Technology Profile: I-X Process Panels

Web homepage: http://i-x.info and http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/project/ix/

Developers: Austin Tate, Jeff Dalton, Stephen Potter and Jussi Stader

Owner: AIAI, The University of Edinburgh

Addresses KM Challenge(s): (Process Knowledge) Acquisition, Modelling, Reuse

Builds on other technologies: AI Planning, Workflow, Java, HTML, XML, Jabber. Interoperable with: BuddySpace, Compendium

What's the Problem?

Brief description of the knowledge management problem that your technology addresses. [includes your HTML file]

Towards a Solution

The aim of an I-X Process Panel (I-P2) is to act as a workflow, reporting and messaging "catch all" for its user. It can act in conjunction with other panels for other users if desired.

Can take ANY requirement to:

• Handle an issue
• Perform an activity
• Add a constraint
• Maintain an Annotation
  

Deals with these via:

• Manual (user) activity
• Internal capabilities
• External capabilities (invoke orquery/answer)
• Reroute or delegate to other panels or agents (pass)
• Plan and execute a composite of these capabilities (expand)
  

Receives reports and messages and, where possible, interprets them to:

• Understand current status of issues, activities and constraints
• Understand current world state, especially status of process products
• Help control the situation
  

Copes with partial knowledge.

<I-N-C-A> Model
An I-X Process Panel supports a user or collaborative users in selecting and carrying out "processes" and creating or modifying "process products". Both processes and process products are abstractly considered to be made up on "Nodes" (activities in a process, or parts of a process product) which may have parts called sub-nodes making up a hierarchical description of the process or product. The nodes are related by a set of detailed "Constraints" of various kinds. A set of "Issues" is associated with the processes or process products to represent unsatisfied requirements, problems raised as a result of analysis or critiquing, etc. Processes and process products in I-X are represented in the <I-N-C-A> (Issues - Nodes - Constraints - Annotations) Model of Synthesised Artifacts.

I-X Tools

As well as the Process Panel Window itself, a number of additional tools are provided accessible via a tools menu or through context dependent action menus.  These include:

• I-DE - the I-X Domain Editor too cerate and maintain process models and knowledge in <I-N-C-A> format
• I-Messenger - to support structure task orientated messaging and reporting - as well as allowing for free "chat" where desirable
• I-Space - to maintain relationships between users and panels, as well as descriptions of external services that can be used
• HTML Viewer to provide help pages as well as to look at web pages without resorting to platform dependent full web browsers

Take a Guided Tour

A link to the QuickTime movie, which will open in a separate window.

Try a Demonstration

The current release and documentation is available via http://i-x.info/release/current/ Version 2.4 available February 2003 runs over Jabber without further software or tailoring.

Technical requirements: Windows NT/2000/XP or Unix/Linux/MacOS X, Java Runtime Environment 1.3/1.4 (1.4-only planned from mid-2003).

Example Applications

CoAX - 3 Sample Panels

Further Reading

Key document: 

Tate, A., Dalton, J. and Stader, J. (2002)  "I-P2 - Intelligent Process Panels to Support Coalition Operations", Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Knowledge Systems for Coalition Operations (KSCO-2002), Toulouse, France, 23-24 April 2002. Available at: http://i-x.info/documents/2002/2002-ksco-ip2.pdf