 with Amazing push-button Shushing Action! http://www.mcphee.com/amusements/current/11247.html Topics Defining Information Architecture Understanding Information Environments Components of an information architecture Methodology & Deliverables Question: How do you define Information Architecture? What is IA? A trick question or a tricky question? Information Architecture (IA) Interaction Design (ID) Information Design (ID too) User-centered Design (UCD) User-interface Design (UI) Usability/Usability Engineering (UE) What is IA? This is an emerging discipline in an evolving medium. Experts & Gurus disagree on the “right” answer. IMHO: The ongoing discussion is legitimate and healthy—as long as we’re getting work done. What is IA? Christina Wodtke’s SIG-IA survey: content architecture (Polar Bear style) interaction design (Cooper’s About Face) information design (Wurman's Information Architects) What is IA? The art and science of structuring and organizing information systems to help people achieve their goals. Information architects organize content and design navigation systems to help people find and manage information. A Visual
    [Show full text]
  • A Blockchain Implementation Prototype for the Electronic Open Source Traceability of Wood Along the Whole Supply Chain
    sensors Article A Blockchain Implementation Prototype for the Electronic Open Source Traceability of Wood along the Whole Supply Chain Simone Figorilli 1, Francesca Antonucci 1, Corrado Costa 1,* , Federico Pallottino 1 , Luciano Raso 2, Marco Castiglione 2, Edoardo Pinci 2, Davide Del Vecchio 2, Giacomo Colle 3, Andrea Rosario Proto 4 , Giulio Sperandio 1 and Paolo Menesatti 1 1 Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria (CREA)—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; simone.fi[email protected] (S.F.); [email protected] (F.A.); [email protected] (F.P.); [email protected] (G.S.); [email protected] (P.M.) 2 Microsoft S.r.l., Viale Pasubio 21, 20154 Milano, Italy; [email protected] (L.R.); [email protected] (M.C.); [email protected] (E.P.); [email protected] (D.D.V.) 3 Effetreseizero Srl, Spinoff CREA, Via dei Solteri 37/1, 38121 Trento, Italy; [email protected] 4 Department of AGRARIA, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-06-9067-5214; Fax: +39-06-9062-5591 Received: 19 July 2018; Accepted: 14 September 2018; Published: 17 September 2018 Abstract: This is the first work to introduce the use of blockchain technology for the electronic traceability of wood from standing tree to final user. Infotracing integrates the information related to the product quality with those related to the traceability [physical and digital documents (Radio Frequency IDentification—RFID—architecture)] within an online information system whose steps (transactions) can be made safe to evidence of alteration through the blockchain.
    [Show full text]
  • Ontology Languages – a Review
    International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol.2, No.6, December, 2010 1793-8201 Ontology Languages – A Review V. Maniraj, Dr.R. Sivakumar 1) Logical Languages Abstract—Ontologies have been becoming a hot research • First order predicate logic topic for the application in artificial intelligence, semantic web, Software Engineering, Library Science and information • Rule based logic Architecture. Ontology is a formal representation of set of concepts within a domain and relationships between those • concepts. It is used to reason about the properties of that Description logic domain and may be used to define the domain. An ontology language is a formal language used to encode the ontologies. A 2) Frame based Languages number of research languages have been designed and released • Similar to relational databases during the past few years by the research community. They are both proprietary and standard based. In this paper a study has 3) Graph based Languages been reported on the different features and issues of these • languages. This paper also addresses the challenges for Semantic network research community in the further development of ontology languages. • Analogy with the web is rationale for the semantic web I. INTRODUCTION Ontology engineering (or ontology building) is a subfield II. BACKGROUND of knowledge engineering that studies the methods and CycL1 in computer science and artificial intelligence is an methodologies for building ontologies. It studies the ontology language used by Doug Lenat’s Cye artificial ontology development process, the ontology life cycle, the intelligence project. Ramanathan V. Guna was instrumental methods and methodologies for building ontologies, and the in the design of the language.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Architecture in Web Design
    Information architecture in web design Information architecture in web design Case Lähde työelämään - Spring to Work Bachelor’s thesis Degree Programme in Business Information Technology Hämeenlinna, Visamäki, __.__.2012 Turo Nylund Information architecture in web design BACHELOR’S THESIS Degree Programme in Business Information Technology Hämeenlinna, Visamäki Subject of thesis Information architecture in web design Author Turo Nylund Instructor Tommi Lahti Approved __.__.20__ Acceptor Information architecture in web design ABSTRACT Hämeenlinna, Visamäki Degree Programme in Business Information Technology Systems development Author Turo Nylund Year 2012 Subject of Bachelor’s thesis Information architecture in web design ABSTRACT The purpose of the thesis was to improve the information architecture of an information system called Spring to Work. The information system is a part of Lähde työelämään - project and HAMK University of Applied Sci- ences has been coordinating this subproject. The subject of the thesis is picked up from the author’s own interest in web design. The target of the thesis is to find out what information architecture is and what areas it covers. In addition, the thesis will work out the impact of in- formation architecture on web design. Types of skills needed to creating the information architecture are also included in the research questions of the thesis. Theoretical parts were studied from two main written sources. The sources were used to help build a body of the thesis and outline the research top- ics. The research method was mainly qualitative, because at the beginning of the thesis, the author did not have any knowledge about information ar- chitecture.
    [Show full text]
  • Integrating Blockchain with Erp for a Transparent Supply Chain
    PERSPECTIVE INTEGRATING BLOCKCHAIN WITH ERP FOR A TRANSPARENT SUPPLY CHAIN Abstract Supply chain is complex today. Multi-echelon, highly disjointed, and geographically spread are some of the cornerstones of today’s supply chain. All these together with different governmental policies and human behavior make it almost impossible to probe incidents and trace events in case of supply chain disruptions. In effect, an end-to-end supply chain, from the most basic raw material to the final product in a customer’s possession, is opaque. The inherent cost involved in managing supply chain intermediaries, their reliability, traceability, and transparency further complicate the supply chain. The solution to such complicated problems lies in improving supply chain transparency. This is now possible with the concept of blockchain. The usage of blockchain in a financial transaction is well known. This paper reviews blockchain technology, which is changing the face of supply chain and bringing in transparency and authenticity. This paper first discusses the history and evolution of blockchain from the bitcoin network, and goes on to explore the protocols. The author takes a deep dive into the design of blockchain, exploring its five pillars and three-layered architecture, which enables most of the blockchains today. With the architecture, the author focuses on the applications, use cases, road map, and challenges for blockchain in the supply chain domain as well as the synergy of blockchain with enterprise applications. It analyzes the integration of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system of the supply chain domain with blockchain. It also explores the three distinct growth areas: ERP-blockchain supply chain use cases, the middleware for connecting the blockchain with ERP, and blockchain as a service (BaaS).
    [Show full text]