|
The aim of the MARIFlow project is to provide a prototype of an architecture for automating and monitoring the flow of control and data over the Internet among different organizations. Th
is "electronic medium", capable of delivering value-added services to the participants, encompasses many different technological areas: from communication to security, databases, transaction support and agents.
The project will make use of t
hese technologies to produce a workflow management system. In particular, the aim of the project is to develop and adaptable workflow management engine through which the activities of the participants in the maritime industry can be harmonized, combined,
and expended through better tracking functional dependencies and documents, improved data access and handling, and lower administrative overheads.
One particular interest to this project is a new form of inter-enterprise coordination structure: net
works. Networks are a set of organizations who participate in a general pattern of interaction, which can be described as a process. The maritime industry is such a coordination structure in the sense that most of its activities occur in the form of a con
stant interplay between a variety of actors: ship yards, classification societies, suppliers, and legal/insurance/government establishments. The coordination structure adopted by these industries is especially important since it often determines the abili
ty to react to market changes, flexibility, and in many cases also a large part of the administrative overhead and competitiveness. It has often been pointed out that information technologies could play a significant role in supporting the coordination st
ructure by providing better means to interact and monitor the interaction
as well as by creating new business opportunities.
The workflow
engine developed as part of this project addresses these crucial issues with a special emphasis on th
e ease of use, maintenance, and customization to the needs of maritime industry.
|
|
