I-Corps: Development of a smart food distribution software system

I-Corps项目的商业潜力是为人道主义粮食救济网络开发一个决策支持系统，该系统利用复杂的数据支持大规模的分配和资源分配决策。人类决策过程得到智能自主代理的支持，这些代理根据组织的具体需求指导用户完成数据建模和可视化任务，考虑到他们的具体目标：1)公平分配资源；2)以成本效益分配资源；3)有效利用稀缺资源。人道主义粮食救济网络中稀缺的资源分配问题包括人员(志愿人员资源)和物资(例如食品、金钱)。商业潜力在于，根据代理人通过数据和人机交互从用户环境中学习的能力，向决策者提出针对模型的建议。该系统弥合了复杂建模工具和作战主题专家之间的知识鸿沟，这些专家可能受益于这些工具，但缺乏特定领域的知识来在实践中实施这些工具。该i-Corps项目基于开发一个具有机器学习和优化能力的人道主义食品救援网络平台，该平台具有与人类认知能力交织在一起的能力。具体地说，拟议的技术利用认知计算和数据建模方面的研究来构建智能平台，使组织能够将高级数据建模集成到其运营中。我们的愿景是，这个平台将作为智能代理的集合，支持员工作为一个团队执行不同的功能。在这种背景下，智力意味着以下四种认知能力：记忆和处理大量信息，可视化和理解信息中的复杂概念，交流(例如，提供指导和指导)，以及从经验中学习。该平台旨在包含一个健壮的操作和数据建模本体，以促进智能代理与工作人员团队的人机交互，并促进四种认知能力的执行。I-Corps团队计划调查这项创新的市场潜力，验证客户需求以及创新如何缓解这些需求，并识别可持续的商业模式。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a decision-support system for humanitarian food relief networks which harnesses complex data to support large-scale distribution and resource allocation decisions. The human decision-making process is supported by intelligent autonomous agents that guide users through data modeling and visualization tasks tailored to the specific needs of the organization considering their specific objectives of 1) equitable allocation of resources; 2) cost effective distribution of resources; and 3) efficient use of scarce resources. Scarce resource allocation problems in humanitarian food relief networks consist of human (volunteer resources) and material (e.g., food, money). The commercial potential lies at the ability to make model-specific recommendations to decision-makers based on the agent's capability to learn from the user environment through data and human/computer interaction. The proposed system bridges the knowledge gap between sophisticated modeling tools and operations subject matter experts who may benefit from these tools but lack the domain-specific knowledge to implement them in practice.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a platform for humanitarian food relief networks that possesses machine learning and optimization capabilities interwoven with the human cognition capabilities. Specifically, the proposed technology leverages research in cognitive computing and data modeling to build an intelligent platform to empower organizations to integrate advanced data modeling into their operations. The vision is that this platform will function as a collection of intelligent agents supporting workers performing different functions as a team. In this context, intelligence implies the following four cognitive abilities: to remember and process large amounts of information, to visualize and understand complex concepts in the information, to communicate (e.g., provide instruction and guidance), and to learn from experience. The platform is designed to contain a robust operations and data modeling ontology to facilitate human/machine interaction of the intelligent agents with the team of workers and to facilitate the execution of the four cognitive abilities. This I-Corps team plans to investigate the market potential of this innovation, validate customer needs and how the innovation may alleviate such needs, and discern sustainable business models.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.