A System Design Framework for Digital Process Innovation

现代社会的许多流程（如商业、教育、医疗保健）正在从物理执行转向数字执行。数字化被广泛定义为将模拟信息和物理过程转换为数字格式，是数字社会的基础。一方面，数字化可以在数字生态系统的所有组件（例如代理、流程、技术）之间实现新的连接，以增强物理流程执行所能实现的功能。我们将这种过程增强称为数字过程创新（DPI）。然而，DPI项目在不同生态系统组成部分之间的连接程度方面具有不同的复杂性。我们无法解释这种复杂性导致了DPI带来的危险和其他意想不到的后果。为了支持DPI的信息系统（IS）设计，我们首先需要根据生态系统中存在的代理、过程和协调来描述数字生态系统的特征，然后确定DPI的IS设计要求。然而，DPI可以以多种方式设计，从而产生多代理决策问题。为了解决这个问题，我们需要设计灵活的工具，使IS设计人员能够模拟潜在的IS设计配置，以建立关于IS设计需求的共同基础。该研究计划的长期目标是为DPI开发一个系统设计框架。三个具体目标将实现总体目标。第一个目标是使用本体工程对DPI生态系统进行建模和表征。将开发推理能力，将生态系统描述为基于本体输入的紧密或松散耦合系统。第二个目标是将本体操作化为多智能体系统（MAS）架构。DPI生态系统的动态性意味着可以以不同的方式配置MAS架构，并且IS设计人员必须为特定的DPI项目在架构上建立共同基础。第三个目标将实现MAS架构作为基于计算机的多智能体决策支持系统（MADSS）。MADSS将使信息系统设计人员能够模拟MAS体系结构的不同变体，以支持DPI项目中信息系统设计需求的共同基础的发展。通过紧耦合（在线教育）和松耦合（基于社区的医疗保健计划）领域的案例研究，将对MADSS的概念可用性测试进行验证。这项研究的结果将是一个支持DPI的创新框架。它将通过开发一种方法来模拟DPI生态系统，并将其描述为紧密耦合或松散耦合，从而产生理论影响。它将提供一个灵活的工具，使IS设计人员能够模拟不同的DPI配置，帮助他们建立关于IS设计要求的共同点，以支持数字流程创新，从而产生实际影响。

Many of the processes (e.g. commerce, education, healthcare) in modern society are moving from physical to digital execution. Digitization, broadly defined as the conversion of analog information and physical processes into digital format, is foundational to a digital society. On one hand, digitization can enable new connectivity across all components of a digital ecosystem (e.g. agents, processes, technologies) to enhance functionality beyond what is enabled in physical process execution. We refer to this process enhancement as digital process innovation (DPI). However, DPI projects will have varied complexity with respect to the degree of connectivity across different ecosystem components. Our inability to account for this complexity leads to hazards and other unintended consequences from DPI. To support information system (IS) design for DPI we need to first characterize a digital ecosystem according to the agents, processes and coordination that exists within the ecosystem and then identify IS design requirements for DPI. However, DPI can be designed in many ways creating a multi-agent decision problem. To address that issue, we need to design flexible tools to enable IS designers to simulate potential IS design configurations to establish common ground about IS design requirements. The long-term goal of this proposed research program is to develop a system design framework for DPI. Three specific objectives will accomplish the overall goal. The first objective is to model and characterize a DPI ecosystem using ontological engineering. Reasoning capabilities will be developed to characterize an ecosystem as a tight or loose coupled system based on the ontology inputs. The second objective will operationalize the ontology into a multi-agent system (MAS) architecture. The dynamic nature of a DPI ecosystem means the MAS architecture can be configured in different ways and IS designers must establish common ground on the architecture for a specific DPI project. The third objective will implement the MAS architecture as a computer based multi-agent decision support system (MADSS). MADSS will enable IS designers to simulate different variations of the MAS architecture to support the development of common ground on IS design requirements for a DPI project. Proof of concept usability testing of the MADSS will be done with case studies of tight coupled (online education) and loose coupled (community-based healthcare planning) domains. The result of this research will be an innovative framework to support DPI. It will have a theoretical impact by developing a method to model and characterize a DPI ecosystem as tight or loose coupled. It will have a practical impact by providing a flexible tool that enables IS designers to simulate different DPI configurations to help them to establish common ground about IS design requirements to support digital process innovation.