Enterprise networks: Improving competition, efficiency, and innovation

2. Enterprise networks: Improving competition, efficiency, and innovation • Europe’s SMEs • are often organised in industrial districts (e.g. Emilia Romagna) • face severe vulnerability due to globalisation • weak individual companies are massively threatened • Business cooperation improves • efficiency: capacity management • innovation: know-how sharing • competition: more complex products • Ability to build, manage, and position enterprise networks will become an extremely important factor of competition!

3. SEWASIE as knowledge integrator for SMEs • Enterprise network management • establish multi-partner networks • integrate a cheaper supplier, an innovative working method, a new market, potential clients, partners, sponsors,... • Basic requirements • flexibly find partners and being found • excellent capabilities for financial or legal information management • integrate internal business data and external market information • Context-adequate access to information is key to sustainability and success • SEWASIE’s target sectors: Textile and industrial molding SMEs • similar requirements in both sectors

4. Why Google is not enough • Google is a great syntactic search tool... • just type in ‘fabric dyeing processes’ • ... but leaves a lot of work for the searcher... • 45.500 hits for ‘fabric dyeing’ • related not only to manufacturers of fabric dyeing equipment • but also the history of dyeing, the dyeing technology, ... • ... and does not care for the business context of the search • basic information context can’t be modelled • long-term interests • evaluate, assess business data and relate performance to market • establish, maintain business relationships • No integrated business information management • Search engines, filtering tools, OLAP tools, negotiation support are strictly separated

5. The SEWASIE Application Challenge • Find relevant business information from heterogeneous sources • Who can deliver specific materials, perform specified processes, contribute to innovation, ...? • Continuously monitor external background information • What’s up with competitors, collaborators, markets, materials, …? • Relate internal performance measurement to external market information • How can business KPIs (revenue, profit contribution, ...) be interpreted or improved based on market situation and market opportunities? • Negotiate business conditions with potential new partners and monitor the contract fulfilment • What about reliability of delivery, quality of delivered products, …?

6. Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment SEWASIE‘s Integrated Portal for Access to Business Information & Networking • Innovation is delivered not only by single components... • Semantic queries for ad-hoc search • Semantic information monitoring for long-term interests • Document visualisation for information exploration • OLAP functionality for financial reporting and planning • Ontology-based negotiation support for partner contracting • ...but also by their interplay • SEWASIE’s integrated portal generates added value for the user

7. Introduction to interactive demo: Company performance improvement in the textile sector Our user… • is a business controller and procurement manager, • uses all end user functionalities of the SEWASIE portal in an integrated fashion • once had a hard time in keeping himself informed, relating market information with business figures, or finding and negotiating with new partners, Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment • Search forpotential partners  Negotiate contractconditions with new partner  Observe business-critical information (trade press, news ticker, …)  Check company's performance (controlling, accounting)  Explore additional documents, find related information fordecision support  Relate external and internal information

8. Key functionalities Long-term ontology-based monitoring of text documents Revision-control of monitored documents Navigation of repository by means of a hierarchical view on the ontology Business application Keep key personnel informed about what‘s going on in relevant markets observe business-critical information from trade press, news tickers, sector portals, ... find changes quickly Interactive demo: Monitoring textile trading news Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment

9. Key functionalities OLAP operations Traffic lighting Automatic annotation of background information to OLAP reports Business application Check company’s financial situation Example: Turnover and profit goals not reached Are the problems individual to the company or general to the branch? What potentials can be found to increase the earnings or to cut the costs? Interactive demo: Checking financial performance Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment

10. Key functionalities Visualisation of monitored business information based on similarity metaphor Metadata- and content-based navigation; multiple views on document content structure, ontology, and multidimensional business model Business application Get a quick overview of business-relevant text information get the ‘big picture’ Explore and relate documents and understand their relevance to the company Interactive demo: Exploring additional market information Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment

11. Key functionalities Ontology-based query tool to support rich vocabulary Query formulation support for casual users who don‘t know vocabulary Intentional navigation for unskilled users iterative query refinement Business application Access branch-related databases, news portals, etc. with a single query interface Single access point for heterogeneous, business-related data sources Time savings for information finding by precise querying Interactive demo: Find relevant business information Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment

12. Key functionalities Ontology-based negotiation support multi attribute negotiation negotiation about ontologies Decision support in one-to-many negotiations Logical formalisation of contract Business application Contracting with business partners avoid ambiguity in contracting communication efficient integration of business communication and contract development transparency by traceability of negotiation process Interactive demo: Negotiate business conditions with new partners Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment

13. Query Monitoring OLAP Reporting Visualisation Negotiation/Fulfilment Summary • End user perspective on the SEWASIE system • A typical end user day... • Coming up now: • Operational perspective: What happens behind the scenes... • Query management: How queries are solved • Monitoring execution: How queries are generated and issued • Negotiation execution: How negotiations are initiated • Design perspective: • Bottom-up evolution by source integration • Top-down ontology management and mapping • Querying over multiple Brokering Agents