Keywords: Circular Systems Engineering, Degrowth and IT, Digital Twins, Digitalization, Ethics, Information Systems Engineering, Model-Based Systems Engineering, Model-Driven Engineering, Modeling, Sustainability, Systems Engineering
Astract: Sustainability should become a key concern in the next generation of engineered systems. While this expectation is relatively straightforward, the question of how to get there is less obvious. The multi-dimensional and intricate nature of sustainability poses challenges in designing sustainable systems and analyzing sustainability properties. Finding trade-offs between economic, environmental, societal, and technological aspects of sustainability is a wicked problem and calls for advanced modeling and simulation methods. In this paper, we report on a panel discussion held at the 28th Working Conference on Exploring Modeling Methods for Systems Analysis and Development (EMMSAD) with four esteemed experts representing four complementary and often conflicting perspectives on the role of modeling for sustainability – stakeholders, digitalization, degrowth and IT, and ethics. We report the key arguments of the panelists, discuss the roles of modeling in the analysis and design of sustainable systems, and, finally, elaborate on the conflicts among the perspectives, their effects, and potential resolutions.

Keywords: multi-modal AI, Conceptual Modeling, Comprehension, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Keywords: business capability, conceptual model, data valuation, Data value, reference ontology
Astract: Despite its recognition as primary asset, enterprises struggle to determine data value due to fragmented and impractical approaches. This paper develops a reference ontology for Data Valuation Business Capabilities (DVBC) leveraging the systematic approach for building ontologies, ArchiMate and integrating scientific insights with ex-ante expert interview validation. Comprising twelve groupings and 66 components, anchored in established ontologies and assessed against (non)-functional requirements, the ontology shapes the fragmented data valuation landscape into a structuring frame for enterprises. While advancing value modelling in information systems research, the ontology faces limitations like detailed process modelling deficiency, ex-post validation potential, and modelling language boundaries.

Keywords: domain models
Astract: Humanity has long since used models in different shapes and forms to understand, redesign, communicate about, and shape, the world around us; including many different social, economic, biological, chemical, physical, and digital aspects. This has resulted in a wide range of modeling practices. When the models as used in such modeling practices have a key role to play in the activities in which these modeling practices are ‘embedded’, the need emerges to consider the effectiveness and efficiency of such processes, and speak about modeling capabilities. In the latter situation, it becomes relevant to develop a thorough understanding of the artifacts involved in the modeling practices/capabilities. One field in which models play (an increasingly) important role is the field of system development (including software engineering, information systems engineering, and enterprise design management). In this context, we come across notions, such as views, diagrams, programs, animations, specifications, etc. The aim of this paper is to take a fundamental look at these notions. In doing so, we will argue that these notions should actually be seen as specific kinds of models, albeit for fundamentally different purposes.

Keywords: BPMN, Facade Maintenance, System Dynamics
Astract: Business process modeling and system dynamics are different approaches that are used in the design and management of organizations. Both approaches are concerned with the processes in, and around, organizations with the aim to identify, design and understand their behavior as well as potential improvements. At the same time, these approaches differ considerably in their methodological focus. While business process modeling specifically takes the (control flow of) business processes as its primary focus, system dynamics takes the analysis of complex and multi-faceted systems as its core focus. More explicitly combining both approaches has the potential to better model and analyze (by way of simulation) complex business processes, while specifically also including more relevant facets from the environment of these business processes. Furthermore, the inherent ability for simulation of system dynamics models, can be used to simulate the behavior of processes over time, while also putting business processes in a broader multi-faceted context. In this paper, we report on initial results on making such a more explicit combination of business process modeling and system dynamics. In doing so, we also provide a step-by-step guide on how to use BPMN based models and system dynamics models together to model and analyze complex business processes, while illustrating this in terms of a case study on the maintenance of building facades.