Combining object-oriented process and information models

Abstract

A project - known as the Integrated Co operative Workspace (ICW) - sponsored under the Department of Trade and Industry / Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (DTI/EPSRC) Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) Advanced Technology Programme, involves the Sheffield Area Health Authority as a demonstrator site for the technology and methods being developed within the project. The ICW project* is developing integrated methods and Open Standards-based software tools to facilitate enterprise-wide CSCW. This paper explains the business issues which provide the rationale for ICW, and describes each component of the ICW methods and tool sets, and the way the components fit together from a business perspective. The authors also report on the approaches developed within the project, which employ object-oriented extensions to information modelling techniques, allied to object- oriented process modelling and an enterprise information service. The notion of 'three views' of an organization is described as: • An information view. • A process view. • A human resources view is described. The discussion is within the context of a specific application, supporting collaborative management work in a health authority.