Developing Web Enabled Decision Support Systems

Decision Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions is the authoritative reference guide to computerized Decision Support Systems. Author Dan Power has spent almost 30 years building, studying and teaching others about computerized Decision Support Systems. Dr. Power is first and foremost a Decision Support evangelist and generalist. From his vantage point as editor of DSSResources.COM, he tracks a broad range of contemporary DSS topics. In this DSS FAQ, Dr. Power answers 83 frequently asked questions about computerized decision support systems. The FAQ covers a broad range of contemporary topics and the questions are organized into 8 chapters. DSS FAQ helps readers understand questions like: What is a DSS? What kind of DSS does Mr. X need? Does data modeling differ for a Data-Driven DSS? Is a Data Warehouse a DSS? Is tax preparation software an example of a DSS? What do I need to know about Data Warehousing/OLAP? What is a cost estimation DSS? What is a Spreadsheet-based DSS? Decision Support Systems: Frequently Asked Questions is a useful resource for IT specialists, students, professors and managers. It organizes important Ask Dan! questions (with answers) published in DSS News from 2000 through 2004.

Web-based Support Systems (WSS) are an emerging multidisciplinary research area in which one studies the support of human activities with the Web as the common platform,mediumandinterface.TheInternetaffectseveryaspectofourmodernlife. Moving support systems to online is an increasing trend in many research domains. One of the goals of WSS research is to extend the human physical limitation of information processing in the information age. Research on WSS is motivated by the challenges and opportunities arising from the Internet. The availability, accessibility and ?exibility of information as well as the tools to access this information lead to a vast amount of opportunities. H- ever, there are also many challenges we face. For instance, we have to deal with more complex tasks, as there are increasing demands for quality and productivity. WSS research is a natural evolution of the studies on various computerized support systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS), Computer Aided Design (CAD), and Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE). The recent advancement of computer and Web technologies make the implementation of more feasible WSS. Nowadays, it is rare to see a system without some type of Web interaction. The research of WSS is classi?ed into four groups. • WSS for speci?c domains.

For MIS specialists and nonspecialists alike, a comprehensive, readable, understandable guide to the concepts and applications of decision support systems.

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: The main goal of this thesis is to develop a framework for a Web based Spatial Decision Support System (WSDSS) for supporting the development of river restoration strategies. Due to their free availability, open source/free GIS tools and technology are used to develop this decision support framework supporting a multi-user decision support platform via the web. The integration of latest multi-scale river ecological knowledge is assured by the strong relatedness of this thesis to a project that has been run at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna between 2005 and 2008 the MIRR project (Model based Instrument for River Restoration). By order of the Austrian Ministry of Life, being responsible for the implementation of the EU-Water Framework Directive, a strategic instrument to identify hydro-morphological restoration measures for running waters to enhance the ecological status of rivers in Austria measured by fish was developed at the Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management (IHG) at the BOKU based on comprehensive multivariate analyses of fish/pressure relationships using data from Lower Austria. The identification and quantification of the effects of the main relevant pressure types allowed the development of flow charts for guiding restoration activities at multiple scales. Up to now no tool exists allowing an automated evaluation of the effects of different restoration strategies on the ecological status of the so called water bodies, the relevant scale for action and reporting with regard to the EU-WFD. Furthermore existing web based GIS tools related to rivers and the implementation of the EU WFD in Austria and on an EU level do not allow any interaction with the data, and are therefore not well suited for decision support (for example the Water Information system of Austria WISA , or the Water Information System of Europe WISE ). The following parts of the MIRR project conducted under the supervision of the author of this thesis as work package leader, and can be seen as part of this thesis, although mainly content relevant for the development of the WSDSS framework is reproduced here: Literature research and definition of relevant parameters to model fish/pressure relationships on multiple spatial and temporal scales, Investigation and collection of the available GIS datasets in Austria, that might be of relevance for the MIRR project, and matching [...]

Websites are a central part of today’s business world; however, with the vast amount of information that constantly changes and the frequency of required updates, this can come at a high cost to modern businesses. Web Data Mining and the Development of Knowledge-Based Decision Support Systems is a key reference source on decision support systems in view of end user accessibility and identifies methods for extraction and analysis of useful information from web documents. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives and topics, such as semantic web, machine learning, and expert systems, this book is ideally designed for web developers, internet users, online application developers, researchers, and faculty.

Methods used for regional development analysis are employed mainly to make forecasts and comparisons. Forecasting models of various types (e.g. econometric models) are usually used for forecasting. Recently, vector-autoregressive models (VAR) have become popular. These models were proposed by Sims in 1980. On the contrary, taxonomic methods (that are in the center of attention as far as the present publication is concerned) are most often employed to make comparisons. Linear ordering methods, including standard methods, are the most popular among ta- nomic methods. They are based on different distance and similarity measures, which leads to the fact that they do not always provide reliable information. When, for example, one construes the standard for a base year and then compares it with data for other years, it may turn out that the measure determined will have worse values than the standard for a real object (region, micro region) although this object is better from the standard. Hence, one must look for new methods employed in regional development analysis or improve hitherto existing ones in such a way so that information obtained re?ects the reality to a larger extent. The main aim of the present publication is to work out methodological basis for regional development analysis based on vector calculus together with assumptions about computer system supporting the implementation of the method suggested.